mini-profiles

Bennie Gonzales stands tall with a family heritage that dates back over a hundred years in Arizona. His architectural genius is recognized throughout the world, and his concepts and designs have been illustrated and celebrated from coast to coast, as well as in Europe and the Orient. Bennie M. Gonzales, Inc., Architects, of which Bennie is the founder and principal, is made up of seven professionals, including three registered architects and one registered landscape architect. More than twenty million dollars has been pumped into the Arizona economy through construction costs of Gonzales' projects, which are either recently constructed, under construction, or in various phases of design. Nationwide construction directly under control of Bennie's firm is over fifty million dollars. It's difficult to decide which of the projects are the most outstanding. Harpers Magazine says, “The Scottsdale City Hall and Library are a pair of the most gratifying and under publicized civic buildings in America.” Bennie's

Architect

favorites are the Yavapai Junior College in Prescott, the Villa Manana Apartment Complex, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts (which is under construction now), and The Woodlands, an entire city just outside of Houston, Texas, that will eventually be home to more than one hundred and fifty thousand people (Bennie M. Gonzales, Inc., Architects, acted as design consultants). We feel the Hopi Cultural Center at Oraibi, and the St. Pius X Church in Tucson, should be added to the list. Benny says his ancestry is rather complex. His mother was French-IrishMexican, and his father was GermanMexican-Indian. He inherited his looks from his father, and many times found it to his advantage to look more Indian than Mexican. Bennie calls his background "Arizona pot pouri!" He remembers when as a child, shopping with his blonde, brown-eyed mother, that many people thought he was adopted.

BENNIE M. GONZALES

establishes a new and distinctive image... distinguished by basic forms and dimensions, uncomplicated functionalism and universally pervasive in its permanence.

Born in Phoenix in 1924, Bennie describes his childhood as a great adventure. His father, born in the state when it was still a territory, had made a better than average living as a saloon keeper. By the time Bennie was born, he owned twenty acres on the outskirts of Phoenix, and was enjoying the life of a gentleman-farmer.

In spite of the depression, the Gonzales family always had plenty to eat. They grew their own vegetables, had chickens and livestock, and the warmth of The Valley of the Sun. Bennie's happiest recollections are of swimming in the canals, drying off in the warm sun, and running into the fields to eat a fresh-picked melon.

Bennie's uncle by marriage was Santiago (S. L.) Cahill, a successful contractor who built the Heard Museum, Paradise Inn, The Arizona Biltmore, and Camelback Inn. Many of the adobe bricks used in the construction of Camelback Inn were made on the Gonzales farm. His uncle's first gifts to Bennie were building blocks and toy hammers.

Bennie was seven when Cahill first took him to visit a construction site. Soon he was having his mother pack a lunch so that he could spend the day with the men on the job. He earned money sweeping out the newly constructed rooms and bringing the men their tools. He was most visibly impressed when the architect visited the site. Construction work was fine, but it was the architect who commanded the respect and admiration of the men.

His uncle encouraged Bennie to become an architect. Over and over he would say to the impressionable boy, "Bennie, you can and should become an architect."

When Bennie was seventeen he went into the Coast Guard. He was sent to school in San Francisco, then shipped to New York. Before he returned to Phoenix, in 1946, Bennie had seen half of the world. Wherever he traveled he sought out architects and studied the marvelous edifices of the cities.

London was, and still is, his favorite city. New York, the heart of Manhattan, is his second favorite, with San Francisco somewhere in between. When the war was over, there was no great decision to be made as to where he wanted to live . . . he yearned for the dry desert air of Arizona. There was no doubt in his mind that that was where the action was going to be.

There were problems and prejudices for Bennie Gonzales when he returned to Arizona. In spite of the advice of his counselors, Bennie enrolled and graduated as an architect, from Arizona State University. When he enrolled in the University of Mexico to do his postgraduate work, he encountered another type of prejudice! In Mexico he was considered a "gringo." Bennie still laughs when he tells the story.

In 1958 he opened his own office in Phoenix. His first job was remodeling a bathroom for a friend. That same week there was a competition at A.S.U. for a bathroom design, with a major manufacturer offering a first prize of $500.00. Bennie won the contest and the prize money enabled him to make his firstmonth's payroll.

Bennie's enthusiasm made each day seem better than yesterday. Every day brought more business, but the real beginning of his spectacular career was when he was awarded the contract for designing the Public Library in Nogales, Arizona.

This was the first project where Bennie was really able to express himself. His first consideration was "what was the need of the people? Then, what were the materials available? Who were the people who were actually going to construct the building and what would be the best material for them to handle?"

It was very successful thinking and a very successful building. This same thinking was carried over to the design and building of the award winning Scottsdale Civic Center. Bennie shares the credit for the acclaim by saying, "The City of Scottsdale had very farsighted and venturesome people involved in making the decisions on the design for the Center. It always takes a good client to insure a good job!"

Bennie feels that many of his architectural designs were influenced by growing up in Arizona. The vast expanses and panoramic views, the feeling of space and freedom, are all carried over into his design. The recipient of more than thirty national and regional awards, this philosophy seems to have universal appeal.

"I hope our State and City leaders here in Arizona will start practical and visionary planning now, that will stand up for the next fifty years. The Southwest, and Arizona in particular, will experience phenomenal growth. It has already started. However, if we plan wisely and well, our cities can be vistas of beauty," Bennie Gonzales concludes. "I'm an eternal optimist."