www.fortwortharchitecture.com<\/a>), which documents just about every significant structure in the city, including every building downtown. He began the project in 1997.<\/p>\n\u201cI first started out with just a list of downtown buildings with their dates and their architects and their address,\u201d Roberts says. \u201cIt will never be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I press him about how many he has documented, he says, \u201cI really don\u2019t know. It\u2019s always changing. I am adding from time to time, and, of course, I expanded to cover the whole city, which was a big undertaking. And maybe I shouldn’t have done it in hindsight, but still, it’s fun to just keep working on it. It\u2019s a work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some buildings are just listed, while others, like the Landmark Tower, have full descriptions.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s learned through the years of his exhaustive research that architects in the past copied some of their designs \u201clike we do today as architects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renowned Fort Worth firm Sanguinet & Staats designed three versions of the neoclassical Burk Burnett Building, which resides in Sundance Square. This was the third such building designed by Sanguinet & Staats. The American Amicable \u2014 ALICO \u2014 Building in Waco is 22 stories, with a different color scheme. It opened in 1911. The Rand Building in San Antonio, opened in 1913, is only eight \u201cbut is an almost exact duplicate of the Burk Burnett.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts also has vast files of photos of buildings. He\u2019s been shooting for decades. He has been very steadily converting those to digital. It\u2019s a process. He estimates he has taken thousands of photos since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
To no surprise, Roberts\u2019 favorite structures are those designed in the acclaimed art deco style made notable here by architects Wiley Clarkson and Wyatt Hedrick, whose fingerprints are all over the Fort Worth skyline.<\/p>\n
Hedrick\u2019s notable designs include the Texas and Pacific Terminal and Warehouse (1931), Will Rogers Memorial Center (1936), and the 1938 City Hall. A number of buildings at TCU and Texas Wesleyan were also designed by Hedrick.<\/p>\n
Clarkson designed the original building at THR Harris Downtown, Trinity Episcopal Church, the Sinclair Building, and North Side High School.<\/p>\n
Roberts lends his expertise to Historic Fort Worth Inc. as a member of the nonprofit\u2019s board of directors. He has been in service for more than 20 years, as well as stints as chairman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funny thing about that is, is that we have term limits, but they haven’t thrown me off yet,\u201d says Roberts, who adds, laughing, that he has also served more terms as chairman than he thought he was supposed to.<\/p>\n
He is obviously a devoted advocate of preservation.<\/p>\n
One of his chief concerns is the eight-story Texas & Pacific Warehouse on Lancaster downtown, another building designed by Hedrick, in association with Herman Koeppe. It has been vacant for years and is high among Historic Fort Worth Inc.\u2019s list of endangered buildings.<\/p>\n
The building has less ornamentation than its sibling, the Texas & Pacific Railway Terminal, a block to the east, but it\u2019s still a \u201cgreat example of the Zigzag Moderne style,\u201d Roberts writes on Architecture in Fort Worth. \u201cIt features inlaid panels of blue tile, ornamental brickwork, and polychrome brick.\u00a0The polychrome brick has many patterns typical of the art deco period. The exterior of the building is marked by octagonal corner towers and intermediate roof towers, similar to the passenger terminal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Says Roberts in our conversation: “Once we lose a historic building or house, they’re gone forever. And if we preserve them, then we’re preserving our history.”<\/p>\n
Roberts is a popular contributor to \u201cFort Worth, Texas, History,\u201d a page on Facebook. He is the authority on the topic of Fort Worth architecture. He also has a widely used forum on Architecture in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
Moreover, he has a couple of recurring meetings each month. On the last Friday of every month, he calls a gathering at Benito\u2019s on Magnolia to talk Fort Worth architecture, history, or whatever else comes to mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to stick to the subject, but we don’t always,\u201d he says. \u201cLast week we talked a lot about some of the new projects coming up. And then we also talked about a guy\u2019s new Subaru Crosstrek. Anything and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the second Saturday of the month, he helps lead downtown walking tours. Those start at 9 a.m. at the T&P terminal building.<\/p>\n
More evidence of John Roberts\u2019 life as a devoted disciple of architecture in Fort Worth. It\u2019s important work and an important resource for researchers, students, historians, and preservation groups. So much so that he has plans to pass on Architecture in Fort Worth when his days of documenting are over.<\/p>\n
Administration of the site will either go to Historic Fort Worth Inc. or the American Institute of Architects.<\/p>\n
Or both.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll go to either organization. Or both. But I do want them to continue the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
JOHN ROBERTS\u2019 FAVORITE BUILDINGS IN FORT WORTH<\/strong><\/p>\nAt least these were his favorites when I asked him. \u201cIt varies from day to day and year to year,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The Texas & Pacific Railway Terminal<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIt is probably the grandest art deco building we have in the city.\u00a0The detailing on the building is fantastic, and the beauty of the main waiting room is extraordinary. Wyatt C. Hedrick, with Herman P. Koeppe as designer, planned this monumental railroad complex on the south end of downtown in 1931. The complex consisted of three functions, a railroad passenger terminal, an office building, and a separate warehouse facility. The entire complex was designed in the Zigzag Moderne style of art deco. Land was also given to the United States Postal Service to build a new post office. That building was completed in 1933 but was not designed in the art deco style.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Sinclair Building<\/strong><\/p>\nThis 16-story building, designed by Wiley G. Clarkson and built by Harry B. Friedman, is one of Fort Worth’s finest examples of art deco architecture. The building is more specifically of Zigzag Moderne styling and features many ziggurat elements on doorways, windows, and even in the shape of the building. The lobby is an excellent example from this period. On the 14th floor, eagle finials cap the vertical elements of the building’s shaft.\u00a0 On top of the 16th floor penthouse, the vertical mullions are capped with alternating height pinnacles. It opened on Monday, Nov. 17, 1930. In 1990, the building was completely restored by architect Ward Bogard.<\/p>\n
Tarrant County Courthouse<\/strong><\/p>\nModeled after the Texas Capitol in Austin with pink granite, the 1895 Tarrant County Courthouse is one of architectural masterpieces of the city, according to Roberts. It serves as the terminus of Main Street, and it sits high on the bluff of the Trinity River. It was designed by Gunn and Curtiss Architects of Kansas City. \u201cIt is a striking example of American Beaux Arts Design.\u201d The general contractor was Probst & Co. of Chicago.\u00a0One of the first structural steel-framed buildings built in the southwestern U.S.<\/p>\n
Kimbell Art Museum<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cThe Kimbell Art Museum is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of modern architecture that we have in the city.\u00a0I love the way Kahn played with the vaults and the lighting within the galleries.\u00a0The building will stand the test of time.\u201d The last project by architect Louis Kahn before his death in 1974, the design is considered by many as the best piece of architecture within the city of Fort Worth.\u00a0The building consists of a modular arrangement of 16 cycloid vaults. They are constructed with post-tensioned concrete. Preston M. Geren Associates served as associate architect. Thos. S. Byrne was general contractor. The building opened on Oct. 4, 1972.<\/p>\n
Will Rogers Auditorium, Coliseum, and Pioneer Tower<\/strong><\/p>\nArchitect Wyatt C. Hedrick designed the three buildings for the Texas Centennial celebration in 1936 using a mixture of classical revival and moderne styles. Thos. S. Byrne of Fort Worth was the general contractor.<\/p>\n
The complex features three buildings: an auditorium, a coliseum, and a 208-foot tower that sits between them. All buildings are constructed with buff-yellow brick. The structural engineer for the project was Herbert M. Hinckley. The coliseum was the first building designed with arched trusses joining at a ridge in the center, allowing the interior to be completely free of columns. Modern domed stadiums are based on the engineering design used here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architecture and design are to John Roberts like coffee is to Monday morning. Or blueprints are to a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,2513,57860,7371,7372,76111,472,13814,358,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-164152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-architecture","10":"tag-art-deco","11":"tag-fort-worth","12":"tag-fortworth","13":"tag-historic-preservation","14":"tag-history","15":"tag-john-henry","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-top-story","18":"tag-tx","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115067589537719250","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}