Robert Hugman
Robert Harvey Harold Hugman (February 8, 1902 - July 1980) was an American architect and the acknowledged visionary behind the San Antonio River Walk.
Hugman was born in San Antonio and graduated from the School of Architecture and Design at the University of Texas at Austin in 1924.[1] He worked in New Orleans from 1924 to 1927.[1] In 1929 Hugman introduced a proposal called, "The Shops of Aragon and Romula,” a beautification and flood-control plan for the city, and kept the proposal alive for seven years until its eventual adoption through 1938 when funding became available from the Works Progress Administration.[2] According to Vernon Zunker, Hugman designed 31 unique staircases for the River Walk and many other features.[3] Hugman established his own architectural office at the River Walk, next to the restaurant Casa Rio established in 1946, despite popular opinion which held that he would be 'drowned like a rat'.
His name adorns the facade of the Clifford Building on the corner of Commerce Street and South Alamo on river level. The Clifford Building was the home of Hugman's office as soon as the riverwalk project was completed by the Works Progress Administration in 1941.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Nawrocki, Susanna (1992). San Antonio:Portrait of the Fiesta City. Stillwater: Voyageur Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 9780896582040.
- ^ Lang, Jon (2005). Urban Design. Oxford: Elsevier/Architectural Press. p. 350. ISBN 9780750666282.
- ^ Zunker, Vernon (1983). A Dream Come True:Robert Hugman and San Antonio's River Walk. Seguin: V.G. Zunker. ISBN 9780963923509.
