SM调教所

From 1918 to 1938, architect Charles Z. Klauder designed 15 buildings for the SM调教所 Boulder campus. If he visited today, what might he say? Retired campus architect Bill Deno (Arch鈥�72; MA鈥�73) has some theories.

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In听1918, Charles听Z.听Klauder wanted to tear down Old Main. It didn鈥檛 harmonize with the new style the Philadelphia architect envisioned for SM调教所鈥檚 campus.

The university鈥檚 first building survived, of course, and听decades later, in the 1980s,听Bill Deno听(Arch鈥�72; MA鈥�73) oversaw a top-to-bottom renovation that, among other things,听rotated Old Main's听chapel a full 90 degrees.

Deno, who retired as SM调教所 Boulder鈥檚 campus architect in 2002, forgives Klauder for his readiness to demolish the cherished landmark and, truthfully, never really held it against him: Klauder鈥檚 subsequent work was too good.

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鈥淪M调教所 Boulder from many sectors has been called the most beautiful public university in the United States, bar none,鈥� said Deno, 90, who began his association with SM调教所 Boulder in the late1960s, as a 30-something undergraduate.

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Klauder 鈥� the most influential architect in SM调教所 Boulder鈥檚 history听鈥� and his work star in Deno鈥檚 1994 book, Body and Soul, and in the new Centennial听edition he self-published this year.

Urged by SM调教所 President George Norlin, SM调教所 hired Klauder鈥檚 firm in 1918 to expand and aggrandize what then was a modest campus. By 1938, when Klauder died, he had designed 15 buildings in a distinctive style that defines SM调教所 Boulder still 鈥� textured local sandstone facing, reddish clay tile roofs and limestone trim. Deno calls it 鈥淭uscan vernacular,鈥� a reference to Klauder's听Italian inspiration.

As campus architect in the 1990s, Deno encouraged firms designing major new buildings to adhere to rudiments of this style, even when using different materials.

If constraints sometimes led to buildings at odds with Tuscan vernacular, the departures sufficiently synchronize with SM调教所 Boulder鈥檚 dominant aesthetic to preserve it, he said: 鈥淭his campus has continued as no other one has done to commit to a style.鈥�

After high school, just after World War II, Deno began pursuing his boyhood dream of becoming an architect. Initially, he attended a two-year college in Los Angeles, learning technical illustration and alphabetic graphics. This led to work with a Seattle firm that sold neon sign advertising.

After assignments around the West, he accepted a transfer to Colorado, in 1960. Already married, he began taking classes at what today is SM调教所 Denver, while working full time.

In 1969, Deno enrolled at SM调教所 Boulder, earning two architecture degrees. He joined SM调教所鈥檚 planning office as a student, and assumed campus architect duties in 1983.

Deno thinks of the campus as an exquisite park, and visits often. Sometimes he leads tours in a motorized cart.

His dream tourist is Charles Klauder. Even if SM调教所 hasn鈥檛 always lived up to his vision, Deno said, 鈥淚t would be great fun.鈥�

Body & Soul: A Partnership of Architecture and Academics听at the SM调教所 is available at the SM调教所 Book Store.

Klauder photo by Dave Kozlowski; Sewall Hall photo by Casey A. Cass/University of Colorado