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HomeMy WebLinkAboutScardino_Cite4124 CITE ii u». 1 - W«fcrv»A ,4**'^*M<\ C*$toj*jz&. Fred Fenlon House, Austin, Caudill & Rowlell, architects, 1446, FLYING HIG H JAY BAKER AN D BARRI E SCARDIN O ^ £lftflA.awjKix3ti.t ^ V s j y Fenlon Haute. The drawings Caudill ft Hewlett produced in the 1940s hod o graphic simplicity intended to make modern archilecluiF more accessible. I I n 1946, when William W. Caudill jiitl Jrthti M. Rowlctt returned to | Texas from overseas duty in World War II, they pooled their muster- inn "i" Pity to form an architectural part- nership. With the flip of ,i coin, the two decided whose name would come first. Hill Caudill won. And MI was sel the first name of the company that, as Caudill Rowlctt Scott (CRS), would one day grow into the world's largest architectural firm. Though CRS eventually settled in Houston, it was in Bryan-College Station ih.ir it took its hrsl steps toward becom- ing a self-propelled machine devoted to client service, change, and growth. The home of Texas Aev.M offered CRS an incubator in which a 12-year period ol invention and experimentation could occur. Such CRS legacies as arehitetlnr.il programming, squatters, diversification, and architecture by team began to devel- op in College Station. I lie young archi- tects forged a convergence of modern and rural sensibilities, developed both individ- ual and team capabilities, and produced ambitious designs using hard-nosed busi- ness practices. From the start and throughout its history, CRS investigated the limits of professional practice. Bill Caudill received his II.Arch, from Oklahoma A W I (now Oklahoma Slate University) in Stillwater in 1937 and his M.Arch. from MIT in I9.W. He began leaching .il Texas \c\ \1 before cnli ring the Naval Reserves in 194.?. On his return to Lxas in r>4r,, he resumed Ins leaching position in College Station. John Rowlett, who had taught with Caudill at AcvM before the war, received his H.Arch. Irom the University of Texas in 1938. He moved to Austin in 1946 to live near his family and teach pan-time at the Univer- sity nt Texas. The firm ol ( audill fr\ Rowlett used Rowlett's sister's Austin address until it obtained a post office box and, finally, an office at 1401 1/2 Lavaca Street in Austin. Caudill sk Rowlett's initial success was due in part to the optimism and expan- sion that followed World War II. let, more to the point, the two partners, hav- ing grown up during the Creal Depres- sion, equated hard work, energy, and self- reliance with survival, growth, and suc- cess. Ye.irs later, Caudill said, "In the beginning our motto was simple: to pro- duce good architecture, to make some money, and to have some lun doing it."1 As they began their practice together, albeit in separate cities, the two men shared an interest in school architecture. Caudill's thesis at VIIT had been a long- range plan lor schools in Stillwater, Okla- homa. At lexas AcvM he had assigned schools as research projects to his stu- dents, focusing on such issues as lighting, ventilation, and circulation. In so doing, ( audill discovered the poor condition of schools in Texas. I lis research culminated CITE a n d FAST T h G e n e s i in his first book, Sfwe /or Teaching.* (tudilJ's interest in school architecture was complemented hy Rowlett's double major in education and architecture. Without ever having designed a school, the pair garnered a reputation as innova- tors in school design, And even though they promoted their firm on the basis of producing schools, their first commissions were primarily residential.' The work executed by Caudill &C Rowlett during its Bryan-College Station period is decidedly modem and consis- tently rooted in the specifics of site and climate. At times the work also displays a rustic, rugged materiality. Despite a devo- tion to modernism, the firm's commit- ment to client service and architectural problem-solving formed the philosophical core of (audi 11 {s; Rowlett's practice. As Caudill responded to one complaint: "I told them that it would improve the air flow partem and, if there was no water problem, to leave the* windows installed upside down,""1 Their Hrst commission was a small house for Fred Teuton at the comer of Raleigh and Gilbert in Austin. This result- ed from a chance meeting between Caudill and Fcnton, a woodworker by trade. Rowlett followed up on the contact and wrote back to College Station regard- ing the firm's initial job. "We are laying a firm foundation that will pay off divi- dends in the future. I think a few houses to tie us over might be the answer to OUT problems.'"' From College Station Caudill sent plans and sketches to his partner, who supervised the construction. I he Fen ton I louse, completed in late I'Hti, is a collage ot opaque and transpar- ent volumes, layered to separate living and sleeping areas. Abstract principles of mod- ern design, including a flat roof and full- height windows, are evident. The Fenton I louse displays Caudill's knowledge of Frank I loyd Wright's tlsonian houses, but the house more closely resembles the small-scale residential work of Richard Neutra and Marcel Breuur in the 1940s. During construction of the l-'enton House, Kill Caudill built a house lor his family at 23 H Truman Street in the Lake- view Addition of llryan. I his became Caudill & Rowlett's first project to he published in a national architectural jour- nal/1 Caudill, who called himself the "Pub- lic Relations Department," continually sent out letters urging publication of Caudill is; Rowlett's work. Through the linn's many transformations, Caudill's pre- occupation with publication, exhibition, and communication remained intense, lie managed to get drawings of what were then Caudill & Rowlett's only pro|ccts, the unfinished1 lenton and Caudill houses, included in an exhibition on contemporary architecture at the Dallas Museum of Fine \rts in i >ctoh< i I1')(-. In early DM-, |ohn Rowlett moved his 26 Spun 1999 CITE Philip G. Muid«h Home. 718 South Roiemory, Bryan, Coudill Rowlett Scolf I Afwiialtv 1948-50. Wurdoih Houtt interior with suspended itoii and cjUtiior view. * ii Fled Weltk House, IMS Longford. Bryan, Coudill Hewlett Stott tV Assodotn, 1948-50. family and the firm's address to College Station. Caudill & Rowlett's first real architectural office was located above the Southside l-'ond Market, winch Mill st.nuk across (nun Texas AeVM at Ml) Ceorge Bush Drive. Domestic commissions continued to dominate the practice during I 947 and 1948, which gave Caudill is; Rowlett an opportunity to refine their architectural ideas. With a house for A8cM professor Philip C. Murdoch [\94%-49) 00 Sorth {now North I Rosemary in Bryan, Caudill tV Rowlett attempted a more complicated composition. Oriented for view and breeze, the Murdoch I louse used vertical circulation as the hinge between public and private spaces. A transparent nserless stair, suspended over an interior plainer next to a full-height glass wall, blurs the line between house and garden. Also in 1948, Caudill & Rowlett designed a house at 1 I 15 l.angford in College Station for bred Wcick, an aero- nautical engineer ami pilot.H I he Wclck I louse is cl.nl in stone and vertical board- and-hatten and features a shallow-pitched gable roof. A description of the project by Caudill indicated his awareness of current trends: "The bi-nuclear plan is from Hreiter, the structure from Drake, and the sliding walls from Neutra."*' The use of stone from an old corral was described as "regional, not primitive," and the inser- tion of glass between beams resting on load bearing stone walls was intended to look "discovered . . . not designed.""1 The Wcick I louse was the first oi what would become the most charactcris tic type of modern house built in College Station and Bryan during the 1950s. C. Gale Cook, an A &M architecture student who worked for Caudill ik Rowlert in 1948, described the gla/.ed gable inserted above a planar wall and beneath the rake of a shallow, pitched room as Wrightiau, but Caudill & Rowlett's treatment of this formal pattern was, like Brcuer's and Neutra's, consistently crisp, lightweight, and tectonic.1' In 19s}, Caudill designed a new house for Ins family in the College Station neighborhood known as The Knoll, which had been laid out with Caudill's help in 1947. A number of houses designed either by CRS or by firm mem- bers for their own families were built on I he Knoll, which was intended as a modern enclave. Some streets on The Knoll were named for A &M architects and engineers.1' Caudill's second house is the out- standing architectural accomplishment on The Knoll, and it was probably the best small-scale work produced by the firm in Bryan and College Station. This Caudill I louse is one large volume with living spaces divided by movable storage cabi- nets. The shallow-pitched gable root is supported by a steel structure independent of its brick perimeter walls. Extensions into the landscape — a carport with brick garden walls, a brick-paved patio, and a wooden wall leading to a small brick stu- dio-guest house — provide a counterpoint to the main volume of the house. Other architect-designed houses built on The Knoll include the I rank l.aw\ei House (19551 ,ii 1214 On Street, designed by Lawyer, who became one of CRS's most highly regarded designers. Dave Varbrough, a production drawing specialist at ( ks, built his house at 1215 Winding Road about 1958. The Yarbrough f louse was the only one of these houses designed lor air condition- ing. I'heo K. I iolleman and Ben H. Evans, two A8cM architecture faculty members who worked on occasion tor CRS, also built their houses on The Knoll. Most of The Knoll houses have suffered unsympathetic modifications. While located in Bryan and College Station, CRS designed fewer than 20 houses there, but by 1955 the firm had designed almost 100 in other Texas and Oklahoma cities.1' This client pattern w.is even more dramatic in terms of school commissions t RS received, Of more than 100 schools the firm complet- ed from their Bryan-College Station offices, only the A &M ( onsohdated High School in College Station was a local pro- ject. After CRS moved to I louston in 1958, it grew rapidly, eventually receiving commissions all over the world, but as in Bryan-College Station, the firm was not busy at home. CRS partners sought a few large projects rather than many small ones. Consequently, the firm's promoters traveled in search of larger and larger commissions, both in terms of dollars and square footage. CRS grew in this way because ol another early decision. Bill Caudill and John Rowlert were not afraid to continu- ally expand their staff, hiring young architects as soon as they could find a place for them to sit. They brought good assistants into the partnership and fos- tered a productive, democratic atmos- phere in their practice, which eventually led to a policy of specialization and archi- tecture by team. Recalling the beginnings of CRS, William M. I'cna said, "None of us were geniuses, but we could have a c team of specialists, . . . |and by] pooling our talents together, we might be a genius.",4 The first employees ol Caudill iS. Rowlett were Jo I bins and |ohn Zemanek, recent architecture graduates who worked for Rowlett in the Austin office, and Gordon McCutchan, an A &M graduate and architecture instructor who worked for Caudill in College Station.1' McCutchan became .1 iiinmr partner in llM(> tor an investment of $250, then left in pursue .111 ii ademti career ,u Ics.is reck Wallie E. Scott, Jr., became the third partner in 1948, and the firm name was changed to Caudill, Rowlett & Scott.16 In 1950, Willie IVna became the fourth partner, but he insisted that the linn's name expand no further I Itimatcly, eight men, all of whom joined the firm during the 12-year Bryan-College Station days, wonUl be known .is the founders of CRS. Al Martin, a structural engineer, became the next partner, but he left in 1955. Thomas A. bullock, who began working for CRS part-time in I'MS, was brought in as a partner in 1954. Bullock worked in the office in Oklahoma City that Rowlett opened in 1950 and eventu- ally became the linn's managing partner. Al Martin was replaced by Kd Nye, another engineer and a longtime friend of Caudill's who graduated three \cars ahead of Caudill from Oklahoma AfrvM. Of the Bryan-College Station period at CRS, Tom Bullock said: "We heard about our new partner |Nyc| by a phone call from Bill Caudill. We flew pretty high and fast in those days."17 Charles F. Lawrence, a particularly gifted designer, became the seventh part- ner, and C. Herbert I'aseur, the last found- ing partner nt CRS, began working lor John Rowlett and Tom Bullock in Okla- homa City in 1955. Many young architects who worked for CRS in College Station or Bryan wenl on to other local firms. Most well-known members of the Bryan-College Station architectural community from the 1950s, to the 1970s had some tie to CRS."1 As Caudill & Rowlett became success- ful, it also became the target of Bryan architects who saw competition from A&M faculty members as out of line. Caudill wrote Rowlett: "Yesterday the Dean of Kngineering received a letter from 1 he Dean of the College saying the Bryan architects had been complaining about Mr. Caudill's activities. . .. I think 1 am in the clear as the Board gave me permission in practice architecture, so I am calling their bluff and bringing this thing to a head once and for all. . . . The College is sending a reply to whoever wrote the let rer to cite specific cases, dates, etc. so that we tan really argue it mil."1" A complaint was also filed with the American Institute of Architects asserting that the firm got jobs by cutting fees and using student labor.'" The firm did use paid students, bm 11 Jul iin! cm its fees ( aiidill sen I Rowlett a suggested list of fees, saying, "( heck them to see how they compare with architects in Austin, bet's not under- bid anyone."-1 Caudill fought these issues because he was committed to practice and teaching. The complaints soon simmered down, sealing the relationship between teaching and practice not |ust tor Caudill, but also for others who both practiced architecture and taught. Some 20 years later, as both director ol the Rice University School of Architecture and leader of CRS, he would say, **l run my school like a firm, and my firm like a school."" The relationship between CRS and Texas A&M's architecture school was strongly rooted. Of 26 early CRS employ- ees who have been identified, eleven taught at A & M . 2 ' Caudill, a full profes sor, taught through 1949; Rowletl began teaching at A8cM as an associate profes- sor in 1948 and was promoted to profes- sor the following year. Others who taught for a time were Tom Bullock, Frank Lawyer, James Lemmon, Ben T.vans, Cordon McCutchan, Harry S. Ransom, Edward J. Rotnieniec, Theo R. Hollcman, and Melton Harper. CRS also had a policy, unusual at the rime, of associating with local architects on out-of-town projects. This facilitated lis access to the then lucrative school business, giving the firm a chance to exe cute some of the principles established in Space for Teaching, which questioned the rigid guidelines of the federal School Building Taw of 191 \ j n j showed what might be possible if progressive school architecture responded to progressive edu- cation. Caudill theorized that natural light, movable furniture, outdoor circula- tion, ventilation, anil soundproofing welt anchors around which flexible, low-cost schools could be produced. In 1949, CRS received a commission for two elementary schools in Black well, Oklahoma. Similar in design, they were based on an inversion of a student project by Willie l'cna. The Blackwell projects — I luston Elementary and Washington Lle- mentary — provided tangible et idence of CRS's commitment to a new approach to TE WHAT BEGA N AS A C O I N T O S S school architecture. The\ comprised 75 percent of the firm's fees in 1949. The success ot these schools, which opened to an enthusiastic reception in April 1950, brought CRS an expanding list of school commissions.-4 Hut not until 1952 was CRS ottered an opportunity to produce a school at home. The most striking feature ot the AScM Consolidated High School in Col- lege Station was a 600-seat mushroom- domed auditorium, the only component of the school still standing. The auditori- um is supported by laminated timbet but- tresses spaced at regular intervals around a cylindrical base.-1 In 1953 CRS received a particularly significant commission to design the Bra- zos < oiniiy Courthouse and Jail in down- town Bryan. Altered in the D'Klls, the complex originally consisted ol a four- story block that housed jail, jury rooms, civil defense offices, and courtrooms. The building's program was visually dimin- ished by breaking the structure into com- ponents and by raising part of the build- ing on concrete piers. In 19.57, ArchiUi tni\iI Record recognized the CRS court- house as a constructive change in the character of county courthouse designs: "Unfortunately, one is seldom able to visualize the typical county building — most likely 50 to 100 years old — as either attractive or convenient. The spaces behind its usually pompous facade are often ill-planned, poorly lighted, and depressing for the public and employees alike. Thus, when a new county building does provide a generous measure ot both aincniH and good looks, it assumes unusual significance. The Brazos County building so qualities."-1' The interiors, furnished by Knoll Associates, were streamlined examples of modernism. As a result ot ilus notable commission and its fast-growing school business, in 19.54 CRS moved its offices from College Sta- tion to a considerably larger space on (IK edge ot downtown Bryan .it -425 South Main Street. By I95S CRS had 50 employees working in Bryan and Oklahoma City. Most of the partners had pilot's licenses, and the linn owned five airplanes. Realiz- ing that CRS worked on a regional scale instead of relying on local opportunities, managing partner Tom Bullock and accountant John Stambaugh researched other Texas locations that might more adequately ensure stability and growth. Different partners preferred Austin, Dal- las. San Antonio, or Houston. But Stam- baugh, Caud ill's childhood friend and life- long financial adviser, stressed the need for a dynamic city with travel connec- tions. (Stambaugh was wary of having bus; t RS architects living their own planes around the country.) Bullock enlisted planners to produce statistics on banking, competing firms, client base, and projected growth; I louston was the clear choice. Bullock took the proposal to I .im.liII and convinced him to agree. Still, despite the move, CHS never re.lib leli Brv.in-t College Station. It con- tinued its contributions to the develop- ment of the College of Architecture at Texas AikM University, established the CRS Center for Architectural Research at A&M in 199.1, and, most recently, designed the George Bush Presidential Library, t Ks brought post-war modernism to Bryan-College Station and fostered new ideas there both by building and by teaching. The firm's expansion into a regional and ultimately an international practice should not eclipse the legacy its partners left as teachers to the students of Texas A&M and mentors to the man) young architects who worked for a time in the College Station and Bryan offia S. It was in Bryan-College Station thai CRS established its strongest and most lasting value: a conscious belief in the interde pendence of the idea ot designing and the action ot building architecture. • CITE 41 Spun] 1 9 9 8 29 BECAME A S E L F - P R O P E L L E D M A C H I N E DEVOTED TO C L I E N T S E R V I C E , C H A N G E , A N D G R O W T H I. CASS Stories: Mutant in ()N/V One l)irci'tt*tn — Forward. Houston: i Ksv I " " J . 2. William Wayne Caudill, Spai t for reaching in The Bulletin of the Agricultural .mil Mechanical Col legfi'l if.\.is. 'till scries, m l . 12, mi. •* (Augusi I. I*MI1. t ollege Station: lexas Knginictuig Experiment Station scries no. 59, I'MI. Space ftir Teaching was positivel) reviewed m luch magazines at Atchitactttral hirwn (May l ^ 2i and the KJJM Journal (December I "»42l. I, I he partners took .my work they could get, which, in the Rm year, consisted ol homes, .i chapta mom lor SAP, (LaudiU's fr.itcrniii i .11 l >sl MI StJJIwa i,T, .mil .i mull Methodist church in Taylor, Ics.is. In addition in ihi- ( .milill and Fenian houses, l'i*> cor- respondence mentions the Walter Britten Minis, 11946-47, JL * 11 > South i ollege Avenue.Hry.m); the Waltei Griffcn House (1946, on SouoS College Avenue, llry.iu near llu' v .uuJill House i; the I ir. I. O, Walton, |l.. House ! I'Md, ill North I i.ikwood); .mil tin- Moms |. Carrier lluuselory.ini. ( Ks < inter. School "t Architecture, fexai AScM University, 4. Cfludill to all partners, August 7, l*M|, rcgard- Ing Washington School m Stillwater. Oklahoma. I US f enter. 5. ftowlen in CaudilL April S, |4Jn. t Ks < enter 6. "I louse in lev.is Provides Maximum Living in Two Major Rimrns." Art'hitctlnriit itirum October 1946, p. 109. 7. i nhlill m Rowlett, August 16. I'Mr.. ( US I. enter. B, Caudill in I red Went, April I". I"n>t. twenty one years .iiier the construction ol tins In .use. (audill iiinii \\. i.k wiili his cusromari humor and energy; "You're tin- only genius I know and I aw proud to know vim I inusr iay, however, you were •> lull ol .i client. Vmi wanted ili.it t ollege Station house to fly, i..i. i RS i niter. 9. Caudill, "Wcisk I IOUM- - 1948," CRS promo- tional brochure, u.d. CRS t enter, 10. Ibid. M i Gale t ooke interview, May I 1. 199 12, lis,- s.niili kimll was laid out m ll,^4 based im a plan b) architecture student Uoylc Lower), according to I r.mk Lawyer l>r. I h t lark, \x M economics professor anil developer or I he knoll and rlie South Knoll, named streets for I awyet I owerys studio instructor) and t audill m appreciation. I V Other Brvani ollege Station area houses designed hv CRS include the Robert I • Puerifory House (1950, 101 I. Brookside Drive, Bryan] and the Carle (.. "Spik,•" Whir, I louse 11951, "1*2 South rhonus st m i . r ollege Station). Outside ol Bryan t ollege Station, the firm designed houses m otbej imall Ks.is and Oklahoma towns including S<| for the Mast.in Construction company and till (or Warr limit I loiues t o. m Oklahoma Of) {Architectural Forum, |(ine lis"), pp. 100-1011, t KS designed several plans and options lor these spet houses. 14. lonarhan King. "An Oral History of < Us," 1997, n script, Ji. 10, p. 2. 15. ( audill to Rowlett, May 2H. 1946 (Hans); June JO, 1946 lAm.uicki; and August 16, ISMh IMcCutchan). < Ks ( entei I6i < us has (seen known ovei iKi rears by various combinations ol the founders1 names. I he hrsi three- name title was t audill, Rowletl s\ Scott, then ' audill Rowlett, Sum & Associates,and later t audill, Rowlett eV Scon Architects. The engineering firm I. R. Sirtim-s o. merged with i Ks. creating t Kss in i"s ; rheri the arehuivuu.il division ol v Kss was sold i" MttK ni 1994, and C KS was dropped from the firms n.iitie all together. P. King, ch. I, p. 2 l*i. In addition to Zemanek, Md utchan, and Willu Ten.i. early employees ol CRS included Hani s. Rai n (1949-53), who worked later r..r Willi im I Nash [1953—57). Ransom designed die Pefla House in Brownsville and the much publicized elementary school m Industry, lis.is I hen R, Hullem.m also worked for William I-. Nash 11949-51I. Other early C KS employees were t Icon ( . liellomy; Mertiill I I.ii per , | " s s - M I; I: |-.„| Merrill, |t„ |.tii,is II I , tn mon. |r.; ami Charles l l sies, who designed the Bryan Fire Station and Drill lower tor ( KS m |y?2. Iu. c audill to Rowlett, September 4. 1946. On October 4, r'4r., ( audill wrote: " lml.iv I r d win. ni...I id, complaint about me practicing. It wasn't I'lnl .titer .ill. i w.is Mi ni\ M.isrielJ So r.u the ail linn is- rraiion is backing me up." t KS ( enter in. Students were an important pan ol t Ks\ research and production from the beginning.l audill wrote m M^ undated letter to Rowlett m |946i I se been working on I entou's house A student is helping trie." On Inly 17. I"4h. he wrote again: "I am going ro put one ol our better students on out payroll." Harold [ordaa, a lilih year architecture student, was credited with helping in supervision . il [he firsl t .auihll I louse in Bryan, 11, < audill to Rowlett, n.d., ca. September 1946. 22. Tom Bullock interview, October 17, 1995. 1\, l.s.isAesMc.n.ilogtics, I945-I9S5. Cuslnng Library, Texas ABcM, 24.' "IHira. Ultra, Ultra." Blackwell Dotty lotmtal- Tribune, April 2.!, 1950. CRS developed dusters ..i ichoo] work, somerirnes based on the partners' per sonal connections. Because Wallie Von was from Port Arthur, les.is, ( Us «.is .ihle m gam entree, col laborating with the Port Arthur architect |. Earte Neff on numerous schools there. Likewise, Willie l'en.i's hometown connections and long-term association with Laredo architect A.A. Leyemdecker hroughr CRS school lominissioits in Laredo, Tyler in last Texas, Andrews in West lis,is, .mil the Wharton-Bay City- Palacios-LJna area touthweM ol Houston are other locales where t RS's work was clustered ill the inslls. 25, "High School Without Moors," Architectural Forum, April |t^5. pp. l2K-!2. The small, two-story classroom hiulihng ot les.is A es.M t onsolidared High School w.is demolished m IV'M, as 40 years ol space needs, demographics, and educational patterns caught up with the progressive planning so valued lit I"s4, 2f>. Architectural Record, January, 1957. 27. * KSS vs.ts awarded the design contract lor (he Much Presidential I ihr.iry, hut, before the plans were complete, CRSS was bought by Ht>K. However, the same team from CRSS continued to work lor 1IOK. completing the protect. Broios County Courthrwu and Jail, 300 E. l&lb Sires I. Bryan, CRS, artbileclt, 1956.