Edwin A. Keeble
Edwin Augustus Keeble (August 18, 1905 – September 22, 1979) was an American architect who was trained in the Beaux-Arts architecture tradition.
He is best known for Nashville's landmark Life and Casualty Tower built in 1957 which was the tallest commercial structure in the Southeastern United States at that time (31 stories).
[7] Keeble grew up in his father's house at 2114 West End Avenue in Nashville, across the street from the Vanderbilt University Campus— within sight of Kissam Hall.
[8] His high school was Montgomery Bell Academy, where his father had attended; it was a straight three-mile trolley ride down West End Avenue.
[3] He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania with Paul Philippe Cret, a Frenchman who had trained in Lyon and Paris in the Beaux-Arts tradition.
[8] This association influenced Keeble to spend the summer of 1926 studying in France at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Artistiques at Fontainebleau.
[1] Warfield was primarily an engineer, and his major solo works were two housing projects, Cheatham Place and the Andrew Jackson; Vanderbilt University's Rand Hall (1952), the First Presbyterian Church, and the Springfield Woolen Mills.
[14] In 1964, Warfield was honored with a citation by the American Institute of Architects for his efforts "...to establish architecture as a significant art form".
He designed seven houses, including his own, on Nashville's Stanford Drive, and the enclave was unofficially called "Keeble Heights".
[34] His mission, as he described it, was to build a 409-foot tower providing light and a view; that only required one fourth of the present property area; with enough office space to meet the company's need for 25 years.
[34] His use of four-foot aluminum "fins" running up the side of the building (see photo) was designed to afford views but protect offices from the direct sun.
[35] Keeble's intent was to maximize available sunlight in the building in winter; in summer, direct sun did not enter after 9:30 a.m. or before 5:15 p.m. Now called "passive solar architecture",[36] this resulted in significant energy savings for the Life and Casualty owners two decades before energy conservation in buildings became a national concern.
[34] This required more steel and therefore higher cost, but created an additional 4000 square feet and more flexibility of arrangement without columns in the way.
[17] Outside Tennessee, Keeble designed the Milliken Building in Bowling Green, Kentucky, completed in 1963; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
[3] Working without pay, Keeble involved other architects in the teaching project including Edward E. Dougherty, Granbery Jackson Jr. and Henry C. Hibbs.
[8] Vanderbilt would not commit to the project to establish a school of architecture—[1] a decision which, says Architecture historian Christine Kreyling, "still inhibits the seriousness with which the design of the built environment is taken in the city".
The junior Keeble, a Marine, was killed in the Vietnam War when his helicopter was shot down by enemy ground fire February 28, 1969.
[48] They resided in a home he designed in the Classical Revival architectural style on Stanford Drive[48] in Forest Hills, a suburb of Nashville.
