A Legacy of Thoughtful and Purposeful Design Now retired, Charles “Charlie” Van Over, AIA, designed a legacy of thoughtful and purposeful buildings that are both beautiful and functional. His love of natural lighting was at the center of many of his buildings, focusing on healing the body and restoring the human spirit. Charlie had a long and successful career, with the majority of his time spent at Plan One Architects. At the time of his retirement, he was the president of the firm. He was an active member of AIA WY and was a strong proponent of the association. He held the position of treasurer and was on the Government Advocacy Committee from its inception, helping to get it off the ground and he continues to serve on this committee. After retirement, he served as an AIA Juror for the Honor Awards in 2023. The desire to acquire new skills and his love of learning has carried him well into retirement. He has taken up woodworking, carpentry and building ornate dollhouses that he uses to give back to and bless his friends, family and the community. Charlie often donates his work to charities, like Cowboys Against Cancer, to help raise money for those in need. We recently sat down with him and learned more about his life, career and thoughts on the industry. Charlie was a delight to talk to, and we want to thank him for his time. The following are excerpts from our conversation. When and why did you decide to become an architect? I was born and raised in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. As a young child, I enjoyed drawing buildings and houses. During my late teenage years, I worked for a contractor where I learned how buildings are constructed, how to cut boards, how to place the studs 16 inches on center and how to build the trusses and floor joists. With that knowledge, I would draw up house plans and then build to-scale model stick-frame houses. That was very interesting for me. While I was attending high school, I took several drafting classes and played team sports as well. I did well at both and ended up with an athletic scholarship. However, during my senior year, I was injured and sports were not an option anymore. So I changed my focus and put my efforts into drafting and architecture. Trinidad State Junior College offered a degree in drafting and architectural design and technology, and I applied for a scholarship there. I sent in examples of my drafting work along with a 3D drawing and was awarded a scholarship. When I graduated, I found a job in Rock Springs, Wyoming, with Kellogg and Kellogg Architects. I started work with the idea that in six months I was getting the heck out of Rock Spring as that place was unbelievable. That was in 1975. Now I’m retired and I’m still living here, so I guess it grew on me. Did any architect, in particular, inspire you? The one nationally renowned architect that inspired me the most was Frank Lloyd Wright. I’ve hung on to a lot of philosophies that I took from his work, such as having as much natural light in a building as I could possibly get. I went to great lengths to make that happen, and that isn’t easy, especially in multi-story buildings. But I believe people work better and people are happier when they have natural light in their environment. I’ve worked on many schools, and the project consultants always pointed out that people learn better with natural light. In Wyoming, school buildings are funded by the state. The State has a team of value engineers who critique designs and require elimination of perceived unnecessary items so they’re budget-friendly. It seemed they were always wanting to eliminate my skylights and my clear-story windows which drove me nuts. I won a few of those battles and lost a few. I remember working on a medical facility where we relit the corridors from the outside. We had windows in the exam rooms, and of course, they had to be high enough for privacy. We put transoms above the doors so the natural light could come out into the An Interview with Charlie Van Over, AIA 32 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .24 | www.aia-wyoming.org
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