Arch Berry Swank Jr. (June 2, 1913 – January 15, 1999) was an American architect.

Biography

Early life

Swank was born in

Wills Point, Texas Wills Point is a city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,747 at the 2020 census. History Founded in 1873, Wills Point derives its name from an early American settler, William Wills, who arrived in the area ''circa'' ...

, on June 2, 1913.Texas Archival Resources Online
/ref> He graduated from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States, situated in East-Central Texas in the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin, ...

in 1936. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

From 1937 to 1941, he worked with architect O'Neil Ford (1905–1982). Together, and alongside

Preston Geren Sr. Preston Murdoch Geren Sr. (November 2, 1891 – September 21, 1969) was an American architect and engineer. Part of a prominent architectural family in Texas, he designed or served as associate architect for many of Fort Worth's most notable buil ...

(1891–1969), they designed the Little Chapel in the Woods in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

. From the end of World War II to 1952, he worked with architect Roscoe DeWitt (1894–1975). Together, they designed buildings of the

Parkland Memorial Hospital Parkland Memorial Hospital is a public hospital located in Dallas, Texas. It is the main hospital of the Parkland Health & Hospital System and serves as Dallas County's public hospital. It is located within the Southwestern Medical Distri ...

, two

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

stores, and

Stanley Marcus Harold Stanley Marcus"Personal" (column), ''The Dallas Morning News'', November 9, 1905, page 5. (April 20, 1905 – January 22, 2002) was president (1950–1972) and later chairman of the board (1972–1976) of the luxury retailer Neima ...

's private residence, all in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Additionally, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, they designed the St. Vincent’s Medical Center. In 1951, he became President of the Dallas chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

. Together with O'Neil Ford,

Richard Stewart Colley Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...

(1910–1983) and planner

Sam Zisman Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional c ...

(1908-1970), he designed the headquarters of

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the Universit ...

in 1958. Together, alongside Felix Candela (1910–1997), they also designed the industrial park for the

Great Southwest Corporation The Great Southwest Corporation, officially abbreviated as GSC was a real estate development company established in January 1956 for the specific creation of the Great Southwest Industrial District. While developing a side project for the industr ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

. He continued a private architectural practise from 1955 to the late 1970s. During that time, he designed the United Presbyterian Homes, a housing project for needy children and the elderly in

Waxahachie, Texas Waxahachie ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020. The city was founded in 1850, and incorporated in 1871. Much of the employment is provided by a number of industries and by ...

. He also designed a detention facility and a courthouse annex in

Kerr County, Texas Kerr County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 52,598. Its county seat is Kerrville. The county was named by Joshua D. Brown for his fellow Kentucky native, Jam ...

Personal life and death

He was married to Patsy Swank, a journalist. He died on January 15, 1999, aged 85, in Dallas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swank, Arch B. Jr. 1913 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American architects Artists from Dallas People from Wills Point, Texas Texas A&M University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II