Evans Woollen III

Evans Woollen III (August 10, 1927 – May 17, 2016) was an American architect who is credited for introducing the Modern and the Brutalist architecture styles to his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Woollen, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture, was active in the field from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s. He established his own architecture firm in Indianapolis in 1955 that became known as Woollen, Molzan and Partners; it dissolved in 2011. As a pacesetter among architects in the Midwest, Woollen, dubbed the dean of Indiana architects, was noted for his use of bold materials and provocative, modern designs.

Some of Woollen's most iconic projects were built in Indianapolis: Clowes Memorial Hall, the Minton-Capehart Federal Building, John J. Barton Tower, Hilbert Conservatory at White River Gardens, and major additions to the Indianapolis Central Library and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Woollen also designed several of the city's notable mid-century modern homes. In addition, Woollen and his firm planned and managed the renovation of several of the city's historic structures, including the Indiana Theatre, the Majestic Building, and Indianapolis Union Station, among others. Major projects outside of Indianapolis included the Over-the-Rhine Pilot Center in Cincinnati, Ohio; Indiana University's Musical Arts Center in Bloomington, Indiana; and the Moody Music Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Woollen was especially known for his churches and college libraries, such as Saint Andrew's Abbey Church in Cleveland, Ohio; the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana; and the Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Early life and education Evans Woollen III was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 10, 1927, to Lydia (Jameson) and Evans Woollen Jr. The Woollen family's ties to Indianapolis date from the 1840s. "Evans" was the maiden name of Woollen III's great-grandmother. Woollen III's father and grandfather, Evans Woollen Jr. and Evans Woollen Sr., were prominent Indianapolis bankers and arts patrons. Woollen was a descendant of Samuel Merrill, a former Indiana state treasurer, and Conrad Baker, a former Indiana governor.

Woollen attended Indianapolis Public Schools and took art classes at the John Herron Art Institute before transferring to The Hotchkiss School, an exclusive preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, during his junior year of high school. Woollen, who later remarked that he had wanted to be an architect since his youth, studied under modern architects Philip Johnson and Louis Kahn at Yale University. In addition, Woollen trained under architects Paul Schweikher and John M. Johansen. Woollen graduated from Yale School of Architecture in 1952, earning a B.A. and an M.Arch. degree.

Woollen apprenticed at Johnson's firm in New Canaan, Connecticut, which was a center for modern architectural design at that time. Johnson was the noted modernist architect of the Glass House in New Canaan. Woollen also worked on his own for two years before establishing his practice in Indianapolis in 1955.

Marriage and family In 1955, Woollen married Nancy Sewell, a psychotherapist, educator, and arts community leader. The Woollens settled in Indianapolis and moved into the former residence of Indianapolis architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr. on North Illinois Street in 1962. The home was also the boyhood home of Vonnegut's son, the noted author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The Woollens were the parents of two sons, Malcolm and Ian. Nancy Sewell Woollen died in 1992.

Following Woollen's retirement from his architectural practice in Indianapolis around 2001, he moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he designed his own home.

Career In 1955, at the age of twenty-seven, Woollen returned to his hometown of Indianapolis to establish his architecture firm, which remained in business for more than fifty-five years. Woollen initially specialized in modern residential designs, but his work soon expanded to include commercial and urban-design projects before he retired in the early 2000s.

Early residential commissions Woollen's early commissions were primarily mid-century modern residences in the International style. One of Woollen's first commissions in Indianapolis was an International-style home for the Perlov family. The symmetrical, one-story, U-shaped residence (ca. 1960–63) was featured in House and Garden magazine. When the International style did not prove to be especially popular among Indianapolis homeowners, Woollen turned to other styles, as well as commission work for commercial projects.

Major commercial projects Between 1962 and 1976, Woollen was commissioned to design some of his best-known works, many of which serve as examples of Modernism and Brutalism architectural styles.

The design for the $3.5 million Clowes Memorial Hall was a controversial one, but Allen Whitehill Clowes, the son of George H. A. Clowes for whom the building is named, supported Woollen's proposal. The thirty-one-year-old Woollen teamed with John M. Johansen, a modernist architect with a national reputation who had been Woollen's professor at Yale and a former classmate of Allen Clowes at Harvard University. Woollen served as the junior partner in the project, but he was the "driving force behind its design and detail." Described by some as "ungainly" and "awkward," it received international coverage in architecture journals for its "inventive take on public housing." The estimated $3.5 million project contained 248 apartment units on twenty floors. The tower's fifteenth floor offered an open public space for use of its residents.

Libraries and churches also became a specialty of Woollen and his firm. The Modernist-style Marian University library (1966) in Indianapolis, Indiana, had a square form with an exposed structural frame and open staircase with stacks arranged around reading areas.

The Minton-Capehart Federal Building was a $20 million project that some have called a "pigeon coop" and "the ugliest building in Indianapolis." Built to fill in the east side of the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, the block-long, six-story structure is raised above grade on large columns. The concrete building is known for its distinctive, horizontal façade that tilts outward as the square footage of each upper floor increases. Graphic artist Milton Glaser designed a graphic rainbow mural that wraps the exterior's base. Many local residents disliked the colorful mural, as well as the building's stark design, but architects have considered it one of the city's few "cutting-edge designs from the 1970s."

Partnership with Molzan In 1968, Woollen formed a partnership with Lynn Molzan, a Tacoma, Washington, native who joined the firm in 1965. The firm was incorporated as Woollen Associates in 1968. It was renamed Woollen, Molzan and Partners in 1982 and dissolved in 2011, several years after Woollen retired. Woollen, Molzan, and their team designed a wide range of projects, including commercial buildings, churches, governmental buildings, and various college and university buildings, among other projects. The IU project, another example of Woollen's interpretation of the Brutalist style, includes work and storage spaces arranged around a cylindrical, 1,500-seat opera house.

Despite his many successful projects, Woollen's outspoken nature cost his firm at least one major commission. Woollen expressed his preference for building the new Indianapolis Museum of Art facility amid the historic buildings in downtown Indianapolis, but the decision was made to build the new art museum at its present-day site northwest of the downtown area. Because he opposed its location, Woollen was not commissioned to design any of the art museum's buildings.

In 2001, Woollen and his firm was commissioned to restore the Indianapolis Public Library's historic Central Library, which was designed by Paul Cret and built in 1917. The planned $100 million project also included a new, six-story curved glass-and-steel structure that connected to the Cret building through an expansive atrium. The project was the firm's largest commission up to that time and the final one before Woollen retired from the firm.

Woollen continued working on architectural projects into his mid-eighties. Among his final projects were a trio of Modernist homes in Hamilton County, Indiana. He once remarked, "If an architect isn't controversial, he can't be very effective." Woollen was also described as outspoken and sometimes stubborn, even when faced with harsh criticism from those who viewed his designs as too modern.

In an active career that spanned from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s, Woollen is noted for his innovative and sophisticated designs that blended with the structure's setting and its history. Some of his most distinctive modern buildings still stand in Indianapolis, including Clowes Memorial Hall, Barton Tower, the Minton-Capehart Federal Building, the west entrance addition to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the White River Gardens Conservatory, and a modern addition to the Indianapolis Central Library, all of which are still in use. Woollen is also known for his churches, including Saint Meinrad Archabbey's monastery and library (Spencer County, Indiana), Saint Andrew's Abbey Church (Cleveland, Ohio), and others, as well as numerous libraries. In addition to commercial projects, Woollen designed some of Indianapolis's notable mid-century modern homes.

Although some of his modern building designs were criticized, such as the Minton-Capehart Federal Building and Barton Tower, most of his designs were praised, especially Clowes Memorial Hall, which he co-designed with John M. Johansen. Clowes Hall is one of Woollen's most iconic projects. Woollen and his firm were also involved in projects outside of Indianapolis, including, among others, the New Harmony Inn (Posey County, Indiana) and Indiana University's Musical Arts Center (Monroe County, Indiana) that are still in use. These major works, among others, serve as a testament to his "adventurous sense of architectural form" and "respect for its visual and community context." was dubbed the dean of Indiana architects. Woollen was the subject of "Building for Meaning: The Architecture of Evans Woollen" (1994), an hour-long documentary film by Terry Black, produced by Spellbound Productions in cooperation with WFYI (TV). In 2010 Woollen's work was featured in a retrospective exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the same week that Indiana Landmarks sponsored a tour of six area homes that he designed. In 2014 Woollen was honored with a reception at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis. In 2015 Woollen was posthumously awarded the AIA Indiana's Gold Medal Award for contributions to the field of architecture, the state organization's highest honor awarded to an individual.

Selected notable projects Perlov residence (ca. 1960–63), Indianapolis Leibman residence (ca. 1962–64), Indianapolis Fesler Hall (1962), Indianapolis Marian University Library (1966), Indianapolis Clowes Memorial Hall (1963), Indianapolis John J. Barton Tower (1967), Indianapolis Saint Thomas Aquinas Church (1968), Indianapolis Indiana University's Musical Arts Center (1972), Bloomington Over-the-Rhine Pilot Center, (1972–84), Cincinnati, Ohio New Harmony Inn (1975), New Harmony, Indiana Minton-Capehart Federal Building (1976), Indianapolis Cushwa-Leighton Library (1981–82) at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana Indiana Theatre restoration (1982), Indianapolis Christ Church Cathedral addition (1983–89), Indianapolis Moody Music Center (1983–90), University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Saint Meinrad Archabbey's monastery and library renovation (1984), Spencer County, Indiana Majestic Building restoration (1984–91), Indianapolis Saint Andrew's Abbey Church (1985–86), Cleveland, Ohio Saint Phillip's Episcopal Church (1986), Indianapolis Indianapolis Union Station main shed restoration (1986) The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, west entrance and atrium addition (1989) Grainger Engineering Library (1987–95), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Holy Cross Lutheran Church (1990), Indianapolis Saint Monica's Church (1993), Indianapolis St. Timothy's Episcopal Church (1968), Indianapolis White River Gardens Conservatory (1999), Indianapolis Indianapolis Public Library, Central Library addition (2007)