Nathaniel A. Owings
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Alexander Owings (February 5, 1903 - June 13, 1984) was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), which became one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and the world. Owings viewed skyscrapers as his firm's specialty. His reputation rested on his ability to be what he called "the catalyst," the person in his firm who ironed out differences among clients, contractors and planning commissions.
.
In 1920, he traveled through Europe. The experience inspired him to begin to study architecture at the University of Illinois, but had to quit the school prematurely because of illness. He continued his education at Cornell University
, earning a degree in 1927.
Owings first marriage to the former Emily Otis ended in divorce. He was survived by his second wife was Margaret Wentworth Owings.
.
As a young architect, Owings was impressed with Raymond Hood
, who designed the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center
. More than 50 years later, Owings described his first glimpse of the 70-story skyscraper as a breathtaking "knife edge, presenting its narrow dimension to Fifth Avenue."
Hood's recommendation led to a job Owings worked as an architect on the Century of Progress Exposition
in Chicago
(1929–34). He had been hired by his brother-in-law, Louis Skidmore, the chief architect for the exposition. Together they designed the layout and buildings for the entire site.
They were told to build pavilions for more than 500 exhibits at minimum cost using lightweight, mass-produced materials; and they devised solutions, using the simplest materials—pavilions built out of beaverboard.
After the exposition was over, the two men worked independently before forming a Chicago-based partnership in 1936 with a small office at 104 South Michigan Avenue. Some smaller projects remain from this period. An architecturally significant residence in Northfield, Illinois
still looks and feels contemporary because of its open, inviting interiors and large windows. The partnership developed projects for corporate clients they had met during the Chicago exposition.
The firm opened a second office at 5 East 57th Street in New York in 1937; and young Gordon Bunshaft
was hired by Skidmore. This satellite office focused initially on designing and developing a new office building for the American Radiator Company.
; and in 1939 engineer John O. Merrill
joined the firm as partner. The name was changed to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the firm's operations were decentralized. Owings's initial responsibilities centered on the Chicago office. Skidmore worked in New York. Owings and Skidmore had learned the hard way that they just couldn't get along together. The partners' dysfunctional relationship could have doomed the firm, but SOM flourished, despite, or maybe because of, simmering distrust.
There were good business reasons for a practice with a foot in both New York and Chicago; and the firm found plenty of work in both cities. At the same time, it was seen as easier for the meticulous Skidmore to bear the aggressive and explosive Owings from a distance. John Merrill, a mild-mannered engineer, figured little in the volatile politics of SOM.
The firm would build a number of large projects, including government-funded work at military installations and air bases. During the war years, the partnership was hired to build a secret town for 75,000 residents in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
where the atomic bomb was being developed.
Skidmore and Owings moved easily in the world of the Wasp business establishment. Owings became especially adept in encouraging corporate CEOs to award commissions to SOM. The partners didn't develop reputations as clever designers, but rather, they became known for their rainmaking skills and organizational acumen. They relied on others to do the creative work. SOM developed its reputation for reliability in large developments, and became one of the largest and most talked-about skyscraper
builders in the 1950s. Owings described the SOM he helped to build as "the King Kong" of architectural firms.
Owings moved to San Francisco in 1951.
The firm helped to popularize the International style
during the postwar period. SOM's best-known early work is Lever House
(1952), which was designed by Gordon Bunshaft
and reflects the influence of Mies Van der Rohe. Bunshaft's many strengths as a designer were enhanced with Owings as his SOM super-salesman; but personal antipathies between these partners produced a complicated relationship.
In 1954, SOM was awarded another major government-appointed project—creating a campus for the United States Air Force Academy
near Colorado Springs, Colorado. SOM's concepts were not without detractors in Congress, in the Air Force leadership and elsewhere. As a senior SOM partner, Owings principal role in the project was to mediate differences between members of a Senate appropriations subcommittee and Air Force officers, some of whom had misgivings about what they thought were the firm's unacceptably modern designs.
offered faint praise
for a SOM project designed by Owings when he identified the J.C. Penny Building on the Circle in Indianapolis was "the one interesting building" in the city.
In the early years of the Kennedy administration, the plan to redesign Pennsylvania Avenue was the most significant redevelopment project in the country. Owings was a leading figure in the team which developed the preliminary design during more than a year of closely guarded, top-level work. He was chairman of the Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue (1964–1973), and he was named to the Permanent Commission as well. He advocated returning portions of the National Mall to pedestrian use and restricting further developmental growth in that region.
Owings and Daniel Patrick Moynihan
, then urban affairs adviser in President Richard Nixon
's administration, were ultimately credited with the success of the master plan for the Washington Mall and for the redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue as the capital's grand ceremonial boulevard. Owings' indidrect influence continued after this planning phase was completed. His SOM protegé was David Childs
, who was later appointed by President Gerald Ford
as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission
.
As Chairman of the Board of Control for the Urban Design Concept team for the Interstate Highway System
in Baltimore, he worked to restrict the development of a large highway through the city. He was a member of the Secretary of Interior's Advisory Board for National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C. (1967–1970), and later as Chairman of that Board (1970–1972). In this same period, he also served as Co-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Human Resources Council (1970). He was honored for his service on or contribution to the California Advisory Committee on a Master Plan for Scenic Highways, the Monterey coast master plan, the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, and the President's Council on Pennsylvania.
Through the influence of Owings, in late 1957 his firm sent the architectural photographer Morley Baer
to Europe to photograph SOM-built buildings. That resulted in Baer being able to stay on for a year and produce a set of striking photographs of pre-tourist southern Spain, especially of Andalucia.
Owings built the "Wild Bird House" as a permanent home at Big Sur, California in 1958. In the early 1960s, he and his wife joined neighbors in organizing to limit commercial development along the "scenic highway" of California Route 1 which runs along the Pacific coastline. This small step into the world of political activism led to Owings further involvement in conversation and preservation campaigns. His memory is commemorated in the Nathaniel Owings Memorial Redwood Grove at Big Sur.
where they raised their family of four children. He and his family continued to maintain their long-standing connection to the area community.
In later years, Owings kept a home near Nambé Pueblo, New Mexico; and in due course, he came to be known as an active preservationist in the Santa Fe region. One noteworthy success was in Las Trampas, New Mexico
, where the 1760s San José de Gracia Church
was saved from highway demolition by a coalition of villagers and Santa Fe citizens.
Owings died at age 81 in Santa Fe, New Mexico
on June 13, 1984.
Early years
Owings was born in 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His sister, Eloise, would become the wife of his business partner, Louis SkidmoreLouis Skidmore
Louis Skidmore was an American architect, co-founder of the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill and recipient of the AIA Gold Medal.-Biography:...
.
In 1920, he traveled through Europe. The experience inspired him to begin to study architecture at the University of Illinois, but had to quit the school prematurely because of illness. He continued his education at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, earning a degree in 1927.
Owings first marriage to the former Emily Otis ended in divorce. He was survived by his second wife was Margaret Wentworth Owings.
Career
Owings first job as an architect was with the New York firm of York and SawyerYork and Sawyer
The architectural firm of York and Sawyer produced many outstanding structures, exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York and Philip Sawyer had both trained in the office of McKim, Mead, and White...
.
As a young architect, Owings was impressed with Raymond Hood
Raymond Hood
Raymond Mathewson Hood was an early-mid twentieth century architect who worked in the Art Deco style. He was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, educated at Brown University, MIT, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. At the latter institution he met John Mead Howells, with whom Hood later partnered...
, who designed the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
. More than 50 years later, Owings described his first glimpse of the 70-story skyscraper as a breathtaking "knife edge, presenting its narrow dimension to Fifth Avenue."
Hood's recommendation led to a job Owings worked as an architect on the Century of Progress Exposition
Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(1929–34). He had been hired by his brother-in-law, Louis Skidmore, the chief architect for the exposition. Together they designed the layout and buildings for the entire site.
They were told to build pavilions for more than 500 exhibits at minimum cost using lightweight, mass-produced materials; and they devised solutions, using the simplest materials—pavilions built out of beaverboard.
After the exposition was over, the two men worked independently before forming a Chicago-based partnership in 1936 with a small office at 104 South Michigan Avenue. Some smaller projects remain from this period. An architecturally significant residence in Northfield, Illinois
Northfield, Illinois
Northfield is an affluent village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately north of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 5,389...
still looks and feels contemporary because of its open, inviting interiors and large windows. The partnership developed projects for corporate clients they had met during the Chicago exposition.
The firm opened a second office at 5 East 57th Street in New York in 1937; and young Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft was an architect educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the Pritzker Prize and eventually won it.-Career:...
was hired by Skidmore. This satellite office focused initially on designing and developing a new office building for the American Radiator Company.
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)
The two architects won the contract to design the 1939-40 New York World's Fair1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
; and in 1939 engineer John O. Merrill
John O. Merrill
John Ogden Merrill Sr. was an American architect and structural engineer. He was chiefly responsible for the design and construction of the United States Air Force Academy campus and for the development of Oak Ridge, Tennessee where the atomic bomb was developed...
joined the firm as partner. The name was changed to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the firm's operations were decentralized. Owings's initial responsibilities centered on the Chicago office. Skidmore worked in New York. Owings and Skidmore had learned the hard way that they just couldn't get along together. The partners' dysfunctional relationship could have doomed the firm, but SOM flourished, despite, or maybe because of, simmering distrust.
There were good business reasons for a practice with a foot in both New York and Chicago; and the firm found plenty of work in both cities. At the same time, it was seen as easier for the meticulous Skidmore to bear the aggressive and explosive Owings from a distance. John Merrill, a mild-mannered engineer, figured little in the volatile politics of SOM.
The firm would build a number of large projects, including government-funded work at military installations and air bases. During the war years, the partnership was hired to build a secret town for 75,000 residents in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
where the atomic bomb was being developed.
Skidmore and Owings moved easily in the world of the Wasp business establishment. Owings became especially adept in encouraging corporate CEOs to award commissions to SOM. The partners didn't develop reputations as clever designers, but rather, they became known for their rainmaking skills and organizational acumen. They relied on others to do the creative work. SOM developed its reputation for reliability in large developments, and became one of the largest and most talked-about skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
builders in the 1950s. Owings described the SOM he helped to build as "the King Kong" of architectural firms.
Owings moved to San Francisco in 1951.
The firm helped to popularize the International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
during the postwar period. SOM's best-known early work is Lever House
Lever House
Lever House, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and located at 390 Park Avenue in New York City, is the quintessential and seminal glass-box skyscraper built in the International style according to the design principles of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Completed in 1952, it was...
(1952), which was designed by Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft was an architect educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1988, Gordon Bunshaft nominated himself for the Pritzker Prize and eventually won it.-Career:...
and reflects the influence of Mies Van der Rohe. Bunshaft's many strengths as a designer were enhanced with Owings as his SOM super-salesman; but personal antipathies between these partners produced a complicated relationship.
In 1954, SOM was awarded another major government-appointed project—creating a campus for the United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
near Colorado Springs, Colorado. SOM's concepts were not without detractors in Congress, in the Air Force leadership and elsewhere. As a senior SOM partner, Owings principal role in the project was to mediate differences between members of a Senate appropriations subcommittee and Air Force officers, some of whom had misgivings about what they thought were the firm's unacceptably modern designs.
Individual work
Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
offered faint praise
Damn with faint praise
Damn with faint praise is an English idiom for words that effectively condemn by seeming to offer praise which is too moderate or marginal to be considered praise at all...
for a SOM project designed by Owings when he identified the J.C. Penny Building on the Circle in Indianapolis was "the one interesting building" in the city.
In the early years of the Kennedy administration, the plan to redesign Pennsylvania Avenue was the most significant redevelopment project in the country. Owings was a leading figure in the team which developed the preliminary design during more than a year of closely guarded, top-level work. He was chairman of the Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue (1964–1973), and he was named to the Permanent Commission as well. He advocated returning portions of the National Mall to pedestrian use and restricting further developmental growth in that region.
Owings and Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
, then urban affairs adviser in President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's administration, were ultimately credited with the success of the master plan for the Washington Mall and for the redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue as the capital's grand ceremonial boulevard. Owings' indidrect influence continued after this planning phase was completed. His SOM protegé was David Childs
David Childs
David M. Childs is the Consulting Design Partner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. He is best known for his redesign of the new One World Trade Center in New York....
, who was later appointed by President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission is a U.S. government agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C. and the surrounding National Capital Region...
.
As Chairman of the Board of Control for the Urban Design Concept team for the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
in Baltimore, he worked to restrict the development of a large highway through the city. He was a member of the Secretary of Interior's Advisory Board for National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C. (1967–1970), and later as Chairman of that Board (1970–1972). In this same period, he also served as Co-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Human Resources Council (1970). He was honored for his service on or contribution to the California Advisory Committee on a Master Plan for Scenic Highways, the Monterey coast master plan, the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, and the President's Council on Pennsylvania.
Projects
In his long career, Owings presided over more than $3-billion in construction projects, including:- 1962 -- Air Force Academy ChapelUnited States Air Force Academy Cadet ChapelThe United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, is the distinguishing feature of the Cadet Area at the United States Air Force Academy. It was designed by renowned architect Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago. Construction was accomplished by Robert E....
, at Colorado Springs, Colorado - 1968 -- Wells College Library, at Aurora, New YorkAurora, Cayuga County, New YorkAurora is a village and college town in Cayuga County, in the Town of Ledyard, north of Ithaca, New York, United States. The village had a population of 720 at the 2000 census, of which more than 400 were college students....
- 1970 -- John Hancock CenterJohn Hancock CenterJohn Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
, at Chicago, Illinois - 1971 -- Weyerhaeuser Headquarters, at near Tacoma, WashingtonTacoma, WashingtonTacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
- 1972 -- Haj Terminal, at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- 1974 -- First Wisconsin Plaza, at Madison, WisconsinMadison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
- 1976 -- Sears TowerSears TowerSears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
, at Chicago, Illinois - 1982 -- Enerplex, North Building at Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
Selected works
- 1969 -- The American Aesthetic (with William Garnett). New York: Harper & Row.
- 1973 -- The Spaces in Between: An Architect's Journey. New York: Houghton MifflinHoughton MifflinHoughton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
.
Honors
- 1983 -- American Institute of ArchitectsAmerican Institute of ArchitectsThe 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...
Gold Medal. - 1983—Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, University of New MexicoUniversity of New MexicoThe University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
Big Sur
With his wife Margaret Wentworth, Owings drafted the Big Sur Land Use Plan, a master plan to protect Big Sur’s scenic coastline. This work became the foundation for Big Sur’s eventual land-use policies; and this was a crucial step in Owings’s move towards his eventual role as environmental activist and spokesman.Through the influence of Owings, in late 1957 his firm sent the architectural photographer Morley Baer
Morley Baer
Morley Baer , an American photographer and teacher, was born in Toledo, Ohio. His parents, Clarence Theodore Baer and Blanche Evelyn Schwetzer Baer brought up Morley with a tradition of old world customs and mid-West values. Baer learned basic commercial photography in Chicago but subsequently...
to Europe to photograph SOM-built buildings. That resulted in Baer being able to stay on for a year and produce a set of striking photographs of pre-tourist southern Spain, especially of Andalucia.
Owings built the "Wild Bird House" as a permanent home at Big Sur, California in 1958. In the early 1960s, he and his wife joined neighbors in organizing to limit commercial development along the "scenic highway" of California Route 1 which runs along the Pacific coastline. This small step into the world of political activism led to Owings further involvement in conversation and preservation campaigns. His memory is commemorated in the Nathaniel Owings Memorial Redwood Grove at Big Sur.
Santa Fe
Owings' close personal ties to the Santa Fe area date back to 1944, when he and his first wife, Emily, came to live in Santa Fe. They built a house in Pojoaque, New MexicoPojoaque, New Mexico
Pojoaque is a census-designated place in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,261 at the 2000 census. Pojoaque and Pojoaque Pueblo are neighboring communities...
where they raised their family of four children. He and his family continued to maintain their long-standing connection to the area community.
In later years, Owings kept a home near Nambé Pueblo, New Mexico; and in due course, he came to be known as an active preservationist in the Santa Fe region. One noteworthy success was in Las Trampas, New Mexico
Las Trampas, New Mexico
Las Trampas or Trampas is a small unincorporated town in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the scenic High Road to Taos , it is approximately halfway between Santa Fe to the south and Taos to the north.Founded in 1751 by twelve Spanish families from Santa Fe, it is known for the...
, where the 1760s San José de Gracia Church
San José de Gracia Church
The San Jose de Gracia Church, also known as Church of Santo Tomas Del Rio de Las Trampas, is a church built between 1760 and 1776 in Las Trampas, New Mexico. Originally named Santo Tomas del Rio de las Trampas, the church is of adobe construction with a mud-plaster exterior, which is renewed...
was saved from highway demolition by a coalition of villagers and Santa Fe citizens.
Owings died at age 81 in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
on June 13, 1984.
External links
- SOM: corporate web site.