Editor’s note: This article was originally published in UTSA newsletter The Discourse in Jan. 1974.
(March 22, 2019) — O’neil Ford sat behind a table in the overfilled front room of the restored Victoria home on King William Street that is the office of Ford, Powell, and Carson. He spoke distinctly—and rapidly—with flamboyant gestures and a great deal of concentration. He paused occasionally to take a puff on his cigar.
He was a different sort of man. He worked strange hours. He wore offbeat clothes. He devoured books on architectural history. If one had not already guessed that he was an artist, his temperament provided the final clue. To Ford, architecture is an art—“the art of building spaces which are to be used—and doing it tastefully, decently, and with a strong idea.”
Ford talked enthusiastically with architect Milton Babbitt about the UTSA campus—how its focus on a plaza is much like that of many old European cities, about the simple buildings made from native materials and about students studying under the oak trees.
>> Read the rest of this story and relive other memories from UTSA’s history as we celebrate UTSA’s 50th Anniversary.
