Errol Barron is an American architect, artist, and educator. A founding partner of Errol Barron/Michael Toups Architects, he is professor of architecture at Tulane University.[1] In 1994 he was made a fellow of the American Institute of Architects with supporting letters from Charles Moore, Paul Rudolph, and Jean Paul Carlhian and in 2012 was awarded the Gold Medal for Architecture by the American Institute of Architects, Louisiana, for his "significant and enduring contribution to the advancement of architecture and his inspiring influence on the architects of Louisiana."
He is the author of four books: Observation: Sketchbooks, Paintings and Architecture of Errol Barron; New Orleans Observed: Drawings and Observations of America's Most Foreign City;[2] Roma Osservata/Rome Observed; and A Tradition of Serenity: The Tropical Houses of Ong-Ard Satrabhandhu.[3] He is also a musician and published a CD: L'Amateur.
Born Cedric Errol Barron Jr. in Alexandria, Louisiana, December 31, 1941, he is the son of Cedric Errol Barron, founder of the architectural firm Barron, Heinberg, and Brocato of Alexandria in 1945. He grew up in Alexandria and graduated from Bolton High School. Barron received his B. Arch from Tulane University, in 1964, where he received the Henry Adams Award; his M. Arch from Yale University in 1967; and an M. Arch from Tulane in 2004. He also studied at the Architectural Association in London, England. He returned to Alexandria after he graduated from Tulane University and lived there until he left to pursue graduate studies at Yale University. He lived in New York City from 1967–1974, in London from 1974–1975, and in New Orleans from 1976 to the present.
Barron began his architectural career at Barron, Heinberg and Brocato until 1966 when he left to attend Yale University. After graduating he worked for Paul Rudolph (1967–1974) for whom he was the lead design staff architect for such projects as the Burroughs Wellcome Pharmaceutical Headquarters in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and the Bass House in Ft Worth, Texas. His first independent commission was the Kaiser House in Greece, published in Architectural Digest, June 1979. After moving to New Orleans from England, where he had taught for a year, his first project was the Stafford House, which was designated a Record House of 1980 by Architectural Record (May 1980). In 1983 he and F. Michael Toups formed the architectural firm Errol Barron/Michael Toups. They closed the firm in 2016 having produced many award winning buildings (thirty-six local and national awards) including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and the St. James Church in Fairhope, Alabama, which received a national AIA award for religious architecture.
Barron has pursued a career teaching architecture alongside his professional career as an architect and became a full professor. He taught at Kingston University, England, (1974/75) and Tulane University (1976-) where he was named a Favrot Professor and the Richard Koch Professor of Architecture. In 2015 students awarded him the Malcolm Heard Teaching Award. He has lectured on his work at the University of California, Berkeley, University of Iowa, Drury University, University of Miami (Florida), University of Glasgow, University of Puerto Rico, the Polytechnic of San Juan, University of Texas, Arlington, Louisiana State University, and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Barron is also a contemporary American landscape painter. He has exhibited his paintings, drawings, and photographs in galleries, universities and museums throughout the U.S. since 1984. In 1995 he was awarded the Gabriel Prize by the Western European Architecture Foundation to study in France. Under the auspices of George Parker, the founder of the WEAF, he returned to France in 1996 and 1997 to extend his studies. The drawings and paintings produced in France were published in Observation: Sketchbooks, Paintings and Architecture of Errol Barron. His work is included in the collections of the Alexandria Museum of Art; Ogden Museum of Southern Art; University of Tennessee, Knoxville, School of Architecture; Bakersfield Museum of Art, and over 42 private collections.
His work is included in
He co-authored with Jacob Brillhart Visual Thinking in the Digital Age: Drawing Practice/Two Generations.
Historic Districts Landmarks Commission Honor Awards 1986–1992
New Orleans Magazine Best Architecture of the Year 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011
Southern Living Residential Awards Winner 2002
New Orleans Chapter AIA Honor Awards
AIA Louisiana Honor Awards
Gulf States Regional AIA Honor Awards
AIA National Award of Excellence, St. James Church, Fairhope, Alabama, 1995
Fellow, American Institute of Architects, 1994
American Institute of Architects, Louisiana, Gold Medal of Honor, 2012