When did you decide to become an architect? I can’t recall a time when I didn’t think about becoming an architect. My parents recognized it and really helped support that interest. I was given books on architecture — Wright, Kahn, Leonardo, Boullee, Michelangelo — and every family vacation incorporated some architectural experience. When you went to school to be an architect, where’d you go? I started at the University of Utah right after graduating from Ogden High School, intending to pursue a degree in architecture. At the time, the University of Utah’s School of Architecture offered only a Master of Architecture degree, which required a major in another undergraduate discipline. Initially, I decided to major in art, but during my foundation year, I started taking many art and architectural history courses. I loved those courses and decided to switch my emphasis from studio art to art history. My background in art and architectural history was especially helpful in architecture school, where postmodernism and the use of historic precedent were becoming increasingly influential among many faculty. This historical perspective gave me a clearer understanding of the cultural, political, geographical and economic forces shaping contemporary architecture — a perspective that continues to drive my work. When I started the master’s program in 1977, there was a lot of tension between faculty members schooled in modernism and newer faculty members who shared their views on postmodernism, which were in some ways in conflict with each other. I recall a studio co-taught by John Sugden, one of the preeminent modernists in Utah, and Bob Hermanson, a leading advocate of postmodernism. Our studio was working on a very large-scale project: a design for support housing for a proposed power plant on the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah. Listening to their lectures at the start of each studio session provided a study in ideological contrast that often continued into the desk crits. It was a very illuminating experience for me. You graduated in 1980, a tough time for architects. Job prospects were limited. I was interviewed by Skidmore Owings Merrill (SOM) in my last year of school. They were opening a new office in Houston. Richard Keating, a University of Utah alumnus, was recruiting at the U. His message was, fundamentally, “You won’t find a job anywhere else, so why don’t you come and take a position in Houston with SOM?” However, at the time I graduated, my plan was to go back and pursue a degree in urban design. To that end, I hoped to find a temporary position locally until I was ready to go back to school. I received an offer from a firm in Ogden that I thought would be a good short-term position. The firm was Mathewson and Sanders, which — at the time — was a five-person office. I liked the firm and the people so much that I ended up staying there for the next 20 years. As a small office, it gave me both broad experience and an opportunity to hone my skills as a designer. Ogden also gave me the opportunity to become involved in nonprofit work. I served on the Ogden Arts Commission, where I helped launch its public art program. I also served on the boards of the Ogden Nature Center, the Ogden Symphony Ballet Association, Preservation Utah and the Advisory Board of the Weber State University Department of Art. There, I chaired the committee to create the university’s new Kimball Visual Arts Center. I also served as the co-chair of the Ogden General Plan update in 2000, which led to a 20-year stint serving on the Ogden Planning Commission. Those years were wonderful. After Don Matheson, one of the partners, left the firm to work at DFCM as a project manager, I became partners with Mike Sanders. What do you wish architecture school had taught you before going into practice? I thought they did a good job of teaching me the fundamental distinction between architecture and mere building. On the Above and below: Gallivan Center Plaza, Salt Lake City 9
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