Floyd Naramore
Encyclopedia
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...
. He was Seattle Schools
Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...
Architect from 1919 to 1932, and he was a founding partner, in 1943, of the firm that today is known as NBBJ
NBBJ
NBBJ is a global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Beijing, Boston, Columbus, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Shanghai....
.
Naramore studied engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. He subsequently took a job as a drafter with the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (C&NWRR) from 1900 to 1903, then worked with architect George Fuller on a C&NWRR office building for two years. He returned to school and earned an architectural degree at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
in 1907. After a brief stint in Chicago, Naramore moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, where he worked for Northwest Bridgeworks from 1909 to 1912 as a cost estimator.
Naramore's involvement with schools began thereafter and lasted until the 1930s. He was appointed Architect and Superintendent of properties for the Portland School District, then was hired by the Seattle School District
Seattle Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools is the school district serving Seattle, Washington, USA. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.-List of schools:...
in 1919 as the district's architect. Naramore became a prolific designer of schools contemporaneously with a new state compulsory attendance law and a decision to add junior high schools to the system which created tremendous demand for new buildings. He was responsible for the design of roughly twenty schools between 1919 and 1930. He also undertook school projects outside Seattle and consulted on school projects in other districts.
After 1931, Naramore practiced on his own designing institutional buildings; for example, he was a co-designer with Grainger & Thomas, and Bebb
Charles Bebb
Charles Herbert Bebb was a leading Seattle architect, who participated in two of the city's most important partnerships, Bebb and Mendel from 1901 to 1914, and Bebb and Gould from 1914 to 1939...
& Gould on Bagley Hall (1935–36) at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. In 1939 Naramore took his long-time Associate Clifton Brady
Clifton Brady
Clifton Brady was a Seattle architect and one of the founders of the architectural firm NBBJ....
into partnership forming Naramore & Brady.
During the Second World War
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...
the firm participated in a variety of joint ventures to carry out design of defense projects. In 1943, Naramore & Brady joined with William J. Bain
William J. Bain
William J. Bain was a notable Seattle architect and a founder of the architecture firm, Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson, the predecessor to today's NBBJ....
and Perry Johanson
Perry Johanson
Perry Johanson was a Seattle architect and one of the founders of the architectural firm NBBJ....
to form Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson (nicknamed "the Combine"). The success of this collaboration led the partners to continue it after 1945. Naramore remained senior partner until his death in 1970. Today the successor firm is known as NBBJ
NBBJ
NBBJ is a global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Beijing, Boston, Columbus, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Shanghai....
.
Naramore was named a Fellow
FAIA
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects is a postnomial, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects...
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...
(AIA) in 1935, and served as president of the Washington State Chapter of the AIA (predecessor of today's AIA Seattle chapter) from 1939 to 1940.