The University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts’ first African-American graduate will soon have his name permanently installed in Lawrence Hall.
This summer, a memorial in DeNorval “De” Unthank Jr.’s name will be added as a fixture of Lawrence Hall. Unthank graduated from the school in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in architecture and taught there as a professor from 1965 to 1980.
He died in Eugene on November 2, 2000 at the age of 71.
The memorial’s selection committee has commissioned Portland artists Joe Thurston and Sean Healy, who work together as Healy Thurston, for the memorial artwork. A date for the memorial’s unveiling has not yet been set.
Thurston called the forthcoming memorial “a kind of time capsule” that will incorporate tools that Unthank used in his designs.
“Of the four finalists, they provided the most creative and non-prescriptive approach and solution to solving the problem,” Tower said. “They’ve been very inquisitive and also honored by the idea and scope of the assignment.”
For inspiration, Thurston and Healy visited several of Unthank’s buildings and met with his former business partner Otto Poticha, with whom he started the Unthank Seder Poticha Architects firm in 1968.
“[Unthank] began to take on a refreshingly human dimension … he was a down-to-earth guy who cared a lot about his students, professional relationships, and the work he did,” wrote Thurston in the email. “He was a cornerstone of the architecture department during his time there.”
The glass will be etched with an image of Unthank, an elevation schematic from his possessions and a brief treatise of words about him, written by his daughter.
“I had no idea how fantastic he was at what he did,” said Tower, who serves on the Oregon Arts Commission. “The project has allowed me to learn so much more about him and his career. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity, nor probably taken the time, if this project hadn’t come along.”
The installation is made possible by a donation from Bruce Chambers. Unthank designed and built homes along with Chambers’ father, Richard Chambers, who later founded Chambers Construction Co. in 1955 in Eugene.
Tower said that Chambers “wanted something tangible and visible that he could bring his kids to and say, ‘This is the man who inspired me in my profession.’ … He wanted something that would shape the story of the man and the architect.”
During Unthank’s career, the American Institute of Architects named him a Fellow in 1980. AIA recognized his design work on numerous buildings throughout Lane County, the state of Oregon and the world.
He joined the Eugene architectural firm Wilmsen & Endicott Architects with a few other UO grads, and became a partner in 1960. He spent eight years designing schools, public buildings and businesses around Oregon. His work modernizing an old warehouse in Eugene became the initiation for the Fifth Street Public Market.
A memorial scholarship in his name was established in 2004. The DeNorval Unthank Jr. Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate architecture students at the UO.