Title: Interview with Paul Thiry - #3

Original format: VHS

Item Id.: spl_ds_pthiry_01_03

Description: This is part 3 of 3 of an interview with Paul Thiry. This interview was conducted by Donald A. Schmechel on May 13, 1987 at Thiry’s Seattle home.

Paul Thiry (1904-1993) was a Pacific Northwest architect known for his leadership in the architectural modernism movement. Thiry graduated from the University of Washington with his architecture degree in 1928 and opened his own firm in 1929. Thiry acted as the supervising architect for Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair and was responsible for the design of the Washington State Pavilion, now known as Key Arena. He also designed the Museum of History and Industry and Frye Art Museum in Seattle, the Washington State Library in Olympia, several buildings on the Lewis and Clark College campus in Portland and the Libby Dam in Montana. Thiry was awarded the AIA Seattle Chapter Medal in 1984.

In the first part of the interview Thiry discusses his family background, education, a trip around the world he took while young and his early career. In the second part of the interview they discuss several of his projects including the Libby Dam in Montana, the Century 21 Exposition, some churches, residences and Lewis and Clark College in Portland while viewing photographs of the projects. In the third part of the interview they discuss his work with the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. and his philosophy of architecture in general.

This interview is part of the Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection. Don Schmechel, who was a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board, began this project with Seattle Public Library in 1984, with the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) brought on board as a partner in early 1985. Schmechel himself worked to raise the funding for the project, and volunteered his time to manage the project, and to conduct interviews along with a crew of volunteers. Originally titled the Videotaping Historic Figures (VHF) Program, the project interviewed 91 people, with a portion of the interviews entering the collections of the Seattle Public Library and a portion of them going to MOHAI.The interviews conducted with these Seattle civic, business and cultural leaders are valuable first-hand accounts that provide insight into developments taking place in the mid-twentieth century.

Digitization of this videotape material has been made possible in part by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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