Douglas Orr

Who was Douglas Orr?

Douglas William Orr was an American architect based in New Haven, Connecticut. Born in Meriden, Connecticut, he was prolific and designed many public and commercial buildings, primarily in the New Haven area. He was president of the American Institute of Architects from 1947 to 1949. In 1949, he also helped to renovate the White House. He died in 1966 in Stony Creek, Connecticut.

After receiving his undergraduate degree from Yale University, Orr opened his architectural practice in 1919; he completed a master's degree in fine arts at Yale in 1927. Orr designed the Taft Memorial Tower, Harkness Memorial Hall, and Connecticut Hall at Yale. His portfolio included many other academic projects, among them buildings at Mt. Holyoke and Hollins Colleges and memorial chapels at the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine Academies. He was a member of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts from 1955 to 1963, a member of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, the Advisory Commission on Presidential Office Space, and the Smithsonian Art Commission. Orr was also an academician of the American Architectural Foundation, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a member of the National Academy of Design.