Hoby had a long and fruitful career in Boulder-from 1950 through the early 1990s. After architecture school at the University
of Michigan from 1939-43, then service in the Navy, he worked in New York from 1946-'47 with
Eggers & Higgins. What
seems to be most influential, especially in his vision for residential architecture, is the time he spent working in
Pietro Belluschi's office
in Portland. Belluschi's residences have been described as "regional modernist," combining natural wood, stone and some
glass with open floor plans under commonsensical roofs of moderate pitch.
Hoby's own residences, of which there were over
90, show the same modern sensibility, using open floor plans, low-pitched roofs, and minimal decoration, with visual
interest dependant on creative use of simple materials and their textures, artful fenestration, and composition of elevations. He
liked to work in wood, glass and stone or brick, but never stone
and brick. He avoided large featureless surface areas, and tended
to give them some rythmn through the application of
vertical strips of wood or by making patterns in masonry by having the bricks
or blocks pushed in or out a little. Like many other 20th century architects-and any good one of any time-he considered the relationship
of the house to its site to be of great importance. His houses often look as though they back to the street and face away to
a view of not only a private yard but a view of the mountains or plains. Roofs were a major design element, and he
experimented with several different kinds. Often of variable pitch and rarely flat, they range from simple gables and gablets-hipped
with little gables-to shallow
butterflies,
pyramids, and hyperbolic paraboloids done in concrete or wood.
Wide eaves, with their ability
to control solar gain and to serve as a transition from inside to out, were often used, and since they were part of the main roof,
they made the porch or veranda a natural and organic extension of the house. He also found the gablets useful for
clerestory windows,
where they could light a living room or loft area. Entry courtyards are common, often with a
gated screen wall across the front.
Once inside the front door, a shallow but wide entry would force the visitor to turn either left or right. In some cases
the entry ceiling is lower than what follows, so that one feels a sense of compression on entering, then relief after passing through
into the living areas.
Many of his commercial and institutional structures are extant, and some of them are the most visible buildings
in Boulder.
Williams Village dominates the view as one enters town on US 36, and Fairview High commands high ground to the southwest.
Other projects include sensitive additions to the Boulder County Courthouse, the Boulder Municipal Building, and the large sanctuary
addition, with its hyperbolic paraboloid vaults, of the
First United Methodist Church. To the east on Arapahoe, he designed not only
the
office tower for Ball Brothers, but also the delightful single story auxiliary buildings behind to the north.
Hyperbolic
paraboloids, barrel roofs, folded plates, and other
thin-shell structures were recent engineering developments dating from the
1930s, but they became very popular for a while in the 1950s and '60s.
Felix Candela was a forceful exponent, and the Wageners saw
some of his works on a mid-'50s trip to Mexico. A probable local influence was
Milo Ketchum, the consulting engineer on the Methodist
Church, Centennial, and Casey roofs, as well as on some house projects. Ketchum also designed the roof for the gym at Sacred Heart
of Jesus, a block north of Casey. His own offices, in central Denver, had barrel roofs, and if you want an idea of how they can be
used, look at his roofs on the Wonder Bakery, at 60th & Broadway, just east of I-25.
