Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [ca. 1925?], 1944-2018, predominantly 1955-2010 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
344 architectural drawings, 0.22 linear meters of textual records, 62 photographs, and other material:
344 architectural drawings:
245 original drawings
55 reprographic copies
44 reprographic copies (hand col.)
62 photographs:
30 photographs (5 b&w and 16 col. prints and 9 col. inkjet prints)
32 col. 35mm slides
6 presentation panels:
6 reprographic copies of drawings on foam core
6 certificates
7 drawings
3 diplomas
2 greeting cards
1 postcard
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Richard Morrow Hunter was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He studied architecture at the University of Colorado and the School of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1958, Hunter established his practice initially in California and Alaska before he moved to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1968. He married Frances Mead in 1963 in Kyoto, Japan. His work is influenced by the American organic school, notably Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff, and the drawings of German architect Eric Mendelsohn. Hunter’s major projects were largely residences located in Victoria and the Pacific Coast area, including Cook Residence, House for Jean-Louis Denux, House for Margaret Haines, his own residence, Hunter Residence, which he worked on for over 50 years beginning in 1970, House Addition for Jim & Phillippa Kerr, Killam Residence, Martin Residence, Pumple House, Rankin Residence, The Rose Residence, Garden for Mr. & Mrs. Ken Sebryk, and Sievert Residence. Projects outside of the Victoria area include the Intermediate Care Home in Terrace, B.C., the Mt. Baldy Zen Centre and Bathhouse in California, House for Deborah Pomeroy and the Rabinowitz Residence, both in Fairbanks, Alaska, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki in California, and House and Garden for Motozo and Haruko Torii in Kyoto, Japan. Richard Hunter died 14 January 2023.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Fonds was donated to the Canadian Architectural Archives by Richard Hunter in 2019 and 2021.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of 344 architectural drawings, 62 photographs, 6 panels, and a small amount of textual records documenting the architectural career of Richard Hunter. The architectural drawings comprise the majority of the records in the fonds. They span the years when Hunter was a student at the University of Oklahoma in the mid-1950s, from 1958 to 1967 when Hunter practiced architecture in California and Alaska, and from 1968 to 2015 when his practice was located in Victoria, British Columbia. The drawings include both artistic and imaginary conceptual design projects along with proposed and built projects, largely in the Victoria, B.C., area, but also in Alaska, California, and New Mexico. Among the projects documented in the fonds are Cook Residence, House for Jean-Louis Denux, House for Margaret Haines, Hunter Residence, Intermediate Care Home in Terrace, B.C., Killam Residence, Martin Residence, the Mt. Baldy Zen Centre and Bathhouse in California, Rabinowitz Residence in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rankin Residence, and Sievert Residence. The architectural drawings generally include preliminary drawings and presentation drawings, and to a lesser extent working drawings. The fonds includes a small amount of photographs, panels, and textual records documenting Hunter’s design projects. The office records consist of copies of his architectural practice pamphlets and the photographs include his student work as well as interior and exterior images of the Hunter Residence, Rankin Residence, and Sievert Residence. The fonds also notably includes copies of architectural drawings by the renowned American architect Bruce Goff and his student Herb Greene, both of whom influenced Hunter while he studied at the University of Oklahoma. There are reproductions of 15 of Bruce Goff’s drawings, including presentation drawings for his projects Bavinger House, the Blakeley House, and House for Captain and Mrs. J.D. Wilson. There are ten of Herb Greene’s drawings, which were likely printed by Hunter in the 1950s while an architecture student. The fonds furthermore includes a small amount of records relating to the well-known German architect Eric Mendelsohn and his wife Louise Mendelsohn. Records include a copy of Louise Mendelsohn’s unpublished autobiography entitled My Life in a Changing World as well as a portrait of her taken in circa 1925. The fonds has been arranged into four series: 1. Personal records; 2. Professional records; 3. Office records; and 4. Project records.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
The University of Calgary fulfills requests for materials in our collections in accordance with Canadian copyright laws. The University of Calgary does not hold the copyright for materials in the Richard Hunter fonds. The University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources may provide materials for individual study and research purposes under fair dealing and library exceptions in the Canadian Copyright Act. Permission to publish, copy or otherwise use the content must be obtained for any works under copyright protection. Patrons are responsible for ensuring they use copyright-protected works in accordance with applicable laws.
Language of material
English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2 October 2020, revised 3 August 2021