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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1975)
THE BATTALION TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1975. Shown mining Detailed Costs of MSC Student Lounge (Photo by Chris Svalel 1 “The living room is the heart of the home. The proof of a successful living room is the way people settle down and relax when they come in and the genuine regret they express when they have to leave.” — William Pahlmann After 3 1 / 2 years Pahlmann’s contract expires By JIM PETERS Staff Writer After three-and-a-half years in the employ of Texas A&M, the con tract of William Pahlmann and As sociates expires today. It will not be extended. “I have no directions to renew his contract from anyone,” said Gen. A. R. Luedecke, executive vice- president of Physical Plants and Grounds. He pointed out that such directions would have to come from President Jack K. Williams or the Board of Directors. Gen. Luedecke said Pahlmann will continue his work, without pay, on the remainder of the $28 million University Center, with completion slated for May. Pahlmann was first hired by the Texas A&M Systems Board of Di rectors in June, 1971 to do “pre liminary design of interior furnish ings for the Memorial Student Center and Auditorium complex. His preliminary plans were sub sequently approved by the Board in November of that year, and since then the New York-based design firm has received $402,000 (includ ing $46,000 for expenses) for its labors. (The firm also was paid $15-20,000 by the Former Students Association for decoration of its new wing, and an undetermined amount for work in the president s home.) Their fee will amount to 11 per cent of the cost of the furnishings, and comes out of the Permanent University Fund and Interest on Local Funds, records indicate. At the time of Pahlmann s hiring, the Board’s Building Committee projected an estimated cost of $1.1 million for the University Center’s furnishings. Now, nearly four years later, that figure will total $3.3 mill- ★ An excerpt from Who’s Who in America ★ PAHLMANN, WILLIAM CAR- ROLL; interior and industrial de signer; b. Pleasant Mound, 111., son of Benjamin Otto and Iva Florence (Perkins); graduate Parsons School of Design, New York, , and Paris, 1927-30. Member theater cast of Good News, also Follow Through, New York, 1927-30; with B. Altman and Co., 1933; head interior de signer, buyer antiques Lord and Taylor, New York, 1936-42; Pres., William Pahlmann and Associates, 1946-; interior designer Bonwit Tel ler stores, Rice University, Texas A&M University, also restaurants, hotels, clubs, and numerous houses, U.S., Venezuela, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Canada, Switzerland, Hong Kong; lecturer in field. Past President, chairman of the board Resources Council. Served to It. col. camouflage sect., USAAF, 1942-46. Recipient Cavalier Merchants award, 1942, Elsie DeWolfe Award, 1964. Fel low American Institute Interior De signers (past chmn., past president N. Y. chapter) Author; The Pahl mann Book oflnterior Design, 3rd ed., 1968; A Matter of Taste, syndi cated column. Home: 40 Central Park St., New York, New York 10023, also Pound Ridge Rd., Be- ford Village, New York 10506. Of fice: 244 E. 84th St., New York, New York, 10024. ion, the administration says. Part of the increase is due to the scope of the project itself. Drawn up nine years ago, the original plans called for construction of a Theatre Arts Center and expansion of the existing MSC building. Since that time, however, the Board has approved the renovation of the old MSC and its housing wing and the construction of a separate $1.4 million annex for themselves, which contains at least an additional $765,000 in furnishings. There will be no breakdown of the costs of furnishings for other areas of the complex (MSC, Theatre Arts) until work is completed, Gen. Luedecke says. Work underway now in the old MSC includes an art gallery, bal lroom and lounge area, and an entrance-way and lobby. A noted interior designer of long-standing, Pahlmann has been said to be one of the ten best in the nation, a point repeated by some university administrators and board members. Such a top ten list, if one did exist, would be largely one of personal taste, several interior de signers, The Battalion has talked with, say. Pahlmann s work in the past has largely been in the New York City area, but of late the firm has estab lished another office in San Antonio. A native of Texas, Pahlmann plans to retire in Guadalajara, Mex ico. (See related biographical sketch.) Pahlmann explained his design motif for the complex in his syndi cated column, “A Matter of Taste, August 18, 1973: “Our whole approach to this pro ject,” Pahlmann said, “has been to engender respect and pride in those young people in their university and to expose them to excellence in sur roundings in both contemporary and traditional media, in an atmos phere of graciousness and comfort. “This college is symbolic of the Southwest . . . (and) I have been seeking art works in Southwestern motifs — fine animal bronzes, 19th-century landscape paintings, Westem art and regional artifacts, Americana which reflects the herit age of this remarkable school and the young people who are privileged to attend it.” Many of the furnishings are im ported from Mexico, such as the pigskjn furniture in the Brown Bag area and the brass lanterns in the MSC Lounge. Other plaques and murals in the complex are also of Mexican origin. “Specially designed carpets, fab rics and furnishings in these areas will also take inspiration from the Southwest,” Pahlmann explained. “We haven’t done much on the American Indian, but I got every thing I could on Texas history. We’ve bent over backwards to get the unusual. Other objects employed throughout the complex vary in their origination, spanning numer ous cultures; Chinese, Japanese, Roman, Egyptian, Buddhist and South American, to name a few. “Flair in decoration, like flair in anything else, can be the priceless ingredient in an interior — the note that sets it apart from all others,” Pahlmann wrote in a 1955 book (1st edition) entitled “The Pahlmann Book oflnterior Design.” “But don’t mistake the bizarre or the fancy for flair,” he continued. “Keep it simple. Keep it sensible. Make it sing!” The use of antiques also figures in the Pahlmann design scheme, from the carousel camels in the Brown Bag area, to the Louis XIII arm chairs in the Lounge, to the expen sive vases, furniture and rugs in the Board of Directors’ Annex. “It gives a look of quality — no sense having a look of a cow col lege,” Pahlmann told a reporter. “I have undying respect for good antiques,” Pahlmann says. “The fact that antiques, when properly selected, can mix with great facility with the most modem of furniture makes their use interesting. Picture Key 1) Custom-designed triangular end table 2) Round backed armchair 3) Custom-designed rug with liner 4) 19th century English Oak center table ($1500) and eight rectangular stools ($135). More cost for leather top. 5) Custom-designed banquette 6) Coffee table with Rosalit marble 7) Valencia pierced hexagonal lamp with antique mirror panels 8) Convex mirror with 18 rays (at $25 each) Other lounge furnishings not shown include: eight rope window treatments ($9,200), five bronze and glass vitrines (display cases) ranging | in price from $1,230 to $1,900 each, and three pairs of Louis XIII, William and Mary, and English Country armchairs (between $850 and $1,100 a pair). A collection of eleven animal heads costing $4,105 was removed last February. 'Mil The two $1,500 wood globes in the lounge are surrounded by a variety of flags representing the United States, Texas and the outfits in the Corps of Cadets. The guidons (outfit flags) cost $60 each, the flagpoles $11 each, the streamers $10, and the gold army spears on top of each pole are $10.80 each. The fringed Texas and U.S. flags were $21 each while the ash veneer plat forms on which the ensemble sits was $2,388. (Photo by sieve mcCot») The wrought iron wall brackets from which the brass lanterns ($136) hang were $324 apiece. There are 16 of the wall fixtures in the lounge. (Photo by David Kimmel) Hanging from the lounge’s wrought iron ceiling fixtures ($1,866 per) are eight brass lanterns costing $136 each. The French tole and garlands crowning the chandeliers were $100.