Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Texas A&M's College of Architecture has recognized seven of its former students as outstanding alumni and will honor their achievements and excellence in professional leadership with a ceremony and dinner at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Miramont Country Club in Bryan.
The college has bestowed the designation on less than one percent of its more than 14,000 graduates.
“The outstanding alumni we honor this year, as well as those who have been recognized in previous years, are pioneers and leaders in their respective fields in the professions and industries dealing with the natural, built and virtual environments,” said Jorge Vanegas, dean of the college. “Through the generation of new knowledge and innovations, supported by extraordinary talent, abilities and skills, and fueled by a relentless pursuit of excellence, these honorees have advanced their disciplines and their organizations. Through their multiple accomplishments,” he continued, “they have also advanced the reputation of the College of Architecture and of Texas A&M University. More importantly, these extraordinary individuals serve as role models for current students as they plan their own futures.”
The 2010 College of Architecture Outstanding Alumni are: David Applebaum '80, David Bomba '84, Walter Dahlberg '62, Helen Keaton '85, Bill Swango '49 (posthumous award), and David Zatopek '85.
David Applebaum ’80David Applebaum ’80 (BED), founder and principal of David Applebaum Architect, has established himself as one of the preeminent architects in Southern California. Cuba Gooding Jr., Diane Keaton, Frank Sinatra, Rupert Murdoch, Brad Grey, Bob Hope, Kyle MacLachlan, Adrienne Barbeau, Hiro Yamagata and Shari Lewis are just some of the famous clients who have chosen Applebaum to design their homes.
High-profile clients for commercial projects include Quincy Jones, Esprit and Virgin Records.
Through his interdisciplinary studio, Applebaum, widely known as “Architect to the Stars,” creates works that blend architecture, interior design and landscape design into one complete design. His designs are an expression of the life and taste of each client; every commission is a uniquely choreographed blend of the client’s dreams, the setting’s personality and the architect’s insight.
Prior to opening his Bel Air, California studio, he established his credentials and reputation at the architectural offices of Edward Grenzbach and Franklin Israel in Los Angeles and Joe D’Urso in New York.
He’s been a guest lecturer and critic at numerous colleges and universities, and is a contributing architecture/design/lifestyle writer for The Huffington Post.
Applebaum’s stature as a designer has led to appearances in several television shows, including a turn as a featured performer on Bravo Television’s “Launch My Line.” He is currently producing several television shows about architecture, design, green living and lifestyle.
His bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M came with a Magna Cum Laude distinction. He earned a Master of Architecture degree from UCLA in 1984, where he was awarded Best Thesis Project.
David Bomba ’84David Bomba ’84 (BED) has become a sought-after production designer in the film industry with a resumé that includes a long-string of critical and commercial successes.
His work on the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line” snared an Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design.
In his role on “Walk the Line” and other motion pictures, Bomba is a key member of the moviemaking team, responsible for the film’s overall look. He works directly with the film’s director and producer, selecting the settings and style to visually tell the story.
Bomba created 90 different sets for the film, including residences and venues across the nation where Cash toured with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Waylon Jennings and June Carter. In one of his most unusual transformations, he recreated the legendary but now defunct Mint Hotel in Las Vegas from a 15 year-old casino in Mississippi.
More of Bomba’s work can be seen in the upcoming films “Country Strong,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw, and “The Company Men” starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones.
His work on the 1998 HBO film “Gia,” starring Angelina Jolie, was nominated for an award for Excellence in Production Design from the Art Directors Guild.
His other design credits include “The Wendell Baker Story;” “Secondhand Lions;” “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood;” “My Dog Skip” and “Safe.”
Bomba’s art direction credits include “Apollo 13,” “Twilight,” “Serial Mom,” “Silent Fall,” “A Civil Action” and “Chain Reaction.”
“Apollo 13,” which told the tale of the troubled 1970 moon-bound mission, and the engineers that rescued it with skill and dedication, received an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction; the film captured the honor from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Bomba learned about the valuable role of design in film from his friend and mentor, George Jenkins, who received an Oscar for Best Art Direction in the 1976 film “All the President’s Men.”
Walter Dahlberg ’62Walter Dahlberg ’62 BSLA, recognized as one of the Southwest’s leading landscape architects and planners, is chairman and senior landscape architect at Lambert Landscape Company in Dallas, the oldest landscape architecture firm in the state.
His extensive practice experience has ranged from large scale urban planning and design to major commercial and institutional development, urban transportation corridor planning, campus planning and design, regional parks planning and design and residential garden design throughout the South and abroad.
His current focus is on the planning, design, and implementation of large- and small-scale projects, enabling him to focus his energies and talents in the design and build arena for high-end residential garden developments.
During a 1971-87 stint at Myrick Newman Dahlberg, he contributed a 1973 master landscape development plan for the Texas A&M campus and the site design of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin.
They were just two of many projects for the firm, with offices in Dallas, Austin, Houston, Tucson and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that captured many regional and national awards and honors for work throughout the United States, Mexico and the Middle East. He is most proud of the hundreds of co-workers and associates who passed through MND and proceeded to start or help build some of the most outstanding firms in the nation.
Dahlberg served in the U.S.Air Force, attended the Air Force Institute of Technology and continues his education through his civic, institutional, volunteer and design activities. His practice of landscape architecture, urban planning and design and development planning has enabled him to have a positive impact on thousands of lives both nationally and internationally.
He has served his profession and the community in a number of arenas, as a member of the Dallas chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and associate member of the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association, and chairman of the board of the Dallas Nature Center.
Helen Keaton ’85Helen Keaton ’85 BDCR, vice-president of estimating and preconstruction services for Joeris General Contractors, has played a key role in helping the firm become the San Antonio area’s second-largest contractor with a yearly volume of $250 million.
Keaton, who oversees projects from the concept to the bid process, is well known for her integrity, fairness and ability to get the job done. She has twice been recognized as an outstanding project manager by the American Subcontractor Association and has served as the Associated General Contractors’ San Antonio chapter president.
“Her personal involvement has consistently been the key to our success in positive project outcomes,” said Don Ryden, vice president of capital management and real estate for the Baptist Health System. “Her astute knowledge of the construction sciences and problem solving ability are great assets to her clients.”
Ryden added that Keaton’s involvement in all project functions in the Baptist system’s past 20 renovation projects, with a total value exceeding $20 million, was the common thread in the their successes.
Before her current post as part of the firm’s executive management team, she was managing award-winning projects for Joeris while developing a reputation as a thorough manager who never compromised on quality. Her natural penchant for details led her to the critical position as leader of the company’s estimating and pre-construction staff.
Keaton serves on the board of directors for three education and mentoring organizations: the Southwest High School Career & Technology Advisory Council, the Southwest Education Foundation, and the Hispanic Contractors of San Antonio. She has also held the position of President for the San Antonio Chapter of the Associated General Contractors.
She’s on the Texas A&M Department of Construction Science Construction Industry Advisory Council, and is the chairwoman of the council’s curriculum committee.
Billy J. Swango, ’49*Billy J. Swango, ’49 BARC, an innovator in the design of buildings’ outer covering systems, was the founder and owner of Olden and Company, a world-renowned building envelope contractor in Dallas. He is receiving posthumous honors from the college.
His firm designed, fabricated and installed the curtain wall and envelope systems of some of America’s most distinctive high-rise buildings, including the Hyatt Regency Dallas Hotel and Reunion Tower, Chase Tower in Dallas and St. Luke’s Medical Tower in Houston.
“Without Bill’s total grasp of the geometry and design of the Hyatt Regency, which had 64 separate elevations and over 14 acres of high-performance reflective glass, the project would not have been built,” said Gary C. Coffman, senior vice president of Woodbine Development Corporation.
Swango provided innovative and practical solutions to complex geometric problems on these and other designs with his unique grasp of their aesthetic and practical aspects.
After earning his degree from Texas A&M, Swango accepted a commission in the U.S. Army, serving at the White Sands, New Mexico, Proving Ground and Korea before retiring as a first lieutenant in 1953.
Swango co-founded Olden and Company as a two-man moonlight operation in 1959 that, under his direction, grew to a 500-employee, multi-million dollar firm. The firm also contributed to notable projects such as San Antonio’s USAA insurance complex, the Wilshire Landmark II in Los Angeles and Liberty Place in Philadelphia.
He was a nationally-recognized expert in the glazing field, receiving U.S. Patent No. 3,968,608 for his invention, “Curtain Wall Panel Support,” a structural neoprene gasket system for 1-inch insulating glass.
After closing Olden and Company in 1991, Swango continued to work as a building envelope consultant for more than 10 years in building construction and renovation throughout Texas. Swango died in March 2009.
Bill Wilson ’78Bill Wilson, ’79 (BED) FAIA, has been shaping Texas public project delivery law for more than a decade. A founding principal, vice president and studio director for WKMC Architects Inc., an architectural firm with offices in Corpus Christi, Dallas, and Austin, Wilson’s primary focus is the management and design of educational facilities and other public building projects.
His impact on project delivery law stems from his interest in political, government and industry affairs at the state level; he’s been active in community and professional affairs for more than 25 years.
Wilson is in the eighth year of the master planning, programming, budgeting and management of a $108 million building program at Del Mar College. His design and planning of the new Garcia Library in Corpus Christi was recognized for excellence in all six criteria of the 2009 Exhibit of School Architecture.
He has served for more than a decade on the board of directors and executive committee of the Texas Society of Architects, with a term as its president in 2001. Elevated to the American Institute’s College of Fellows in 2004, Wilson is one of two regional directors from Texas serving on the AIA’s national board.
Among his many presenations were “Political Power and the 2009 Legislative Session,” a presentation to the Texas Society of Architects, “A Seven-Year Program for a Community College,” at a 2008 meeting of Corpus Christi’s community college business officers, and “Know Your Project Planning and Delivery Options” at the 2004 Texas Association of School Boards convention.
WKMC Architects endows the Horace B. McCord Scholarship for architectural students from south Texas through the Texas Architectural Foundation.
David Zatopek ’85David Zatopek ’85 BED, vice president at Corgan Associates, has provided project leadership, design direction and planning expertise to award-winning projects including higher, primary and secondary education, aviation, business, civic and cultural clients.
Among his notable clients are the Dallas Holocaust Museum, The Sixth Floor Museum, Collin College, the University of Maine and Texas State Technical College.
In 2006, he was recognized as Architect of the Year by the Dallas component of the American Institute of Architects, and was honored by his firm with the Phil Mein Design Excellence Award.
David’s work with colleagues has also garnered awards from Associated Builders and Contractors – North Texas, AIA Dallas, the Texas Association of School Boards and Administrators, the Bezalel Academy of Arts, and Preservation Dallas.
Deeply committed to discovering the hidden stories behind each site and context, Zatopek approaches architecture as a collaborative art that encourages input from diverse, creative disciplines.
He counts as his most notable successes the dozens of Aggie grads who he’s mentored through their internships and professional development, the trust of his clients whose confidence in Corgan provides Zatopek and his design partners a platform to practice the art and profession of architecture, and the opportunities he’s had to return the many contributions to his life by Texas A&M faculty, colleagues, and professional peers through service to the community and the design profession.
He’s serving as president-elect of AIA Dallas and will assume leadership of the chapter, the sixth largest component of the American Institute of Architects, in 2011. He is a member of the board of directors of the Dallas Center for Architecture Foundation and is a graduate of the Business Council for the Arts 2009-2010 Leadership Arts Institute.
Zatopek, who lectures widely on the subjects of design and professional practice, drawing connections between architecture, media and culture, is engaged with Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, frequently serving as a visiting critic and juror for design studios and as a mentoring resource for architectural students and interns. He is also a member of the Texas A&M University Department of Architecture Advisory Council.
For more information, contact Trish Pannell, tpannell@arch.tamu.edu, or 979.458.0400.
- Posted: Oct. 11, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
