O’Neil Ford (1905–1982), San Antonio’s legendary advocate for the built environment, is the only individual in US history to be designated a National Historic Landmark (1974). Drawing inspiration from his extraordinary legacy as a designer, thinker, and tastemaker, this lecture focuses on the importance of architecture, historic preservation, and architectural innovation in shaping San Antonio’s sense of place.

Architectural historian Michelangelo Sabatino will explore Ford’s association with La Villita, the King William neighborhood, Trinity University, the Riverwalk, HemisFair ’68, and UT San Antonio’s Main Campus. These transformative projects helped craft Ford’s identity as a “modern” architect and advanced his firm’s reputation as thoughtful stewards of the built environment, moving seamlessly from the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings to the generation of novel, contextually responsive designs. Today, Ford’s influence can still be felt in San Antonio’s ongoing commitment to thoughtful urban revitalization and cultural placemaking, evident in neighborhoods such as the Museum Reach and the San Antonio Museum of Art, and Pearl.