Hays Town is one of the South’s most beloved and iconic architects. He didn’t have just one career during his nearly eighty years as an architect but two—he was a mid-century modernist architect known throughout the Gulf Coast for his commercial projects, and he was a residential architect who embraced traditional features and the vernacular styles of South Louisiana. His work evoked a sense of place and helped to bring about a new style in the region called Louisiana Colonial Revival. By the end of his career, he had designed more than 1,000 buildings in Louisiana and across the South.
Town was truly a master architect whose work has been recognized by his peers in addition to political and business leaders and clients. He is particularly known for having developed an architectural signature—the Town Style— that is distinct and set him apart from the majority of architects working in Louisiana as well as Mississippi during the middle of the 20th century. Through his remarkable ability to incorporate traditional design elements with modern, his eye for detail and proportion, and his desire to harmonize exterior landscapes with interior views, he helped encourage the resurgence of Louisiana’s vernacular architectural traditions.
Louisiana’s Old State Capitol Museum will present The Enduring Architecture of A. Hays Town, an exhibit that examines Town’s architectural evolution, personal style, and hallmarks through objects, blueprints, and images. The exhibit will be open from June 16-Sept. 5 with an opening reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m. June 17 in honor of Town’s birthday. The reception, sponsored by the Louisiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, is free and open to the public.
Louisiana’s Old State Capitol is located at 100 North Blvd in downtown Baton Rouge.
Open Tues-Sat. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; free admision
Opening Reception, sponsored by AIA Louisiana
Date: June 17, 2015
Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Light hor d’oeuvres and cocktails will be provided
To read a first hand account by architect Al Jones, AIA of what it was like to work and mentor under A. Hays Town click here