Nathaniel A. Owings
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Nathaniel Alexander Owings (February 5, 1903 – June 13, 1984) was an American architect, a founding partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 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.Barron, James
"Nathaniel Owings, 81, Dies; Early Skyscraper Advocate,"
''New York Times''. June 14, 1984.


Early years

Owings was born in 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His sister, Eloise, would become the wife of his business partner,
Louis Skidmore Louis Skidmore (April 8, 1897 – September 27, 1962) was an American architect, co-founder of the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and recipient of the AIA Gold Medal. Biography Louis Skidmore was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. H ...
.Tyrnauer, Matt
"Forever Modern,"
''Vanity Fair.'' October 2002.
In 1920, he traveled through Europe. The experience inspired him to begin to study architecture at the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, but had to quit the school prematurely because of illness. He continued his education at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, earning a degree in 1927.


Career

Owings first job as an architect was with the New York firm of
York and Sawyer York and Sawyer was an American architectural firm active between 1898 and 1949. The firms' work is exemplary of Beaux-Arts architecture as it was practiced in the United States. The partners Edward York (July 23, 1863– December 30, 1928) and ...
. As a young architect, Owings was impressed with
Raymond Hood Raymond Mathewson Hood (March 29, 1881 – August 14, 1934) was an American architect who worked in the Neo-Gothic and Art Deco styles. He is best known for his designs of the Tribune Tower, American Radiator Building, and Rockefeller Center. Th ...
, who designed the
RCA Building 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66 ...
in
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...
. 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 A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
(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.FundingUniverse
SOM company history.
/ref> 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.Nance, Kevin
"Building on Tradition,"
''Chicago Sun-Times.'' September 24, 2006.
Some smaller projects remain from this period. An architecturally significant residence in
Northfield, Illinois Northfield is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately north of downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 5,751. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of ...
, 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, (May 9, 1909 – August 6, 1990), was an American architect, a leading proponent of modern design in the mid-twentieth century. A partner in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Bunshaft joined the firm in 1937 and remained with ...
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 Fair; 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.Pridemore, Jay
"A New Order,"
''Chicago Magazine.'' February 2007.
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.Owings, Nathaniel A
NARA Access Record Number 76-5, p. 2.
/ref> 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 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. The firm helped to popularize the International style during the postwar period. SOM's best-known early work is
Lever House Lever House is a office building at 390 Park Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building was designed in the International Style by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) as ...
(1952), which was designed by
Gordon Bunshaft Gordon Bunshaft, (May 9, 1909 – August 6, 1990), was an American architect, a leading proponent of modern design in the mid-twentieth century. A partner in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Bunshaft joined the firm in 1937 and remained with ...
and reflects the influence of
Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
. 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 The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...
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 Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
offered faint praise for a SOM project designed by Owings when he identified the J.C. Penney 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 Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
'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' indirect influence continued after this planning phase was completed. His SOM protégé was
David Childs David Magie Childs (born April 1, 1941) is an American architect and chairman emeritus of the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He is the architect of the new One World Trade Center in New York City. Early life and education Chil ...
, who was later appointed by President Gerald Ford as chairman of the
National Capital Planning Commission The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...
. As Chairman of the Board of Control for the Urban Design Concept team for the
Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
in Baltimore, he worked to restrict the development of a large highway through the city. He was a member of the Secretary of the 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.


Later years

Owings moved to San Francisco in 1951. Owings first marriage to the former Emily Otis ended in divorce. 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.


Big Sur

Owings built a unique
A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...
home at Big Sur, California in 1958 on the site where he proposed to his second wife Margaret Wentworth Owings. The residence, later nicknamed the "Wild Bird House", was a permanent vacation home for them. ''Time'' magazine labeled it "the most beautiful house on the most beautiful site" in the United States. With his wife, Nathaniel 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. This project introduced Owings to environmental concerns and was the first of many contributions to conservation and preservation campaigns. His memory is commemorated in the Nathaniel Owings Memorial Redwood Grove at Big Sur. After both his and his wife's deaths, the house was sold in 2000 for $5,650,000.


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 Mexico Pojoaque (; Tewa: Pʼohsųwæ̨geh Ówîngeh/P'osuwaege Owingeh ’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè, Po’su wae geh, which translates to “water gathering place”, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States ...
where they raised their family of four children.Santa Fe Living Treasures
Emily Otis Owings
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 Nambé Oweenge Pueblo ( ; tew, Nambé Oweengé / , ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, and is also a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The Pueblo of Nambé has existed since the 14th ...
; 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. He was survived by his second wife, Margaret Wentworth Owings.


Notable projects

In his long career, Owings presided over more than $3 billion in construction projects, including: * 1962— Air Force Academy Chapel at Colorado Springs, Colorado * 1968—Wells College Library at Aurora, New York * 1970—
John Hancock Center The John Hancock Center is a 100- story, 1,128-foot supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the building was officially renamed 875 North Michigan Avenue in 2018. The skyscraper was designed ...
, at Chicago, Illinois * 1971—Weyerhaeuser Headquarters near
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
* 1972—Haj Terminal at
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's promi ...
* 1974—First Wisconsin Plaza at
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
* 1976—
Sears Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
at Chicago, Illinois * 1982—Enerplex, North Building at
Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...


Selected works

* 1969
''The American Aesthetic''
(with William Garnett). New York:
Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...
. * 1973
''The Spaces in Between: An Architect's Journey.''
New York:
Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
.


Honors

* 1983—
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 ...
Gold Medal. * 1983—Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts,
University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
University of New Mexico
D.F.A., 1983.
* 1961 – Elected into the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...


References

;General sources * A. Bush-Brown, Albert and Oswald W. Grube. (1984)
''Skidmore, Owings and Merrill: Architecture and Urbanism, 1973–1983.''
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. * Kostoff, Spiro and Dana Cuff. (2000)
''The Architect: Chapters in the History of the Profession.''
Berkeley:
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...
. * Owings, Nathaniel A
Transcript of interview at Owings home in Big Sur California, March 25, 1970
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library,
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, Oral History Project, Access Record Number 76-5.


External links

* SOM
corporate website

Nathaniel Owning's tribute to
Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan ( bn, ফজলুর রহমান খান, ''Fozlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrape ...
in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) {{DEFAULTSORT:Owings, Nathaniel 1903 births 1984 deaths Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni Modernist architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects 20th-century American architects People from Nambé Pueblo, New Mexico University of Illinois alumni Skidmore, Owings & Merrill people Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal