Tag Archives: O’Neil Ford

To Better Know a Building Exhibit: Little Chapel in the Woods

Little Chapel in the Woods
Little Chapel in the Woods

The Architecture & Planning Library and the Alexander Architectural Archive are pleased to announce the second installment in the To Better Know a Building series.  Buildings featured in this series are selected by popular vote and exhibited the Battle Hall reading room.  The Little Chapel in the Woods, designed by architects O’Neil Ford and Arch Swank, is this semester’s winning entry.  It will be represented by the original construction drawings and photographs from the Ford collection. These pencil on paper drawings are a fine example of the art of construction drawings.

The To Better Know a Building series seeks to explore buildings through the drawings and other visual items found in the archive and library. Working drawings, including plans, elevations, and sections, often communicate the realization of design intent and are ideal  vehicles in teaching through example. 
 Exhibit openings include remarks by architects, and observations are encouraged from attendees to help promote discussion in understanding both the building and the profession.

Brantley Hightower will help celebrate the exhibit opening by offering remarks about the Little Chapel in the Woods. Hightower is an educator, author and founding partner in the San Antonio firm HiWorks.  He received a BA and a BArch degree from UT Austin as well as a MArch degree from Princeton.

Attendees will also have an opportunity to vote for the next building featured in this series from a list provided by the Alexander Architectural Archive.

Please join us for the exhibit opening reception Monday, February 16 at 6pm in the Architecture and Planning Library reading room. Austin’s Pizza will be provided while it lasts.

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.

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.