The man responsible for ensuring the beauty of the nationally admired University of Colorado at Boulder campus will officially retire on Dec. 31.
Campus Architect Bill Deno, 74, has been an integral part of the design and planning of buildings, land use, open space, signage and graphics, transportation and parking at CU-Boulder for nearly 30 years. He has overseen design standards, coordinated construction projects, helped select consultants and worked with dozens of outside contractors on behalf of the campus.
Deno will continue with his current duties in 2003 on a part-time basis. "It will allow the university to phase in my replacement," Deno said. "It's a win-win situation for the university and for me."
The history and vision behind CU-Boulder's distinctive Tuscan-inspired architecture are discussed in Deno's 1994 book, "Body & Soul: Architectural Style at the University of Colorado at Boulder." He can't name a favorite building or project, but he does feel a patriarchal connection to the campus.
"The buildings are all my children, and I'm very proud of the work that's been done that I've had the pleasure to coordinate and monitor over the years," Deno said. "I do not directly design the buildings, but I shape them through our outside consultants - I make sure the fit and design is proper for our campus."
In 1997, Deno became the first public-sector architect to be named Architect of the Year by the American Institute of Architects' Colorado chapter. Earlier that same year he received the Robert L. Stearns Award from the CU Alumni Association for extraordinary achievement and service to the university. In 2000, the AIA accepted Deno into its distinguished College of Fellows. Last year, he received a citation from the AIA national president.
Deno had a successful career before he began his long association with CU-Boulder. A 1949 graduate of Wiggins Junior College in Los Angeles, he worked for 20 years with a custom sign fabrication company based in Seattle. As a designer and department manager in a number of branch offices, he also handled promotion, public relations and quality control responsibilities.
"I had always intended to attend architecture school," he said. "I was headed to Washington State University after I completed high school, but I got distracted, so to speak, and studied art and design instead."
In 1969, Deno became a 35-year-old freshman architecture major at CU-Boulder. He held appointments as a teaching assistant and visiting lecturer with the College of Environmental Design on CU's Boulder and Denver campuses while still in school, and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture in 1972 and 1973, respectively.
After graduation he joined the CU-Boulder Office of Facilities Development as a project planner. In 1984, he began directly managing all capital development on the Boulder campus and became director of facilities planning and assistant director of the Department of Facilities Management. He was named campus architect in 1991, and has focused on that important role since 1999 when he stepped down from the facilities planning post.
Throughout his career, Deno has led efforts to accommodate growth and fit new buildings into an already crowded campus while maintaining an aesthetic balance and open space. "It takes a team of people to put a campus like this together - I don't do it myself, but I feel responsible for leading that team, and being the steward for the excellence of this campus."
He's also served in the past as principal liaison between the university and the city of Boulder on planning issues, parking, historic preservation, housing and handicapped access. He was co-chair of the city's Committee on Persons with Disabilities from 1979 to 1981.
The design of barrier-free facilities for disabled access, environmental signage and accommodating bicyclists and pedestrians in an urban environment are among his professional research interests. He also enjoys watercolor painting and architectural illustration.
"The beauty and architectural consistency of CU-Boulder is due, in large part, to the efforts and passion of Bill Deno during the past 20 years to make the campus one of the most attractive in the world," said Jeff Lipton, executive director of CU-Boulder's Department of Facilities Management.