Swank, Arch B. (American architect, 1913-1999)

Arch B. Swank Jr. (1913-1999) was one of the great innovative figures of Texas architecture. He was born in Wills Point, Texas. He graduated in 1936 as a member of the first class to complete Texas A&M's five-year architecture program. 1 Upon graduation he moved to Dallas, where his professional career flourished.

In 1937 he entered a partnership with O'Neil Ford, the architect whose detail drawings Swank had handed out during his first job as a docent at the Southern Pine Association House at the Exposition in 1933~34. 2 The two men worked together with a small group of artisans in a creative workshop, mostly designing residences and researching various aspects of construction. In 1939 he and Ford designed the "Chapel in the Woods" at Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women's University). The building, known for its embodiment of Regional Modernism, was the team's "first significant nonresidential commission." 3

The partnership with Ford dissolved in 1941 when the Army required Swank's service as a commissioned officer in WWII. One year after his discharge, he entered a partnership with Roscoe DeWitt. 4 The architectural firm of DeWitt and Swank emerged as one of the most successful in Texas after the war. Among their most prestigious jobs was the Preston Center branch of Neiman Marcus department stores ( 1952 ), which consisted of 63,000 square feet of luxury shopping space. 5 In 1951 Swank was elected president of the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, promoting the importance of urban design and environmental causes. He returned to individual practice in 1952.

Throughout his career Swank consistently sought out opportunities for innovation and collaboration with others. He worked frequently with O'Neil Ford in the 1950's and 60's. Under the name Associated Architects and Land Planners, Swank, Ford, Richard Colley and planner Sam Zisman designed the semiconductor complex in Richardson (1958) for Texas Instruments. The same team, joined by Mexican architect Felix Candela, also secured the project of the Great Southwest Corporation's industrial park in Arlington (1958). These projects are well known for their innovative hyperbolic paraboloid building structures. 6 At the time of their design no building codes existed which addressed these structures. Swank and his associates constructed a thin concrete hyperbolic paraboloid and performed the load tests themselves. The test shell was a tremendous success, holding two and a half times its design load. 7

From 1955 to 1967, Swank oversaw the design and construction of a complex of buildings, United Presbyterian Homes, in Waxahatchie, Texas, housing a program of care for needy children and the elderly." He continued to work on this project, designing additions for UPH until well into the 1970's. Kerr Couny commissioned other significant projects during this period, including the Correction/Detention Facility and the Courthouse Annex (1974-1979).

He was married to Patsy Swank, an award winning journalist, who has been recognized for her excellent coverage of architecture.

--Randy Jensen.

From the guide to the Arch B. Swank Jr. collection 1992001., 1951-1979, (Alexander Architectural Archive, The University of Texas at Austin.)