David Heymann

David Heymann (born 1959) is an American architect, writer, and educator. He is most known for his design of an environmentally friendly house for then–Governor of Texas, George W. Bush, and Laura Bush for their Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford, Texas. Heymann is a contributing writer for Places Journal. In 2014 he published a book of short stories, My Beautiful City Austin. , he is the Harwell Hamilton Harris Regents Professor at University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. recommended Heymann to George W. Bush and Laura Bush to design the new house for their Prairie Chapel Ranch, which later served as their home away from the White House when Bush became president, during which time it was referred to as the Western White House. Heymann designed three adjacent, single-level buildings, all clad in honey-colored native limestone: a three-bedroom house, a two-suite guest house, and a garage building. Heymann worked closely on the design with Laura Bush. "She has a lot of experience from seeing the carefully organized houses that her dad built, and she has a very, very good eye," he says. Combined, the three buildings amount to less than of interior space. A underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from the roof. Wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers is also funneled into the cistern after being purified in underground tanks. The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the buildings. "It's slightly motel-ish, but we love that," Mrs. Bush says.

Honors Heymann's architecture has been published in journals including Architecture, Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, and Texas Architect. His design awards include a PA Award citation from Progressive Architecture magazine in 1994 for the design of Ontario Bible Church (now Oakwood Bible Church), one of two churches Heymann designed in collaboration with Laura Miller and Michael Underhill in Ames, Iowa. In 2000, Heymann was selected by the Architectural League of New York for inclusion in its Emerging Voices series. Heymann received the 13th Annual Heinz Award in the Human Condition in 2007. In 2014, he was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the professional organization for architects in America.

Heymann has been a Visiting Artist / Scholar / Fellow at the American Academy in Rome, the Dora Maar House through the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Rockefeller Foundation at Bellagio, He has been a resident artist in photography at the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and with the Arctic Circle Program. His Places Journal essay "Landscape is Our Sex" was awarded the 2012 Bradford Williams Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

In 2003, Heymann was awarded the 17th annual Friar Centennial Teaching Fellowship (FCTF). Its honorarium is the largest for undergraduate teaching excellence at The University of Texas. Other teaching awards he has received include The Texas Exes Award for Teaching Excellence, the 2002 Award for Outstanding Educational Contributions from the Texas Society of Architects, and inclusion in Design Intelligence's 25 Most Admired Educators in 2017. Heymann is a University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teaching Professor, and an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor.

Personal life Born in 1959 , Heymann received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from The Cooper Union in 1984. He worked for the architects Tod Williams and Associates (now Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects), and I.M. Pei and Partners, before receiving his Master of Architecture Degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University in 1988.