Donald Innis
Encyclopedia
Donald Alywn Innis, is an American architect
based in San Diego, California
. Innis is also an inventor and engineer
and has pioneered the idea of floating real estate, specifically the notion of a floating airport
using pneumatic stabilized platform
(PSP) technology which he has developed and patented through his company, Float Incorporated.
Innis designed several notable San Diego landmarks, including the 1970s remodeling of the San Diego Broadway Pier
(one of the first pier designs to make use of significant above water landscaping and greenery), the master plan for the San Diego Embarcadero, and Terminal One of the San Diego International airport. He is a long-standing member of the American Institute of Architects
.
squadron leader
during WWII
and a young American foreign exchange fighter pilot for the RFC
's No. 46 Squadron
during World War I
in England
from 1917 through 1918. Alwyn Osman Innis had trained at Canada's RFC camp at Bourden
before being commissioned and sent to England. A.O. Innis returned to the U.S. when he left the RFC (then the RAF
) in 1919 as a Second Lieutenant to become vice president and general manager of the Columbus Aviation Company.
in downtown Chicago and would sell used cars for the company. Innis then moved to Tucson, where he briefly attended the University of Arizona
.
Innis worked for Chicago architect Maurice Webster, (b Sept. 20, 1892; d May 17, 1982, Evanston, IL.) who with architect Alfred P. Allen designed Chicago's Sky Harbor Airport, which had originally opened in 1929 just north of Chicago. Webster also designed Stronghold Castle, a replica of a European castle which was built by Walter Strong, then publisher of the Chicago Daily News
. It is now a conference center owned by the local presbytery of the Presbyterian Church.
Innis later moved to California
with his younger brother, artist and writer W. Joe Innis. Impressed by the look and the scope of the beautiful San Francisco
horizon, Innis settled in the Bay Area. In California, Innis went to work for Falkon Booth architects in San Francisco. Innis worked his way up the ladder quickly at Falkon Booth, becoming a draftsman and then drafting designer, when around 1956 he received notice that he had been drafted by the U. S. Army for two different service calls. Innis had previously served seven and a half years in the Navy Reserve, beginning shortly after high school. While a Navy reservist working on airplanes, Innis accidentally fell off a wing of an airplane, injured his back and was unable to continue to serve. Somehow the proper paper work was not filed and Innis was unable to get a medical discharge from the Navy. The orders for Innis to return to duty came from the Army looking for recruits for the front line of the army infantry and (in a technical mishap) a duplicate order requesting Innis' presence on an Army operated cable ship in Alaska by the U.S. Army Signal Corp's Alaska Communications System (ACS)
. Innis chose to honor the request to ship to Alaska and oversaw the laying of thousands of miles of the first military submarine telephone communication cables across the ocean using secret military charts aboard the wooden-hulled self-propelled barge, the cable ship Col. Basil O. Lenoir. Innis' top secret job required him to enter a room "like Oz" and close curtains around him while he read the secret charts of where U.S. military communications cables would be laid at sea.
After serving in the Signal Corps, Innis obtained an early release and entered U.C. Berkeley
's architecture program in 1958. While studying at Berkeley, Innis taught sailing
at the U.C. Berkeley sailing club at Berkeley Yacht Harbor and often sailed with Hans Albert Einstein (son of physicist Albert Einstein
), a professor of hydraulic engineering
, who was teaching at the university at the time. Innis graduated from Cal in 1961.
hotel (the elevator has since been demolished). Paderewski was then president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
, which Innis would also later head.
In 1965, Innis decided to form his own firm, Donald Innis & Associates. In 1966 Innis submitted the winning proposal in a competition for a design for new Balboa Park arcades, a design featuring simple arches. However, the arcades were never built using Innis' design; the job was awarded to another architect many years later.
A year later, Innis was joined by fellow architect Dave Tennebaum, and the firm was re-named Innis-Tennebaum Architects Inc., AIA. For more than three decades Innis-Tennebaum Architects specialized in military contracts and the building of elementary schools, residential, commercial and other architectural projects. Noteworthy projects in and around San Diego included the original Del Mar
's Flower Hill Mall (built in 1977 for the Fletcher family) which included an underground restaurant, East Village Mall (Rancho Santa Fe), a total overhaul and remodeling of the historic Broadway Pier
adding new innovative structures (and preserving the view of the bay all the way down Broadway Street), The Harbor Seafood Mart at the Embarcadero, and the redesign of the Red Sails Inn on Shelter Island
.
In 1992, Innis retired from Innis-Tennebaum to create Float Inc. and pursue his dream project of a floating airport
.
From 1993-2000, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division
took an interest in the PSP's potential to serve as a floating military base and awarded Float Inc. a $1.5 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) in August 1995 to test PSP. Extensive numerical modeling was performed along with two series of wave tank tests. The second series of tests at 1/48th scale was focused on air exchange. A final scientific report on the test results was submitted to the Office of Naval Research
(ONR) in December 2000.
The floating airport for San Diego has been dismissed as "outlandish", "logistically ludicrous", "impractical" and "expensive". The idea has not found favor with San Diego authorities, although Innis and his associates at Float Inc. continue to pursue the idea.
, Donald Innis Jr., and Cynthia Ona Innis
. Virginia Innis died in February 2007 from injuries resulting from a single car accident in Point Loma, San Diego. She is buried at El Camino Memorial Park
in San Diego.
Don Innis still resides in San Diego and continues his passion for sailing
. He is a long time member of the San Diego Yacht Club
. Innis continues to work every day at Float Inc. striving to realize the dream of a floating airport and/or floating real estate.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
based in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. Innis is also an inventor and engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and has pioneered the idea of floating real estate, specifically the notion of a floating airport
Floating airport
A floating airport is an airport built and situated on a very large floating structure located many miles out at sea utilizing a flotation type of device or devices such as Pneumatic Stabilized Platform technology....
using pneumatic stabilized platform
Pneumatic stabilized platform
A Pneumatic stabilized platform is a technology used to float a very large floating structure .PSP utilizes indirect displacement, in which a platform rests on trapped air that displaces the water. The primary buoyancy force is provided by air pressure acting on the underside of the deck...
(PSP) technology which he has developed and patented through his company, Float Incorporated.
Innis designed several notable San Diego landmarks, including the 1970s remodeling of the San Diego Broadway Pier
Broadway Pier, San Diego
Broadway Pier in Downtown San Diego, California, is located on San Diego Bay at the intersection of Broadway and North Harbor Drive. It houses one of San Diego's two cruise ship terminals....
(one of the first pier designs to make use of significant above water landscaping and greenery), the master plan for the San Diego Embarcadero, and Terminal One of the San Diego International airport. He is a long-standing member of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
.
Early life
Innis is the middle son of Greta Matson Innis (Swedish-American, b. 07/08/1905, d. 05/05/1965) and Alwyn Osman Innis (American, b. 03/04/1896, d. 12/20/1974). His father Alwyn was an American-born RCAFRoyal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
squadron leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
during WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and a young American foreign exchange fighter pilot for the RFC
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
's No. 46 Squadron
No. 46 Squadron RAF
No. 46 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, formed in 1916, was disbanded and re-formed three times before its last disbandment in 1975. It served in both World War I and World War II.- World War I :...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1917 through 1918. Alwyn Osman Innis had trained at Canada's RFC camp at Bourden
CFB Borden
Canadian Forces Base Borden is a Canadian Forces base located in Ontario.The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, CFB Borden is the largest training facility in the Canadian Forces...
before being commissioned and sent to England. A.O. Innis returned to the U.S. when he left the RFC (then the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
) in 1919 as a Second Lieutenant to become vice president and general manager of the Columbus Aviation Company.
Early career
In 1949 at age 18, Donald A. Innis attended the University of Illinois in Chicago for one year before becoming a salesman and taking part in the racing of midget cars for Four Wheels Inc. (a Chicago auto leasing firm). Innis would race midget and stock cars on the quarter mile track at Soldier FieldSoldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
in downtown Chicago and would sell used cars for the company. Innis then moved to Tucson, where he briefly attended the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
.
Innis worked for Chicago architect Maurice Webster, (b Sept. 20, 1892; d May 17, 1982, Evanston, IL.) who with architect Alfred P. Allen designed Chicago's Sky Harbor Airport, which had originally opened in 1929 just north of Chicago. Webster also designed Stronghold Castle, a replica of a European castle which was built by Walter Strong, then publisher of the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
. It is now a conference center owned by the local presbytery of the Presbyterian Church.
Innis later moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with his younger brother, artist and writer W. Joe Innis. Impressed by the look and the scope of the beautiful San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
horizon, Innis settled in the Bay Area. In California, Innis went to work for Falkon Booth architects in San Francisco. Innis worked his way up the ladder quickly at Falkon Booth, becoming a draftsman and then drafting designer, when around 1956 he received notice that he had been drafted by the U. S. Army for two different service calls. Innis had previously served seven and a half years in the Navy Reserve, beginning shortly after high school. While a Navy reservist working on airplanes, Innis accidentally fell off a wing of an airplane, injured his back and was unable to continue to serve. Somehow the proper paper work was not filed and Innis was unable to get a medical discharge from the Navy. The orders for Innis to return to duty came from the Army looking for recruits for the front line of the army infantry and (in a technical mishap) a duplicate order requesting Innis' presence on an Army operated cable ship in Alaska by the U.S. Army Signal Corp's Alaska Communications System (ACS)
Alaska Communications System (ACS)
The Alaska Communications System , also known as the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System , was a system of cables and telegraph lines authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1900 and constructed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The communications lines were to serve both military and...
. Innis chose to honor the request to ship to Alaska and oversaw the laying of thousands of miles of the first military submarine telephone communication cables across the ocean using secret military charts aboard the wooden-hulled self-propelled barge, the cable ship Col. Basil O. Lenoir. Innis' top secret job required him to enter a room "like Oz" and close curtains around him while he read the secret charts of where U.S. military communications cables would be laid at sea.
After serving in the Signal Corps, Innis obtained an early release and entered U.C. Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
's architecture program in 1958. While studying at Berkeley, Innis taught sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
at the U.C. Berkeley sailing club at Berkeley Yacht Harbor and often sailed with Hans Albert Einstein (son of physicist Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
), a professor of hydraulic engineering
Hydraulic engineering
This article is about civil engineering. For the mechanical engineering discipline see Hydraulic machineryHydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive...
, who was teaching at the university at the time. Innis graduated from Cal in 1961.
Career highlights
In 1961 Innis moved to Southern California, where he was joined by his parents. That same year he joined the San Diego based architecture firm of Paderewski Mitchell and Dean, AIA, as chief designer. While working for C. J. "Pat" Paderewski, Innis was in charge of designing the current Terminal One at the San Diego Airport (constructed in 1967). Paderewski (called San Diego's "Mr. Architect") Paderewski had designed the first exterior all-glass elevator for San Diego's El CortezEl Cortez Apartment Hotel
El Cortez Apartment Hotel is a landmark hotel in San Diego, California. Built from 1926 to 1927, the El Cortez was the tallest building in San Diego when it opened. It sits atop a hill at the north end of Downtown San Diego, where it dominated the city skyline for many years. From its opening in...
hotel (the elevator has since been demolished). Paderewski was then president of the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
, which Innis would also later head.
In 1965, Innis decided to form his own firm, Donald Innis & Associates. In 1966 Innis submitted the winning proposal in a competition for a design for new Balboa Park arcades, a design featuring simple arches. However, the arcades were never built using Innis' design; the job was awarded to another architect many years later.
A year later, Innis was joined by fellow architect Dave Tennebaum, and the firm was re-named Innis-Tennebaum Architects Inc., AIA. For more than three decades Innis-Tennebaum Architects specialized in military contracts and the building of elementary schools, residential, commercial and other architectural projects. Noteworthy projects in and around San Diego included the original Del Mar
Del Mar, California
Del Mar is an upscale beach town in San Diego County, California. The population was 4,161 at the 2010 census, down from 4,389 at the 2000 census. The San Diego County Fair is hosted on the Del Mar Fairgrounds every summer. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located...
's Flower Hill Mall (built in 1977 for the Fletcher family) which included an underground restaurant, East Village Mall (Rancho Santa Fe), a total overhaul and remodeling of the historic Broadway Pier
Broadway Pier, San Diego
Broadway Pier in Downtown San Diego, California, is located on San Diego Bay at the intersection of Broadway and North Harbor Drive. It houses one of San Diego's two cruise ship terminals....
adding new innovative structures (and preserving the view of the bay all the way down Broadway Street), The Harbor Seafood Mart at the Embarcadero, and the redesign of the Red Sails Inn on Shelter Island
Shelter Island, San Diego, California
Shelter Island is a neighborhood of Point Loma in San Diego, California. It is actually not an island but is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. It was originally a sandbank in San Diego Bay, visible only at low tide. It was built up into dry land using material dredged from the...
.
In 1992, Innis retired from Innis-Tennebaum to create Float Inc. and pursue his dream project of a floating airport
Floating airport
A floating airport is an airport built and situated on a very large floating structure located many miles out at sea utilizing a flotation type of device or devices such as Pneumatic Stabilized Platform technology....
.
Floating Airport
Forty years earlier while designing Terminal One of San Diego's airport, Innis realized that the airport could not expand to meet future needs while at its current location. The new site would need to be close to the current airport and population centers and accessible. There was only one answer. It would need to be built on the water. To achieve a platform large enough to operate an international airport (about 1,200 acres), the technology needed to be invented to float that kind of structure. A concrete structure using air for buoyancy became the PSP patent. In 1992, Float, Incorporated was founded by Innis and three partners to develop this plan. The PSP technology Innis invented uses air movement to reduce wave loads and distribute them through the platform, a platform that could be used to house offshore airports, oil and gas production facilities, floating islands, military bases, and additional real estate for coastal cities. The technology enables the platform to extract energy from ocean waves to create electricity and is less costly than most currently used large open ocean platforms.From 1993-2000, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division
Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division
The Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, located in Potomac, Maryland, specializes in ship acoustics and stealth technology. Another area of focus is hydromechanics....
took an interest in the PSP's potential to serve as a floating military base and awarded Float Inc. a $1.5 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) in August 1995 to test PSP. Extensive numerical modeling was performed along with two series of wave tank tests. The second series of tests at 1/48th scale was focused on air exchange. A final scientific report on the test results was submitted to the Office of Naval Research
Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
(ONR) in December 2000.
The floating airport for San Diego has been dismissed as "outlandish", "logistically ludicrous", "impractical" and "expensive". The idea has not found favor with San Diego authorities, although Innis and his associates at Float Inc. continue to pursue the idea.
Personal life
On July 5, 1962, Innis married teacher and flower designer, Virginia Maples (formerly Pasto). He helped raise her two sons from a previous marriage, John and Jim Pasto, who were teenagers at the time. The couple had three children of their own, Christina Jean InnisChris Innis
Christina Jean "Chris" Innis is an American film editor and filmmaker. She was awarded the 2010 Academy Award, BAFTA, and A.C.E awards for "Best Film Editing" on the feature film, The Hurt Locker, shared with co-editor, Bob Murawski...
, Donald Innis Jr., and Cynthia Ona Innis
Cynthia Ona Innis
Cynthia Ona Innis and raised in San Diego, California is an American painter, sculptor and visual artist based out of Oakland, California. Her work has been called, "sensual," "organic" and "science fiction-y" where, "a futuristic heaven-meets-hell." Innis graduated with a B.A. from the...
. Virginia Innis died in February 2007 from injuries resulting from a single car accident in Point Loma, San Diego. She is buried at El Camino Memorial Park
El Camino Memorial Park
El Camino Memorial Park cemetery is located at 5600 Carroll Canyon Road in the Sorrento Valley neighborhood of San Diego. Founded in 1960, El Camino is a memorial park and is the final resting site for Jonas Salk , as well as several members of the well-known Kroc family El Camino Memorial Park...
in San Diego.
Don Innis still resides in San Diego and continues his passion for sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
. He is a long time member of the San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. Its address is 1011 Anchorage Lane, San Diego, CA 92106. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.- Facilities :...
. Innis continues to work every day at Float Inc. striving to realize the dream of a floating airport and/or floating real estate.