Nathaniel A. Owings

Owings was born on February 5, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana. His sister, Eloise, would become the wife of his business partner, Louis Skidmore. In 1920, he traveled through Europe. The experience inspired him to begin to study architecture at the University of Illinois, but was forced to withdraw prematurely because of illness. He continued his education at Cornell University, where he graduated in 1927. == Career ==

Owings first job as an architect was with the New York firm of York and Sawyer. 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. Some smaller projects remain from this period. An architecturally significant residence in Northfield, Illinois, 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 was hired by Skidmore. 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. 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. Owings described the SOM he helped to build as "the King Kong" of architectural firms. 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. 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. As chairman of the Board of Control for the Urban Design Concept team for the Interstate Highway System in Baltimore, he worked to restrict the development of a large highway through the city. == Later years ==

Owings moved to San Francisco in 1951. 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 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. 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; 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, at Chicago, Illinois • 1971—Weyerhaeuser Headquarters near Tacoma, Washington • 1972—Haj Terminal at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia • 1974—First Wisconsin Plaza at Madison, Wisconsin • 1976—Sears Tower at Chicago, Illinois • 1982—Enerplex, North Building at Princeton, New Jersey Selected works • 1969—The American Aesthetic (with William Garnett). New York: Harper & Row. • 1973—''The Spaces in Between: An Architect's Journey.'' New York: Houghton Mifflin. Honors • 1983—American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. • 1983—Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, University of New Mexico • 1961 – Elected into the National Academy of Design == References==