The Charles W. Moore Archives: Faculty papers,

1950-1992

Biographical Sketch of Charles Willard Moore (1925-1993)

Charles Willard Moore was a renowned architect, writer, teacher, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a winner of the AIA Gold Medal. His use of graphics, color theory, and non-traditional materials made him a leader in the development of postmodern architecture, in company with Michael Graves and Robert Venturi. Two of his most prominent projects are Sea Ranch and Piazza d'Italia. Moore taught at six universities during his career while simultaneously maintaining his architectural practice.

Moore was born on October 31, 1925, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and enrolled in the University of Michigan School of Architecture at the age of 16. He began his teaching career at the University of Utah in 1950. The architecture program at Utah was in its founding stages when Moore joined the faculty, and this provided him with the opportunity to develop an innovative curriculum in architectural history, incorporating his own travel experiences and views on the role of architecture in society.

In 1954, Moore entered the PhD program in architecture at Princeton where he studied with Enrico Peressutti and Louis Kahn. After his graduation in 1957, Moore spent an additional year at Princeton as a teaching assistant before moving to Berkeley, where he served as an Associate Professor and Department Chairman at the University of California. While in Berkeley, Moore and three others co-founded the grassroots architectural firm Moore Lyndon Turnbull Whitaker (MLTW).

Moore incited change in Yale’s architecture department when he became Chairman in 1965. He eliminated the traditional jury presentations, which often created an adversarial relationship between students and professors. He also captured the rising social consciousness of the students in the newly-founded masters programs in environmental design and in the Yale Building Program. The Yale Building Program provided opportunities for students to build community centers, clinics, and affordable housing in impoverished communities, directly connecting architecture to social activism.

In 1975, Moore became a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. His interest in collaboration and cultivating student confidence was exemplified through his architectural firm, Urban Innovations Group. The firm worked with the school to provide a space where students were able to actively participate in the design development and construction monitoring of current projects.

Moore moved to Austin in 1985 for his final teaching position, holding the O'Neil Ford Chair of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1991 he was awarded the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education and the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for the scope and importance of his contributions to architecture. Moore died in Austin, Texas, on December 16th, 1993.

Scope and Content of the collection

Faculty papers is part of the larger Charles W. Moore Archives. It provides extensive insight into the design and teaching philosophies of one of the most prominent architects of the twentieth century. The materials that make up the Faculty papers span Moore's academic life, dating from 1950 to 1992, with the bulk of the records dating from 1965 to 1990. Types of documents found in the series include administrative records, correspondence, course materials, student's work, reference and research materials, and letters of recommendation. These documents address aspects of Moore's academic career at Princeton University; University of Utah; University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles; Yale University; and University of Texas at Austin.

Moore's role as a professor is best illustrated by the course materials found within the faculty series. Handwritten lecture notes, class handouts and syllabi reveal the great span of architectural topics Moore taught throughout his career. His papers show his teaching style as outward-focused and collaborative. Moore presented his students with an eclectic array of styles and traditions and brought in guest lecturers to expose his students to broader trends in architecture. He often arranged class field trips to sites of architectural interest. His academic influence can also be seen in the students' work within the collection, as Moore served as a thesis advisor for a number of master's degree candidates. Topics covered by the masters theses range from studies of popular architectural themes in El Salvador to designs for a revitalization project in York, England.

The memos and letters created and received by Moore illuminate the more organizational aspects of Moore's academic life, particularly in his administrative roles as department chair at University of California, Berkeley and as dean of the School of Architecture at Yale University. He was active in developing departmental agendas, arranging conferences, and hiring new faculty members. In addition, much of Moore's correspondence from his tenure at Berkeley documents his attempts to establish a graduate program in Building Technology, an effort to which he was dedicated but which was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1967, while at Yale, Moore was instrumental in arranging with the Centro Interamericano de Vivienda y Planificacion Program (CINVA) a visitation program for a group of Colombian architectural professors from the University of the Andes, which allowed for the exchange of cultural and architectural ideas.

The Letters of Recommendation section, made up of letters written by Charles Moore throughout his academic career, contains valuable information about Moore. His connections with students are clearly documented in this large body of material, as are his close working relationships with junior faculty members, graduate assistants, and others. In addition, the letters trace Moore's growing importance in the world of architecture throughout his academic career, as the power of his endorsement becomes increasingly evident.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Access is by appointment only to any serious scholar. Collections stored off site or rolled materials that will need to be humidified or flattened for viewing will require a minimum of three days advance notice. Portions of this collection are not processed and may not be accessible.

Restrictions on Use

Permission for publication must be granted by The University of Texas as the owner of the collection. For more information please see the Alexander Architectural Archive's Use Policy.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

The Charles W. Moore Archives: Faculty papers, Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Processing Information

Paper processed by: Ian Collins, Shannon Hildenbrand, Meagan Samuelson, and Mary Wegmann, INF389R - Introduction to Archival Enterprise I, Spring 2011; Donna Coates, Kathryn Pierce, and Tiffany Criswell, Spring 2012

Processing is not completed. Please see Archive's staff for more information.

Detailed Description of the Collection