O’Neil Ford drawings donated to UT Austin’s Alexander Architectural Archive

Drawings of the noted Texas architect O’Neil Ford (1905-1982) have been donated to the Alexander Architectural Archive at The University of Texas at Austin by his widow, Wanda Graham Ford. The gift includes 5,540 original architectural drawings, 5,484 prints, 40 presentation drawings, 39 presentation sketches, and 63 sheets of photographic materials.

The donation covers Ford’s work through 1966 (at which point he went into partnership with Ford Powell & Carson) and complements an earlier gift to the Alexander Architectural Archive of Ford’s office files, personal papers, and books.

O’Neil Ford emphasized the integration of crafts and the use of native materials in his designs. His larger, most notable projects include the restoration of La Villita and designs for the new campus for Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and Skidmore College in New York. Among his honors were appointments to the National Council on the Arts in 1968 and to the American Council for the Arts in Education in 1975. The first endowed chair in the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin was named for O’Neil Ford.

It will take several years to fully process and catalog this extensive collection of materials. Access to the O’Neil Ford materials within the Alexander Architectural Archive, a unit of the General Libraries of The University of Texas at Austin, is by appointment only.

Dodd and Gutiérrez receive Librarian Excellence Awards

Two professional librarians at the University of Texas at Austin, Beth J. Dodd and Margo Gutiérrez, have won 2001 Librarian Excellence Awards from the University’s General Libraries. The awards carry a $1,000 stipend.

“The annual opportunity that we have to recognize truly outstanding contributions by librarians to the General Libraries and to the University of Texas at Austin is a great source of satisfaction,” according to Harold Billings, Director of General Libraries. “These two wonderful colleagues, through their daily efforts, consistently exhibit the best qualities of modern librarianship and are very deserving of this recognition.”

Dodd has served as curator of the Alexander Architectural Archive in the Architecture and Planning Library since 1995. Her responsibilities include supervision, public relations, collection development, liaison with faculty, and technical, preservation and public services related to the Archive’s holdings.

Colleagues and UT Austin School of Architecture faculty identify her as one who has truly made a difference in the growth of the collection and in the high level of services that users have come to expect. “Through her energy, devotion, and ever-expanding network of contacts around the state and in selected cities on the West and East coasts, she has made architects, preservationists, and architectural historians more aware of the riches of the Archive,” according to a colleague. The use of the Archive grew by 365 percent in 2000, due in large measure to the expansion of its collections and the greater awareness within the architectural community of these unique resources that Dodd has helped foster.

Dodd holds a B.A. in art history from the University of Nebraska and a master of information and library studies degree from the University of Michigan. Prior to employment in the General Libraries she was a project cataloger at the University of Pittsburgh, cataloger of architectural drawings in the prestigious Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library of Columbia University, and had art and architecture library-related experience in the universities of Michigan and Nebraska where she also pursued additional post-graduate study. She was the recipient of a Director’s Staff Honors Award in 1999.

Gutiérrez heads the Mexican American Library Program in the internationally renowned Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection. As bibliographer for Mexican American and Latino Studies materials, she has been instrumental in acquiring important archival collections for the Benson Collection, bringing her outstanding “people skills”– as colleagues describe–to bear in these sometimes sensitive negotiations. Her most notable recent success was the acquisition of the Américo Paredes Collection.

“Margo has been described as a consistently excellent librarian and is highly regarded by library users,” according to Billings. In addition to her regular responsibilities, she is currently managing a grant-funded microfilming project of rare Mexican newspapers and has also assumed some of the responsibilities of Assistant Head Librarian of the Benson Collection.

Gutiérrez is coauthor of the Encyclopedia of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement (Greenwood, 2000) and serves on the University of Texas at El Paso’s planning committee for the Paso al Norte: Immigration History Museum and Research Center, She is active in the National Association for Chicana & Chicano Studies and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. She currently sits on REFORMA’s board of directors, and in 1996 was the local arrangements chairperson for the organization’s first national conference. The recipient of a Director’s Staff Honors Award in 1997, Gutiérrez received the ultimate recognition possible by her national peers when she was named REFORMA Librarian of the Year in 2000.

Gutiérrez holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona, the M.A. from UT Austin in Latin American Studies, and an M.L.S. from Arizona. Prior to joining the General Libraries in 1987, she served in the reference departments of the Blumberg Memorial Library, Texas Lutheran College, and the University of Arizona Library, where she was also a cataloger and serials assistant.

Extensive Maya architectural research archive donated to the General Libraries

The largest, most exhaustive and fully documented visual record of architecture of the Lowland Maya area in the world has been donated to the General Libraries Alexander Architectural Archive at the University of Texas at Austin. The George F. and Geraldine D. Andrews Papers, donated by Mrs. Geraldine D. Andrews, represent the life work of Prof. George F. Andrews (1918-2000) of the University of Oregon, and his wife, Gerrie.

“The Andrews Papers– along with the recently acquired library of Prof. Linda Schele donated by her husband David – makes UT Austin one of the major locations in the world for the study of Maya architecture and culture,” said Harold Billings, director of General Libraries.

In the late 1950s, Prof. Andrews and his wife visited the Yucatan for the first time. For the next 40 years they were to devote their professional lives to the study and documentation of Maya architecture. This extended investigation produced the Andrews Papers, a modest name for a remarkable collection that includes an architectural data bank covering 850 buildings at 240 archaeological sites in the lowland Maya area.

The collection consists of three main components: (1) approximately 3,500 pages of descriptive data covering both exterior and interior architectural, decorative, and construction features; (2) more than 2,500 architectural drawings (sketches, maps, plans, sections, elevations, details, and restored views); and (3) several thousand photographs showing the buildings in their present form, which ranges from partly destroyed to substantially excavated and partly restored.

As Prof. Andrews noted shortly before his death,

“. . . perhaps the most important aspect [of what he referred to as the Architectural Data Bank] . . . is that the data from every building or site considered has been put into the same standardized form, making comparisons of individual buildings, building complexes, specific sites or entire regions relatively simple. For example, features such as base moldings, medial moldings, and cornice moldings can be compared at both inter-site and intra-site scales since the data for all sites is recorded in the same format and drawings have been made at the same scale. . . . anyone interested in Maya architecture from any point of view would find the data bank of considerable value as a basic research resource for comparative architectural studies, investigations of architectural details and construction techniques, or in making areawide studies of stylistic attributes, building forms, or site-level patterns of settlement.”

Prof. Andrews directed his first field project at the site of Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico, with the support of the Ford Foundation. He and his wife also served as members of the Sayil, Xculoc, and Xkipch archeological projects.

Prof. Andrews retired from full-time teaching in 1980 and devoted the next 20 years to full-time research and study of the Maya. He was the author of numerous monographs including Maya Cities: Placemaking and Urbanization (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975) and a three-volume collection of his important essays and studies entitled Pyramids and Palaces, Monsters and Masks (Lancaster, CA: Labyrinthos, 1993-1999).

The Andrews Papers are currently being inventoried in the Alexander Architectural Archive. For more information please contact Beth Dodd, Curator, Alexander Architectural Archive, or Nancy Sparrow, Curatorial Assistant, at (512) 495-4621. For general information on the Alexander Architectural Archive consult: http://drupal.lib.utexas.edu/apl/aaa

General Libraries acquires Cret Library

The General Libraries has acquired the library of Paul P. Cret (1876-1945), the architect responsible for The University’s 1933 Master Plan, the design of the Main Building and UT Tower, and 18 other buildings on the UT campus.

The collection totals approximately 700 volumes published between 1560 and the 1930’s plus 43 albums, portfolios, and boxed sets of photographs. The books, many of which are rare, are mostly large, folio-size, and profusely illustrated. Many are in their original leather or cloth bindings. Most of the books are classic texts still in use today by architects and architectural historians.

Included in the collection are offprints, exhibition catalogs, prospectuses, annual reports, monographs, trade and industrial materials catalogs, journals, and periodicals regarding architecture and planning, housing, restoration, and bridges. The photographic materials consist of documentation of the work of Paul P. Cret and his successor firm. The books in the Cret Library will be housed in the Architecture and Planning Library. Photographic materials will be cared for in the Alexander Architectural Archive.

The Cret Library was acquired with funding from the Martin S. and Evelyn S. Kermacy Collection Endowment, the School of Architecture, the General Libraries, and the UT System Academic Library Collection Enhancement Program (ALCEP).

“This is a magnificent collection of great historic value to UT Austin and of current value to a range of architectural historians and practicing architects,” said Harold Billings, Director of General Libraries. “With the addition of this collection and the continuing expansion of the Alexander Architectural Archive we now have one of the major architectural resource centers in the nation on our UT Austin campus.”

In 1907 Paul P. Cret founded what became the most successful beaux-arts architectural firm in Philadelphia. In addition to his work on the UT Austin campus, he designed such prestigious edifices as The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., the Rodin Museum, and The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. While practicing architecture, Cret also headed the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania for over 30 years. After Cret’s death in 1945, his four partners assumed the practice under the partnership of Harbeson Hough Livingston & Larson (renamed H2L2 in 1976). The Cret Library was acquired from H2L2. It is highly unusual that a collection of this type and size should survive in its entirety.

Architectural Drawings Collection named for Professor Blake Alexander

The General Libraries Architectural Drawings Collection at The University of Texas at Austin has been renamed The Alexander Architectural Archive in honor of Prof. D. Blakeley Alexander, long-time UT School of Architecture professor and noted architectural historian and preservationist whose original collection of architectural drawings provided the foundation for the collection in 1979.

“It was Professor Alexander’s early collecting of these materials for the Architecture Library, his persuasion of donors to place their archives in the collection, the use of his own personal funds from time to time and obtaining the support of others, and the many years of unflagging effort on his part that have made this collection a reality,” says Harold Billings, director of General Libraries.

Lawrence W. Speck, Dean of the School of Architecture, observes, “It will be a great asset to the archive to bear Blake Alexander’s name. He has an extraordinary reputation as an advocate for the preservation of our architectural heritage in Texas.”

It was upon the joint recommendation of Harold Billings and Dean Speck that President ad interim Peter Flawn approved the renaming of the Architectural Drawings Collection.

Now a professor emeritus, Alexander received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from The University in 1950. After obtaining a Master of Arts degree in fine arts and archeology from Columbia University, he returned to UT Austin to teach in the School of Architecture for nearly 40 years. Alexander is the author of numerous publications relating to Texas architecture, including Texas Homes of the Nineteenth Century (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1966).

The Alexander Architectural Archive contains over 200,000 drawings as well as specifications, correspondence, contract documents, photographic materials and objects documenting the architecture of Texas and the Southwest. It includes resources for projects by such prominent Texas architects as Nicholas Clayton, James Riely Gordon, Ralph Cameron, Atlee & Robert Ayres, and O’Neil Ford. The Archive also contains documentation for the work of national and international architects such as Marshall & Fox of Chicago; Smith & Brewer and Sir Aston Webb, both of London, England; Harwell Hamilton Harris of Los Angeles; Paul Cret of Philadelphia; and Charles Moore. The Archive is also the repository for historic drawings of University of Texas buildings. The material available in the Archive encompasses all aspects of the design process as well as landscape architecture, interior design, historic preservation, and community and regional planning.

The Alexander Architectural Archive is housed in historic Battle Hall on the UT Austin campus along with the Architecture and Planning Library. The Archive is open for academic and professional research. In order to insure the preservation of the materials as well as the quality of service, the Archive is accessed by appointment only. Appointments are taken Monday through Thursday, 9:00am-4:00pm. Hours of operation are subject to change according to holiday and intersession schedules.

O’Neil Ford papers donated to UT Austin Architectural Drawings Collection

Office files and personal papers of the noted Texas architect, O’Neil Ford (1905-1982), have been donated to the Architectural Drawings Collection at The University of Texas at Austin by his widow, Wanda Graham Ford. The collection of materials includes not only personal and business papers, but also books, pamphlets, and photographic materials from the architect’s collection.

O’Neil Ford emphasized the integration of crafts and the use of native materials in his designs. His larger, most notable projects include the restoration of the La Villita and designs for the new campus for Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and Skidmore College in New York. Ford’s work was nationally published. Among his honors were an appointment to the National Council on the Arts in 1968 and to the American Council for the Arts in Education in 1975. The first endowed chair in the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin was named for O’Neil Ford.

It will take several years to fully process and catalog this extensive collection of materials. Access to the O’Neil Ford materials within the Architectural Drawings Collection, a unit of the General Libraries of The University of Texas at Austin, is by appointment only.

Charles W. Moore Room opens

A new room dedicated to the career and work of the internationally renowned architect, Charles W. Moore, has just opened in the General Libraries Architecture and Planning Library within historic Battle Hall on The University of Texas at Austin campus. The Charles W. Moore Room will house the Charles W. Moore Archives donated to the General Libraries Architectural Drawings Collection in the fall of 1996 by Lawrence, David, Steven, and Bruce Weingarten, nephews of Mr. Moore. Two adjacent rooms have also been made available to provide work and storage space for preservation activities relating to the Moore Archives.

The Charles W. Moore Archives includes watercolors, drawings, prints, material related to professional projects, slides, photographs and audio visual materials, correspondence, material related to his teaching career, books and other publications, and a group of twelve memory palaces.

The memory palaces are a group of free-standing constructions in various materials that illustrate a range of architectural concepts such as “walls that layer,” “light that plays,” “aedicules that center,” and “space that leaks in and out.” The memory palaces are approximately ten feet tall and several feet wide. Eight of the memory palaces are currently on display in the Architecture and Planning Library Reading Room in Battle Hall and another two are on permanent display in the Charles W. Moore Room.

With the exception of the books and the memory palaces mentioned above, all of the archival materials from this gift will be housed in the Charles W. Moore Room. The books will be catalogued as part of the Architecture and Planning Library, but will remain in the Charles W. Moore House, operated by the Charles W. Moore Foundation and located at 2102 Quarry Road in west Austin. The book collection consists of approximately 5,000 volumes and 1,000 issues of professional journals. The books are primarily twentieth-century imprints, mainly about Mexican, European, Japanese, American, and regional architecture, gardens, photography, history, literature, and fiction. There is also a selection of children’s pop-up books.

It is estimated that it will take several years to fully process and catalog this extensive collection of materials. Access to the Charles W. Moore Room and the materials within the Archives is by appointment only.

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