Earl Swensson

Earl Swensson, FAIA Emeritus (born 1930) is an American architect. He is the founder of Earl Swensson Associates (ESa), an architectural firm based in Nashville, Tennessee. The firm has designed many notable buildings in Nashville, including the Batman Building, Centennial Medical Center and Opryland Hotel (including its three expansions).

Earl Swensson
Born1930
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma materVirginia Tech
University of Illinois
OccupationArchitect
Spouse(s)Sue Swensson
Children3
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
Curb Event Center at Belmont University

Early life

Earl Swensson was born 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee.[1][2] His father worked as an engineer for DuPont.[2]

Swensson graduated from Virginia Tech, where he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture.[2] He also earned a master's degree in architecture from the University of Illinois.[2]

Career

Swensson began his career in Nashville in 1951, when he was a student draftsman for Hart & McBryde. Swensson went to Chicago, where he worked for Perkins and Will, only to move back to Nashville.[1]

AT&T Building, Nashville TN

Swensson founded Earl Swensson Associates (ESa), an architectural firm based in Nashville, in 1961.[1] The firm moved to a new building at 2303 21st Avenue South in 1975.[3] By 1998, his office was in the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel Office Building in Midtown Nashville which his namesake firm designed. In 2015, the firm, now referred to as ESa, moved to The Gulch.[4]

Swensson's firm has designed several landmarks in Downtown Nashville, including the Batman Building and the Wildhorse Saloon.[1][2] He also designed the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.[1] Other significant facilities designed by ESa are the Curb Event Center on the campus of Belmont University and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.[1][2] By 2010, 80% of his practice's work focused on designing health facilities.[2]

Swensson was an adjunct professor of architecture at his alma mater, Virginia Tech, in 1971–1972.[5]

Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center

Personal life

Swensson has a wife, Sue, and three children.[2]

References
  1. "Man behind 'Batman building' optimistic about New Nashville". The Tennessean. April 1, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  2. Bliss, Jessica (February 14, 2010). "Visions of future drive architect Earl Swensson". The Tennessean. pp. 1D, 5D. Retrieved June 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Cason, Albert (January 19, 1975). "A New Approach In Design Services". The Tennessean. p. 32. Retrieved June 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Sichko, Adam (July 9, 2014). "Why Nashville's largest architect is moving to the Gulch". Nashville Business Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  5. Cason, Albert (October 19, 1971). "Earl Swensson Named Architect School Aide". The Tennessean. p. 26. Retrieved June 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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