From doing the Amertec Office Bldg. -

Though I had various ideas and designs prior to my graduation in 1967, from the University of Oklahoma, it was only after graduation that my personal approach began to be what I consider “unique”. At that time I was extremely fortunate to have a father willing and able to allow me complete aesthetic freedom in the design of an office building for his company (Amertec-Granada, Inc.). This freedom was further enhanced by a local contractor who specialized in the method of construction ideally suited for the freeform aesthetics that was vital to my desire to create.


Besides the freeform aesthetic aspect of this design, was the effort to transcend architecture as a building and create an “organic entity”. By this I mean that by the combination of all aspects of design, from form to color to texture, used in a way as to create a unique Aesthetic Identity that resembles an object of nature. All things in nature have this quality - they are not just form; they are not a design without detailed refinement. This was a quality that I strove to attain in all my work.

 

From doing the pencil comps –

At the same time I was designing the Amertec building, I was also doing pencil compositions. These were an extension of the exercises Bruce Goff established while he was at the University of Oklahoma and consisted of studies in the use of points, lines, and forms. My approach in doing these was to move in a “continuous present” of point by point, with beauty the sole determinant of aesthetic flow - every point, to line, to form was considered a beautiful entity, in and of itself. They were an ever-evolving melodic flow that was at all times spontaneous and intuitive - an emotional, as well as aesthetic, involvement in the evolving development. No elements were pre-established - no thought was given as to what should be done next. All points, lines, and forms evolved in the present moment. “Extemporaneous, Intuitive Flow” then evolved into my aesthetic design philosophy.

 

From doing the clay sculptures -

Also at this time, I did a number of clay sculptures that allowed me to use the same extemporaneous and intuitive flow in the creation of three-dimensional forms. Being spontaneous and intuitive, a freeform aesthetic emerged that I felt was my unique self-expression – I found my own Forms. These were not so much a finite group of forms, but rather an unlimited palette of freeform possibilities. From this evolved the idea that architectural design could be a “Sculptural Flow Evolving from Functional Considerations”.