Alan Liddle (1922 to 2009)

6 comments

• M michael buchanan May 18, 2009

  I did not know him personally, but he was a very important in the modernist movement. In my earlier life I majored in architecture at the UofW. As further confirmation that my mind is going, last week I went to Seattle for a special presentation on Wendell Lovett one of my favorite architecture professors and a contemporary of Liddle. When got to Gould Hall I could not understand why no one was there. I was two weeks early!

• R Robert Jacklin May 19, 2009

  Starting in 1972, fresh from graduating in Architecture at California State Polytechnic University I went to work for Alan.

  I became his junior partner in 1977 and a full partner in 1982. Until his full retirement in 1998 we shared our office at 703 Pacific Avenue as Liddle and Jacklin Architects.

  Alan graduated in Architecture from the University of Washington with an additional year in school in Switzerland after serving in Germany for a time in the army after the war, soaking up modernism and the architecture of Alvar Alto.

  When Alan went into private practice it was with Bob Jones, a friend from school. The University of Washington Marine Sciences building was an award winning product of that partnership.

  Alan never aspired to a large practice but preferred smaller projects where he could work closely with the clients and enjoyed the process of design and coordinating with the craftsmen builders we were fortunate to find. Many clients became good friends. His roots were in Tacoma and he was its constant champion, seeing the potential in its rebirth. It is gratifying that after many years of effort and false starts he lived to see it taking place.

  In recognition of his exceptional design talent and his efforts to improve the community through his advocacy of historic renovation and involvement in the arts, particularly the Tacoma Art Museum he was elected by his fellow architects to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. To become an FAIA Architect is a special honor that few attain and every member of the American Institute of Architects hold in highest professional regard.

  Alan’s intense interest in the importance of good modern design and his special interest in the preservation and reuse of historical architecture was many years ahead of the preservation movement. His was one of the few voices that spoke out against blanket “urban renewal” that demolished swaths of downtown Tacoma in the 60’s culminating in the demolishing of the Pierce County Courthouse. He realized the history of Tacoma is included in its built fabric and to demolish the buildings is to demolish the physical links to this history.

  He spearheaded the establishment of the Tacoma Landmarks Preservation Commission that formalized the process within the city administration of designating historic buildings and districts and helping building owners qualify for the tax breaks that made so much historic preservation possible.

  His stand on this issue has been vindicated when we observe that so much of the revilization of downtown Tacoma is built aoround it’s historic buildings and neighborhoods, from the Union Depot with its museums and University of Washington Tacoma to the Old City Hall historic district.

  At the same time he designed in an northwest modern style that did not follow architectural fads and was grounded in the materials and environment of the northwest, with respect for it’s light and views.

  Even while a student at the University of Washington he started to build a cabin near the western entrance to Mount Rainier on land owned by his family. Hauling in rocks with an army surplus jeep and spending as much time studying what he was building as it took to build. He learned about building and developed a great respect for those who can build well and from the heart.

  Over more than thirty years he added to it in stages. It is a masterpiece of northwest architecture, fitting into its site at the top of a cliff overlooking the mountains to the south. This cabin was featured on the cover of Sunset Magazine and was used regularly for most of Alan’s life until near the end it became very difficlt to get to it, and to enjoy the regular hikes from it.

  For his cabin he received a Twenty Five Year AIA Honor Award, twenty five years after its first. It is a great building that has not become dated.

  Alan divided off most of the land at the cabin and gave it the National Park Service in order to protect the view of the entrance to Mount rainier National Park. It could never be developed into the type of commercial blight common to entrances to National Parks.

  For many years he was a board member of the Tacoma Art Museum and a substantial contributor to the new museum. After arguing successfully for a public stair to the lower parking lot the stair has been named in his honor. :o)

  Alan enjoyed traveling to the four corners of the world and the company of lifelong friends.

  For fifty years he sent a customized Christmas Card featuring his travel and other adventures, always funny, to his friends and clients. Two years ago he sent the last card. It was a compilation card that had miniatures of all fourty nine previous ones connected to a time line. With the line “that’s all folks” spoken from Porky the Pig as a final goodbye to his Christmas Card regulars.

  His passion for architecture and life and his integrity in his professional and personal life set a very high standard.

• K Karen May 19, 2009

  I grew up with Alan always in the background. My dad had the privilege of working with him early in his career, as did many local architects. I recall the fight to save the old city hall from demolition, with Alan in the lead. The memory has lost its accuracy, but I think there were protests and threats to chain people to the building if the wrecking ball started to swing….

  This building is one of many still standing in Tacoma thanks to Alan. His legacy will continue not only in the physical space here, but in the leadership lessons he gave us for standing up for what he believed in and the belief that the old can mix with the new to make a better future.

  And his cabin was spectacular in the 60’s, quite a treat for a 10-year-old to visit. It is true his Christmas cards were always one of a kind. I hope someone saved them all!

  Does anyone know if there will a public service in his honor?

• E Ed May 20, 2009

  Liddle’s 1962 “Home of Living Light” world’s fair exhibit survived until recently as a Restaurant on Olympia’s waterfront. It burned in 2005, I believe. It is now the site of Anthony’s Hearthfire.

• F Federico Cellini May 20, 2009

  I knew Alan and his collaborators – I remember Paula and Robert – when I was a “young italian architect” visiting his office for a short time more tha 20 years ago: his memory always is alive in me especially when we discussed about my beloved “european boxes” as he called rationalist houses….
  A gentle man and a “real architect”.
  dott.Arch. Federico Cellini

• J Jbal May 21, 2009

  I worked at Tacoma Art Museum while Alan was on the board and have fond memories of him. I was going to tell the story about the Liddle Staircase but Robert beat me to it. He certainly cared deeply about the museum.