ORAL HISTORY OF JACQUES CALMAN BROWNSON Interviewed by Betty J. Blum Compiled under the auspices of the Chicago Architects Oral History Project The Ernest R. Graham Study Center for Architectural Drawings Department of Architecture The Art Institute of Chicago Copyright © 1996 The Art Institute of Chicago This manuscript is hereby made available for research purposes only. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publication, are reserved to the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries of The Art Institute of Chicago. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of The Art Institute of Chicago. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface iv Outline of Topics vi Oral History 1 Selected References 266 Appendix: Resume 268 Index of Names and Buildings 270 iii PREFACE "It has been said that a lot of people at IIT were under the influence of Mies—I cannot imagine a better influence… Mies's buildings in steel and glass are only the beginning, not the end of the road. The possibilities are endless—he has opened up a horizon for us." It is well known that Jack Brownson is an architect-builder with a deep and abiding interest in how things go together. His training began early when, as a young boy, he helped his grandfather build barns, sheds and outhouses to survive the Depression, a time he remembers as one of the best of his life. After building several small houses to earn tuition money to study architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology with Mies van der Rohe, some years later, Jacques built his own home for his master's thesis, an award-winning steel and glass structure in Geneva that drew media attention to his talent. He is best remembered in Chicago as the chief designer—Jacques would much prefer to be known as the builder—of one of the most prominent and admired public buildings in the city using the Miesian vocabulary, the forceful and elegant Richard J. Daley Center. Like his mentor Mies van der Rohe, Jacques not only built but also taught: first at IIT and later as chairman of the department of architecture at the University of Michigan, where his educational approach closely followed that of another of his mentors at IIT, Ludwig Hilberseimer. After directing a building program for the Chicago Buildings Commission he moved to Colorado to plan an educational campus in the heart of Denver, again taking his cue from Mies's plan for the IIT campus. Although Brownson has been in Colorado for more than twenty years, the imprint of his training and thinking from his IIT days is so indelible, he has been called a Chicagoan who works in Denver. Surrounded by his allied interests, airplane models he has built, his well-equipped workshop and garage where he reconditions antique Porches, Jacques and I met in his home from December fifth to the ninth, 1994 to record fifteen hours of his first hand recollections. Jacques speaks with authority and humor, often in great detail about events and people of consequence to his work and career, about his ideas and opinions of architects and iv architecture, then and now, and about the architectural community, all set in a social, economic and technological framework of the day. Our sessions were tape recorded on ten ninety-minute cassettes which have been transcribed, reviewed by both Jacques and me, and minimally edited to maintain the flow, tone and spirit of Jacques's informative and at times humorous narrative. This oral history is available for study at Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Brownson has left a national and international paper trail beginning as far back as his student days when his work began to attract attention as one of the most promising young architects in the United States. References that I found helpful in my preparation are appended to the text. I thank Jacques for willingly clearing his calendar and sharing his reminiscences in our intensive recording sessions, some of which were very demanding. I am grateful to him for his cooperation and to both he and Mrs. Brownson for their hospitality. This oral history was supported by a bequest from the estate of Norman Schlossman, with whom Jacques associated with on the Richard J. Daley Center job, and to whom the Department of Architecture is especially grateful for support. Thanks go to Joan Cameron, our transcriber, for her care and skillful contributions in shaping this document. Betty J. Blum August 1996 v OUTLINE OF TOPICS Early Years and Family 1 Century of Progress International Exposition 13 Technology Then and Now 18 Financing Brownson’s Tuition 23 Studying at Armour Institute of Technology, 1941-1942 25 Mies van der Rohe’s Office 34 Opinions of This and That 36 Works Progress Administration 43 World War II: Burma, China, and India 46 Reflections on the War Experience 59 Married, 1946 62 With C. F. Murphy 64 Back to the Illinois Institute of Technology 65 About Hilberseimer and Mies 65 Work for James Speyer 71 This and That 73 The House that Jacques Built 77 More About Hilbs and Mies and Planning Issues 79 Work and Study at IIT 93 The Popular Mechanics House 95 Teaching at IIT 100 Work for Bruno Conterato 111 More Teaching at IIT 113 Master’s Thesis: Building his Glass House 115 Plan for the South Side of Chicago 142 Work for Naess and Murphy 149 Continental Center 159 Chicago Civic Center 169 Illinois Bell Competition 203 University of Michigan 205 Public Building Commission of Chicago 217 vi American Institute of Architects 229 Denver and the Auraria Higher Education Center 235 Reflections and Opinions 257 vii Jacques C. Brownson Blum: Today is December 5, 1994, and I am with Jacques Brownson in his home in Denver. Jacques, you were born seventy-one years ago in Aurora, Illinois, on August 3, 1923. You studied with Mies at IIT for both your master's and your bachelor's. While you were a student, you attracted not only the attention of your fellow students and instructors but also national recognition for construction of your master's thesis, your steel and glass house in Geneva. From the beginning, you seemed to pursue a multifaceted career—that of an educator, an architect and also an administrator of large public projects. In the early seventies, you moved to Denver where you are today. Perhaps in Chicago you are best known for your design of the award-winning Daley Center, building and plaza. One of your colleagues has said about you, "Jacques is a builder. He has a deep concern for how things go together." Your reputation as one of the most respected exponents of the Miesian vocabulary has been indelibly written in architectural history. Could we begin, as far back as you can, to tell your story in your own words? Brownson: Well, I think, first of all, Betty, that to go back and explore this thing with any person, I suppose, you always get a little hesitation when you think about all of the influences and the people that one comes in contact with over his lifetime. As you remarked, I was born in 1923, and the one thing I remember my mother always saying was, "You were born when Warren G. Harding, the president, had died." For some reason I think Warren Harding's death probably was more important than my birth at that time. But anyway, that's not really so, but it was one of the things that I remember. You have to know about the history, particularly of this country, of the time immediately after the First World War and all of the things that were going on worldwide—the work by many of the artists that we know and the movements in architecture, the Tribune Tower competition and all of the different kinds of activities that 1 were happening. I might just give you one indication of the influence of the First World War on me, and that was when I was in high school. I graduated in 1941 from East Aurora High School, and I had always been interested in architecture. Aurora, Illinois, was a city of about 50,000 people—maybe a little smaller at that time. I had never been out of this town of Aurora, which is about fifty miles west of Chicago. It was a rather interesting town because it was the headquarters of the Burlington Railroad, for one thing, with extensive shops. It was one of the first cities in the United States to become fully electrified. It was also involved in the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin railroad, which was the interurban railroad that was the dynasty of Samuel Insull. I was always interested in building because my father was in the retail buildings lumber business. See, it was a retail lumberyard. When I was born shortly thereafter, we lived in a town called Roselle, Illinois. But anyway, I had a mechanical drawing teacher called C.I. "Pop" Carlson. I always liked to draw, and I didn't know anything about architecture and I didn't know anything about art. I kept saying to Pop, "I like to build things, and I think I'd like to study architecture, but I really don't know anything about it. I don't know where to go." Pop said to me, "You know, I have a friend who I haven't seen since we were in the Navy together in the First World War. He's an architect in Chicago. I'll call him and we'll go in and see him." So, one day we went in Carlson's car, and we arrived at 333 North Michigan Avenue in the office of Jerry Loebl.