Series 5 - Early employment

1.81 m of records [textual, graphic, architectural drawings]

This series documents Professor Richards early years in the architecture profession, beginning with his work as a designer for The Architects Collaborative, Inc. (TAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1967-1972), as a part-time instructor in Architecture at Garland Junior College in Boston (1968-1971), as assistant professor at the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (1972-1973), and his private practice in Boston, Florence (Italy) and New Haven (1971-1975). The files are grouped by employment activity in chronological order.

The series begins with files on two competitions. The first, in 1968, was an annual architectural competition sponsored by Pittsburgh Plate Glass. Richards’ unsuccessful entry was influenced by the work and style of Paul Rudolph, whose Art and Architecture building at Yale University was one of the reasons he went there for his masters degree . In 1971 Richards’ competed, again unsuccessfully, for the Rosch Travelling Scholarship with a design for a subway station.

Most of the files document his design work with TAC, including background material for the addition to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts (the original
correspondence and drawing are with the Institute), the new headquarters of the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC, and the IBM building at East Fishkill, New York. Included is correspondence, memoranda, sketches, architectural drawings and photographs.

Richards’ work in private practice is represented primarily in Series 9: Buildings and project. The series ends with files on the teaching of a course in architecture at Garland Junior College, his employment at Ball State University, and a course he gave at Ipswich High School in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1974 with Urban, who taught there. Included is correspondence, course outlines, lecture notes, press coverage and photographs.

This series also contains several files on Fred Urban’s employment, especially at Chemsford Senior High School and Ipswich High School, and inquiries about employment. These files may be compared to others on Urban’s employment in accession B2007-0012. The series ends with several files on Frederic Urban’s employment.

Material in each of the three accessions is arranged loosely by project and chronologically. Please see file listing for additional details.

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