Glenn Allen Jefferson Buff (November 7, 1927, in

Newton, North Carolina Newton is a city in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,968. It is the county seat of Catawba County. Newton is part of the Hickory–Lenoir– Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...

– November 13, 2007) was an American architect.

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

has the third highest number of Modernist residences in the country. Modernist design became popular in the US in the 1930s, primarily in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and expanded east through the 1960s. Glenn Buff was one of the architects who contributed to the state's design heritage during that time by influencing the modernist movements and designing modernist houses for people. Buff contributed by designing modernist houses and influencing the movement with his work. Buff was the son of the Reverend Clarence Pinckney Buff and Junie Queen Buff.

Early life

Buff was born in

, and, starting at the age of 17 served in the U.S. Navy between 1944 and 1948. Buff graduated from

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

's School of Design in 1955 and worked for the Raleigh School Board. In the early 1950s, 1953–1955, he worked with Buckminster Fuller on experimental

geodesic domes A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure, making geodesic dom ...

, a type of house that is in the shape of a dome.

Later career

In 1955, he moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to be the head of the Design Department at Robert M. Little and Associates. A member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) 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 su ...

(AIA) National Board of Directors, he received the Anthony L. Pullora Memorial Award, the South Florida AIA Silver Medal, the Florida AIA Gold Medal for Outstanding Design & Service to the AIA, and the Upjohn Fellow from the AIA.

Projects

His notable projects include buildings at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Business School,

Law School,

Maloney Hall and Student Center, and

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

Concourse E. He moved to Panama City, Florida, in 2000. Buff practiced as Glenn Buff and Partners in both

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. 1954 - The L. H. and Lizzy Jobe House, 2205 Garden Place,

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. Late 1950s - The Rosenman Residence, Coconut Grove, Florida. 1964 - Developer's Theme House in South Miami, Florida. It Won an

Florida (AIAFL) award. 1980s - Restoration to a traditional 1920s house owned by the City of

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, won an AIAFL Honor Award

Death

Buff died on November 13, 2007. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Dowell Buff, his daughter Deborah Joyce Buff, and sons Jonathan Glenn Buff, and Adam Jefferson Buff. Along with these, he was also survived by his three grandchildren, Robbyn Deborah Young, Katelyn Ann Buff and Andrew "Drew" Jennings Farr; and three sisters, Irene Starnes, Inez Hildebrand and Thelma Icard. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Gladys Campbell. Funeral services were held on November 16, 2007, at First Presbyterian Church of Panama City, Florida.Glenn Buff Obituary
"Panama City News Herald" Retrieved October 23rd, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buff, Glenn 1927 births 2007 deaths Architects from North Carolina People from Newton, North Carolina People from Panama City, Florida Modernist architects from the United States North Carolina State University alumni