Capital gains and architectural losses: the transformative journey of Caudill Rowlett Scott (1948–1994)

Abstract

The history of Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS) provides a powerful account of the cultural transformations, technological shifts and socio-political opportunities that shaped the idea of professional practice in the United States of America between the end of World War Two and the post-Reagan years. It can also be used to discuss the natural limits of architectural practice as a financial, profit-making enterprise. Established immediately after the war in small-town Texas by two college professors released from the Navy, CRS took twenty-two years to become an independent architectural public company, thirty-six to top the list of US design firms, and less than fifty to reach its natural end as a business. The article uses data from the company's archives to show that the growth and demise of CRS were tied to a broad, highly dynamic idea of design and to the company's constant search for new markets. Whilst these two elements contributed to CRS's performance as a successful economic machine relative to standard architectural providers, they also put its professional service orientation on a par with other revenue-generating enterprises. These proved to be more profitable and less volatile than conventional architecture and engineering, and thus more enticing to shareholders and corporate board members.