Paul S. Devrouax (October 4, 1942—March 22, 2010), was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He founded the architectural design firm of Devrouax+Purnell, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. He helped design the Verizon Center,

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimen ...

, the

Walter E. Washington Convention Center The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is a convention center located in Washington, D.C., owned and operated by the city's convention arm, Events DC. Designed in a joint venture by the Atlanta-based architecture firm Thompson, Ventulett, ...

, and the D.C. headquarters of

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.Pepco The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan i ...

. He co-designed the African-American Civil War Memorial, and provided design adjustments to the

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a national memorial located in West Potomac Park next to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It covers and includes the ''Stone of Hope'', a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement le ...

Early life and education

He was born in October 1942 to in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, to Paul Devrouax, Sr. and Freddie Warner Devrouax.Jakes, Thomas D. and York, Jennifer M. ''Who's Who Among African Americans.'' Detroit: Gale, 2003, p. 341. He had two brothers, Edward and Charles,"Paul S. Devrouax Jr." ''Washington Post.'' March 27, 2010. and was raised in New Orleans and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

.Risen, Clay. "Paul Devrouax, 1942-2010: Pathbreaking Architect Helped Revive Washington." ''The Architect's Newspaper.'' April 21, 2010.
Accessed 2012-02-25. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in architecture from

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. Devrouax was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, and was promoted to the position of sergeant in the

6th Armored Cavalry Regiment The 6th Cavalry ("Fighting Sixth'") is a regiment of the United States Army that began as a regiment of cavalry in the American Civil War. It currently is organized into aviation squadrons that are assigned to several different combat aviation ...

. In 1968, he was stationed at

Fort Meade Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation located in Maryland, that includes the Defense Information School, the Defense Media Activity, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the N ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. On April 5, 1968, his unit was deployed in D.C. to restore order in the wake of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination riots. Devrouax married Brenda Stallworth on September 9, 1972. The couple had a daughter, Lesley.

Career

With African American architect

Marshall E. Purnell Marshall Purnell (born June 8, 1950) is a prominent African-American architect and 2008 president of the American Institute of Architects. Early life and education Born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Marshall Purnell ...

, he founded Devrouax+Purnell Architects and Planners, PC, in 1978. He was elected president of the

National Organization of Minority Architects The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) is a professional organization for individuals practicing architecture and allied professionals to advance justice and equity in communities of color. History In 1968, activist and executiv ...

in 1980, and the

Washington Project for the Arts Washington Project for the Arts, founded in 1975, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support and aid of artists in the Washington, D.C. area. History Alice Denney, a contemporary art collector active on the Washington scene, founded th ...

in 1988. In 1986, Devrouax designed the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Building for the D.C. city government, a structure which helped revitalized the U Street NW historic neighborhood. He designed the renovation of the Reverend

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

's apartment home at the Rittenhouse Building in

LeDroit Park LeDroit Park ( or ) is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. located immediately southeast of Howard University. Its borders include W Street to the north, Rhode Island Avenue and Florida Avenue to the south, Second Street NW to the east, and Howar ...

in Washington, D.C., in 1990. In 1995, Devrouax+Purnell won the design for one of

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

. They were the first African American architects to design a headquarters for a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

company."Black Architects Design History in Nation's Capital." ''The Crisis.'' July–August 2004, p. 10. Five years later, Devrouax+Purnell became the first African American owned architectural firm to design a corporate headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C., when they won the design competition for the new

Pepco The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C. and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan i ...

building. Devrouax also helped design the Verizon Center (home of the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team and the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team), which was finished in 1997, and Nationals Park (home of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team), which was completed in 2008. He also helped lead the design team for the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, which opened in 2003.Plumb, Tierney. "Architect Paul Devrouax Dies." ''Washington Business Journal.'' March 22, 2010. In 2009, Devrouax+Purnell's design was one of six chosen as finalists for the

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...

Death

Devrouax died of a heart attack at his home in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 2010.

Memorial work

Devrouax also worked on several important national monuments. He and

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Edward D. Dunson designed the site for the African-American Civil War Memorial in 1998. In 2004, Devrouax helped build the

in Washington, D.C.. He and members of his firm made design refinements to the memorial, made presentations to federal and city agencies with design approval over the memorial, and helped develop, monitor, and approve construction documents.Forgey, Benjamin. "Washington Firm Joins King Memorial Project." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. February 19, 2004.

References

External links

Devrouax + Purnell Architects and Planners, PC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devrouax, Paul S. 20th-century American architects African-American architects Architects from Washington, D.C. 1942 births 2010 deaths 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American people