Since the end of the Second World War, few firms have influenced
the practice of architecture as much as Caudill Rowlett Scott, or
CRS. From its establishment in the 1940s as a three-man operation
above a grocery store in College Station, Texas, CRS evolved into
a world leader in programming, construction management, school
design, and other dimensions of modern architectural practice. By
the 1970s, CRS was a master at organizing complicated
architectural undertakings and had earned a global reputation for
sharing its insights with practitioners worldwide.
	
    This book about CRS will fill an important gap in architectural
history. It explores the ways architects of the mid-twentieth century
developed methods that allowed professionals to analyze projects
systematically rather than relying on the traditional combination of
information and intuition.

    Based on oral histories taken from many leaders and staff
members of CRS, the book traces the company's development from
its beginnings to its emergence as the largest architecture/
engineering firm in the United States by the early 1980s and
to its dismemberment in 1994. The main focus is on the period
from the 1940s to CRS's merger with the South Carolina-based
engineering firm Sirrine in 1983.

    Interspersed throughout the volume are pithy memos written by
the firm's charismatic, intellectual leader, AIA Gold Medal winner
Bill Caudill. The book is heavily illustrated with pictures of firm
members at work and views of important CRS buildings such as
the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in Houston.

   The interviews that richly inform this book are set within a
narrative that places the firm and its innovations in a broader
perspective, connecting the CRS story to contemporary
developments in architecture, the economy, and society.

_________________________________________________________

The late JONATHAN KING, an honorary member of the AIA and
professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Michigan,
was a partner and officer at CRS in the 1970s and a director of
CRS's construction management subsidiary. PHILIP LANGDON is
a New Haven, Connecticut-based freelance writer on architecture,
urban planning, and related subjects. He has written for many
national magazines, served for two years as a senior editor of
Progressive Architecture, and has been author or coauthor of six
previous books.


Number Fourteen: Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and
Business History


"CRS Is a 2000 Firm. It will be here in 2000, and it will reach
2,000 in number. This I believe. But there are some 'ifs': If we
continue to bring in the best recruits—the most talented in
America. If we keep on top of the profession. If we have an
awareness of social change. If we believe in Architecture. If we
believe in CRS's contribution to making this world a better place
to live."—Bill Caudill memo

"We seek an architecture of probity. We want no flippant forms,
forms that do nothing, mean nothing."—Bill Caudill memo