Ford, Powell & Carson Architects & Planners, Inc.

Ford, Powell & Carson's history reflects the colorful and unique history of San Antonio. The firm's founding partner, O'Neil Ford, came to San Antonio in 1939 as an architect for the National Youth Administration. Working with the San Antonio Conservation Society, he directed the restoration of historic La Villita on the banks of the San Antonio River. The early postwar years of the firm's practice were characterized by innovative designs for “solar houses” with natural ventilation and calculated shading. The firm designed primary and secondary schools during the post-war Baby Boom era and participated in the explosive growth of university education with the design of Trinity University in 1948, a practice that continued into the early 1980s. This was followed by the design of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Skidmore College in upstate New York. Design for higher education remains a major specialty of the firm's practice with planning and design projects on twenty university campuses. In addition to higher education, the firm has had specialty practices in residential design since the late 1930s; planning and urban design since the late 1940s; in religious architecture since the 1950s; in theatre and assembly space design since the 1950s; in historic preservation since 1965; and in interior design since the 1970s. Many of the iconic buildings and places in San Antonio, such as the Tower of the Americas, the Alamo and the Spanish colonial missions, Trinity University, the Urban Segment of the Museum Reach of the River Walk, San Fernando Cathedral and many others were designed or restored by the firm.