 After returning to the States in 1955, Sauer obtained his first architectural employment in the office of Jules Gregory in Lambertville NJ.He then joined the 1956 summer session of Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) in Venice at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura and spent a formative period studying under notable architects such as Giuseppe Samonà, Jacob Bakema and Giancarlo De Carlo.Sauer stayed another six months in Venice before he returned to America to work for the Philadelphia Planning Department under Edmund Bacon on the Society Hill Redevelopment Plan.