Paul Kennon

Paul Kennon
420 Seventh Street Columbus, IN 47201

Architect Paul Kennon

From the sixth edition of ‘A Look at Architecture” – dedicated to the memory of Paul Kennon.

Paul first came to Columbus as an associate in Eero Saarinen’s office to work on the Irwin Union Bank & Trust Company Central Office in the early 1950s. He returned to design four major projects built in the community, as well as several buildings elsewhere for Columbus-based clients, over the next forty years.

Through his warmth, enthusiasm, humility, charm, and the sheer power of his ideas, Paul Kennon has had as much influence on the architectural character of the community as any of the architects who have built here.

When he left us, Paul was in the middle of a great experiment in a small town with which he was clearly in love. Extending his participative design process to the realm of urban planning, Paul was the guiding light of an ambitious effort to collect the dreams of the citizens of Columbus for their downtown, to rationalize these dreams into a coherent plan, and then to implement them.

From the New York Times obituary for Paul Kennon:

Paul A. Kennon, an award-winning architect who was dean of the School of Architecture at Rice University, died of a heart attack on Monday at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. He was 55 years old and lived in Houston.

Mr. Kennon, who served as associate director of the school in 1966-67, was appointed dean last September. At the same time, he was senior design principal for CRSS Inc., of Houston, one of the nation’s largest architectural and engineering firms. He had been affiliated with the firm since 1967.

Mr. Kennon designed corporate and institutional buildings. He received more than 100 awards for his designs, including honors from the American Institute of Architects and the magazine Progressive Architecture. In 1976, he was named to the College of Fellows of the institute. Among his most recent works are the Chrysler Technology Center in Austin Hill, Mich., and the 3M/Austin Center, the 3M company’s regional headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Read the original here.

Work by architect Paul Kennon in Columbus, Indiana

Fodrea School
State Street Bank, in transition
AT&T Switching Station
Streetscape

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