An Interview with Gaylord Richardson
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AN INTERVIEW WITH GAYLORD RICHARDSON Interviewer: Pat Kelly The Oral History Project of the Endacott Society The University of Kansas GAYLORD RICHARDSON EDUCATION 1960, B.A., Architecture Science School of Architecture Washington University St. Louis, Mo. 1960, B. Architecture (first professional degree} School of Architecture Washington University St. Louis, Mo. 1978, Master of Architecture and Urban Design (terminal degree) School of Architecture and Urban Design Washington University St. Louis, Mo. SERVICE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Urban Planning 1975 – 2009 . RETIREMENT May 2009 2 TITLES/RANK/AWARDS Associate Professor, Architecture 1975-2009 2009 Jack and Nancy Bradley Award for Excellence in Teaching ADMINISTRATIVE/CHAIRMANSHIP POSITIONS KU Architecture National AIA/NCARB Educator Coordinator Faculty Council Chair of University Faculty Council FRPR Committee KU Architectural Barriers Committee KU AAUP Board Director, Architectural Studies in Italy—Spannocchia 1994-2005 Elected to Alpha Pi chapter of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Education 3 Kelly: “This is November 30, 2009. I am Pat Kelly, a member of the Oral History Project Committee of the Endacott Society. I am going to be talking with Gaylord Richardson this afternoon. He retired in May of 2009 from the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning. Okay. Gaylord has done his homework, or a lot of it, anyway, so we have something that will be interspersed here. We have your birth and where you grew up and all that sort of thing (see attached outline). I think maybe what would be of special interest would be some of your hobbies that you haven’t elaborated on, and just your thoughts about the department that you were in – suggestions that you might have – people that you worked with that were of interest and such. So, why don’t you tell us about… first, tell us about your hobbies since I mentioned that.” Richardson: “In addition to my interests in architecture, landscape design, environmental issues, and energy conservation, I enjoy fly fishing, fly tying, rod building, aquatic entomology, target shooting, reloading, hunting, model building, graphics, painting, poetry, music, especially folk, jazz, and classical. I keep a library of texts and internet research that covers my wide range of interests. I have a large number of hobbies that most probably go back to childhood, where I enjoyed living in Grand Blanc, Michigan. I lived at 376 Perry Road, very near the City public school. We lived on a wooded nursery that belonged to a gentleman who was in the Navy. I feel the Grand Blanc years were very formative ones. I went from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade there during the pre WWII period to the end of the War. I remember December 7th, 1941 and hearing President Roosevelt’s speech on the radio. My family rented that house on the nursery while my father worked for Fisher body, a General Motors plant in Flint and later at the GM Tank plant in Grand Blanc. The nursery was a great place for a young man to grow up because I could play in the trees and there was a little stream where I could catch frogs and fish right next to the house. I did not have many childhood friends living nearby and learned to entertain myself at an early age. An uncle, who had been a stationary salesman, gave me a carload of samples of stationary and drawing paper. Paper was scarce during WWII, but I had a supply that my parents rationed out to me. This led to my doing a lot of drawing at an early age and eventually may have led me to the profession of architecture. 4 Across the road from us was a farmer’s field. I remember being seven or eight years old and I could venture across these fields. Each field had a big tree in the middle for the farmers to rest in the shade after plowing or harvesting; so I could walk to the first tree across the road in front of my house. At the first tree I could then see a second tree. I would walk to the second tree and then see woods and a clear stream that must have held a lot of trout, but I never saw them as a little boy. I would visit the stream and catch bluegills, and my friends and I would eat our sandwiches, play in the water of the stream, and wave to an older gentleman who lived in a cabin on the other side, who was kind of a throwback to earlier times. He was a trapper and a hermit. We never spoke but always just waved at each other. Sometimes I would see him in town quietly buying supplies. I think that living on Perry Road in Grand Blanc made me very sensitive to the outdoors and to nature. I experienced the contrast of urban and rural living. These adventures taught me to enjoy my independence and the freedom of the countryside. I also believe that these experiences developed my powers of observation, stimulated my curiosity, and fed my vivid imagination. These lessons later served me artistically, scholastically, and in my architectural work. There was a lot of obvious insecurity for children during this era. The atrocities of the enemy and the threat to our nation did not go unnoticed by the young. We participated in scrap drives for salvageable materials, helped with the Victory Garden, and tended the raising of rabbits and chickens for the table. I especially was aware of the sudden rarity of metal toys and the appearance of wood and cardboard substitutes. We resolved these tensions by playing at war, by reenacting battles and digging foxholes in the yard. My father, after work at the tank plant, would take me with him when he would do a little pheasant hunting with bird dogs behind our house. I remember being a child and sitting in the sun on the south side of the house one spring day admiring the tulips, thinking how wonderful it was to be in nature and how much I liked being there, and that I never… I felt very secure outside, and kind of had an epiphany that day, realizing that as long as I was able to be in nature at lengths of time, I felt very secure and very healthy. I’ve re-visited Grand Blanc recently and, of course, it’s changed. The area around the house and nursery is now replaced by Kwik-Shops, offices and with 5 subdivisions. The farmland I crossed is now ‘developed’. There are no pheasants in the countryside and the stream is polluted. There’s very little left of what I enjoyed so very thoroughly. I think it impressed upon me the need to be conservative with land and try to extend the boon of nature as long as we can. We needn’t gobble up the empty space...I hope the value of the natural landscape and the lessons of Issak Walton, John Muir, and Ian McHarg are heeded. We must learn to avoid consuming the earth.” Kelly: “…and cover everything with cement.” Richardson: “That (my need for nature’s balm) proved to be the case even years later when I was living in New York City. New York City may be the ultimate in American urban experience. It offered the best and the worst of urbanity. We were there during the period of political unrest generated by the Viet Nam War and the Civil Rights Movement. This time contained the brief triumph of Modernism as an architectural style followed by the denial of the authority of the architect by the Anti-Establishment forces. This was a troubled time bringing many changes. The American architectural profession has yet to recover its lost prestige. My wife found I was unusually stressed and grouchy if I didn’t get out of the city about every two or three weeks for restorative vacations. I needed a return to nature....and less cement!” Kelly: “...too much cement!” Richardson: “Yes, yes. So by the time the war ended, my father had an opportunity to move to St. Louis where he worked at the GM Fisher Body plant. We lived in Ferguson, Missouri. I didn’t like that very much because the weather was hot and the house was in a suburban neighborhood. It was a shock for me to find my new home was really dense suburban living, even though Ferguson was a nice place to live. I went from the 3rd grade through high school there. While I was in public school, I made many friends with people who shared my enthusiasms, including model airplane building. I actually went through school with a friend who is now a very famous architect, Antoine Predock. We knew each other quite well, and he flew model airplanes in the same park where I flew 6 mine. I also made a friend of Bob Laval who shared a love of the outdoors. His father, Vernon Laval, was my high school English teacher. Mr. Laval, a war veteran, was an excellent teacher and role model. He encouraged us to shoot target competition with .22 rifles for the school team. I did that, becoming a Junior Distinguished Rifleman. That became something that I kept doing. Not only did we shoot well at Ferguson High, but I was also on the Air Force ROTC Rifle Team at the University of Michigan. Even after I was at the University of Kansas, I shot in national matches with high powered rifles at Camp Perry, Ohio, and still do target shooting as sort of as a recreational pursuit.