Robert C. Broward (March 30, 1926 – June 28, 2015) was an architect and author based in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

. He had a 61-year professional career during which he designed more than 500 projects. He was an adjunct Professor of Design at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

for more than four decades. He is known for his water effects including spilling effects with a decorative and sonic element, taking advantage of Florida's frequent rainstorms. His designs often included the work of local painters, sculptors and mixed-media artists. His works included small houses and chapels, large warehouses and office buildings, churches, art museums, movie theatres and large high-rises. Broward attended Landon High School in Jacksonville. After graduating in 1944, he served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

, then studied architecture at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. He studied with

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 ...

at both

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the court ...

and Taliesin West.Charlie Patton
"Architect Robert C. Broward 1926-2015: 'One of our regional treasures'"
''

The Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

'', June 28, 2015.

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia from 1985 to 1990, and as the U.S. representative for (including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington ...

commissioned Broward to create the

Deerfield Beach Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. The city is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859. It is a principal ...

corporate campus for JM Family Enterprises in 1981. Broward included an oriental flair to the architecture in recognition of the Japanese company that manufactured

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

s. Among Broward's writings is a book about

Henry John Klutho Henry John Klutho (1873–1964) was an American architect known for his work in the "Prairie School" style. He helped in the reconstruction of Jacksonville, Florida after the Great Fire of 1901—the largest-ever urban fire in the Southeast—by ...

and The

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped ...

in Jacksonville.Robert C. Broward
/ref>Lee Butcher

''

Jacksonville Business Journal The ''Jacksonville Business Journal'' is a weekly newspaper and daily website in Jacksonville, Florida. Part of the American City Business Journals, it covers business news in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. It began publishing in 1985. The ...

'', May 23, 2005. In 2011 he was selected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. An issue of a national architectural journal, ''Friends of Kebyar'', was devoted to his work, and he was inducted into the

Florida Artists Hall of Fame Florida Artists Hall of Fame recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to art in Florida. It was established by the Florida Legislature in 1986. There is a Florida Artists Hall of Fame Wall on the Plaza Level in the rotunda of the ...

in 2012. Broward died on June 28, 2015, following a stroke. He was 89 years old.

Projects

* Sharecroppers' chapel in West Georgia (completed at the age of 23) * Oceanfront residences and corporate headquarters for Southeast Toyota * Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville (1965), named by Broward as his favorite of his Jacksonville buildingsUnitarian Universalist Church
Florida Top 100 Building Survey, AIA Florida (accessed 2015-03-18).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broward, Robert C. American non-fiction writers 20th-century American architects Georgia Tech alumni 1926 births 2015 deaths Architects from Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville Modern architecture

Projects

See also

References