William J Conklin

William J. Conklin (May 2, 1923 – November 22, 2018) was an American architect and archaeologist. In the field of architecture, he is best known as the designer of the U.S. Navy Memorial and co-designer of Reston, the planned community in Virginia. His work in archaeology focused on Incan textiles, Quipus, and textile preservation techniques used in unwrapping the Incan mummy Juanita.

Early life William J. Conklin was born in 1923 in Hubbell, Nebraska. His father J. E. Conklin was a local banker and state legislator. Conklin attended the Phillips Exeter Academy and, in 1944, he graduated with a degree in chemistry from Doane College, where he was the president of the student council. After completing his classes, instead of attending the graduation ceremony he immediately joined the United States Navy, serving as an electronics technician in the Pacific during World War II. He was stationed on a ship off the coast of Japan which recorded signals emitted from the first nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In 1950 he earned a master's degree in architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Butterfield House in New York (1962) Whitman Close Townhouses (1967) UN-sponsored master plan for Dodoma, Tanzania (1967–1972) Brooklyn Borough Hall (renovation 1980–1989) Myriad Botanical Gardens (1993), which survived the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing despite being located only 1,500 feet from the Murrah Federal Building

While an advocate of historic preservation, he also advocated for modern updates such as painting New York's Ward's Island Bridge in bright colors.

Archaeology

After a trip to Machu Picchu in Peru, Conklin became fascinated with Incan textiles. Conklin's work preserving Incan textiles was demonstrated in the process of unwrapping the Incan mummy Juanita, which was documented in an episode of the PBS series Nova, Ice Mummies: Frozen In Heaven.

He credited his long-time interest in historic textiles to his Nebraska grandmothers' tradition of quilt making; to the wife of a Doane professor who taught him to weave; and to his acquaintance with Junius Bird of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Personal life Conklin met Barbara Mallon at Doane College. In his junior year he led the senior graduation parade with Barbara.

Selected publications

William J. Conklin, "The Information System of Middle Horizon Quipus", The New York Academy of Science, May 1982 William J. Conklin, "Notes on the Butterfield House", New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, 2005 Conklin, W. J., Quilter, J., Chavín: Art, Architecture, and Culture, 2008,