Robert Moss Ayres (August 19, 1898 – August 7, 1977) 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 ...

who lived and worked in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He was the son and business partner of

Atlee Ayres Atlee Bernard Ayres (July 12, 1873 – November 6, 1969) was an American architect. He lived in central Texas. History Atlee B. Ayres was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, on July 12, 1873, the son of Nathan Tandy and Mary Parsons Ayres. The family moved t ...

Early life and education

Ayres was born in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

to Atlee B. Ayres and Olive Moss Ayres. His parents sent him to the private military preparatory

San Antonio Academy The San Antonio Academy is a private school for boys located in San Antonio, Texas. The school is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. The school was founded in 1886 and has since then moved locations several times ...

, and later to the college preparatory

Haverford School , motto_translation = , address = 450 Lancaster Avenue , location = , region = , city = Haverford Township, Haverford , county = , state ...

. Upon graduation from Haverford, he studied architecture with Paul Philippe Cret at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Career

Ayres spent a year with an architectural firm in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

before returning to San Antonio. In 1921, his father announced he had joined his firm, partnering as Atlee B. and Robert M. Ayres, Architects. He worked on a number of projects with his father, including the following: * 200 block of Mary Louise in Monticello Park, San Antonio * McNay Art Museum *

Menger Hotel The Menger Hotel is a historic hotel located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA, on the site of the Battle of the Alamo. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a contributing building in the Alamo Plaza Historic Dist ...

modernization and addition of a new wing * Smith-Young Tower (1929) *

Administration Building (Randolph Air Force Base) The Administration Building at Randolph Air Force Base is headquarters for the 12th Flying Training Wing and located at Universal City, northeast of San Antonio, county of Bexar, in the U.S. state of Texas. The building is referred to as the Ta ...

, known as the "Taj Mahal" (1931) * Nave Museum (Royston Nave Memorial)1932, Victoria, Texas *

Old Cameron County Jail Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

San Antonio Municipal Auditorium The San Antonio Municipal Auditorium was a building located at 100 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, Texas. It was built as a memorial to American soldiers killed in World War I. The San Antonio Municipal Auditorium was also used as a concert venue ...

, for which he and the firm received a gold medal from the AIA in 1929 for the design * Lutcher Brown House, a house in

. He was president of the San Antonio chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Personal life

On December 2, 1925, he married San Antonio socialite and community organizer Florence Collett.The couple had four children. He died on August 7, 1977, and was buried in Mission Burial Park North in San Antonio. Florence died in 1992 and is buried next to him.

Gallery

File:Menger Hotel San Antonio Texas 14 Nov 2005.JPG, Menger Hotel File:Tower Life Building, San Antonio, Texas.jpg, Smith-Young Tower (1929) File:Taj Morning.jpg, Administration Building at Randolph Air Force Base (1931)

References

External links