Guide to the Conklin and Rossant Reston project collection, 1960-1990

Conklin and Rossant Reston project C0161

Historical Information

James S. Rossant designed the new town of Reston, Virginia, and completed the master plan for Reston in 1963. Rossant also designed the First Village Center in Reston which opened in 1966. The master plan pioneered and introduced many innovative planning ideas, including the new town around seven village centers and a town center. Then in 1967, Rossant joined with William Conklin to form Conklin and Rossant Architects and continued working on Reston. The partnership lasted until 1995. Following that William Conklin joined with Michael Costantin to form Conklin Costantin Architects. James Rossant has since become the president of James Rossant Architects which was created in 1995. Rossant has recently acted as a consultant to Lake Anne Village and has guided the renovation of some of its buildings and sculpture.

William J. Conklin was born on May 2, 1923 in Hebron, Nebraska. He studied architecture at Harvard University, graduating in 1950 with a M.Arch. Shortly following his graduation, he began work at the IBEC Corporation in New York City. By 1951, however, Conklin left IBEC and joined the architectural firm of Mayer, Whittlesey and Glass as an architectural designer. In 1958 he became associate partner of Mayer, Whittlesey and Glass. In 1960 William J. Conklin became partner of the architecture firm under the new name of Whittlesey and Conklin. He continued at the same architectural firm, renamed Conklin and Rossant in 1967.

Reston, Virginia was founded by Robert E. Simon with the intention of creating a Planned Community or New Town in the Northern Virginia area. In order to design a town that reflected Simon's specific goals, he hired the architectural firm Whittlesey and Conklin, which became the primary architects of Reston. In 1962, Whittlesey and Conklin created a master plan for the development. It called for seven Village Centers to be connected by high density residential "sinews," or concentrations of housing units. The Village Centers, themselves, were designed to comprise mixed-use space, incorporating public and private areas into a single Village Center. For example, in the first Village Center at Lake Anne, apartments and townhouses were built adjacent to shops and public recreation spaces.

By 1963 construction had begun on the first Village Center, Lake Anne. Surrounding Lake Anne are several different building designs. A large pedestrian walking area, a sculptured fountain, and shops were built in this space. Apartments were built above the shops. Once again, this arrangement reflects the mixed-use intentions of the architects.The architects tried to anticipate all the needs of persons using the Lake Anne Village Center. For example, they designed sculptures that were also used by children for recreation.

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Scope and Content

The Conklin and Rossant Reston project collection is divided into six series with four subseries. The collection includes items that relate to the construction and planning of Reston by Conklin and Rossant Architects. The collection begins with the initial plans done by Rossant before he and Conklin formed their architectural firm in 1967. The documents include plans, reports, correspondence and brochures about Reston. Also included are photographs, drawings and negatives which were used in the construction of Reston.

Series 1 is entitled Job Files which is dated from 1960 to 1989 and is divided into four subseries by job number. Subseries 1.1 is Job no. 153 which is information on the First Village Center. Subseries 1.2 is Job no. 123 with correspondence, reports, zoning and publicity. Subseries 1.3 is Job no. 189 about the Reston Town Center. Subseries 4 is comprised of three jobs, 250, 165 and 216 which includes correspondence, reports and publicity relating to the different jobs.

Series 2 is comprised of plans, reports and correspondence. The series is dated from 1960 to 1987. Included in the series are information on the Master Plan for Reston, different building projects, Reston Low Income Housing Demonstration Program Report and other general information about the construction in Reston.

Series 3 is entitled publicity and is dated from 1960-1987. The information in this series is a variety of different publicity material from Reston. Some of the documents are news clippings about the innovations in Reston. Publicity was sent nationally as well as internationally and included is a booklet about Reston written in Japanese.

Series 4 is comprised of a variety of brochures and is dated from 1960 to 1975. The brochures in this collection are mostly for utilities such as windows, fireplaces and furniture. The information was used during the construction and decorating period of the new buildings in Reston.

Series 5 are images dated from 1960-1990. The images are photographs and slides taken around Reston. The images are from during construction and the completion of the construction for publicity purposes.

Series 6 is the oversize series which is dated from 1960-1967. The series is mostly drawing negatives of Reston. The negatives are sketches for different building designs and photographs of the finished buildings. The last item in the series is a book of the drawings and photographs by Conklin and Rossant.

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Arrangement

Organized into six series.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Conklin and Rossant Reston project collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

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Related Material

The Special Collections and Archives also holds the Planned Community Archives and other personal papers and organizational records that document Reston, Virginia, and other planned communities.

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Index Terms

Geographical Names:

Subjects:

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Conklin and Rossant Reston project collection, C0161, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.

Acquisition Information

Donated by William Conklin and James Rossant on June 24, 1991.

Processing Information

Processed in February 2009 by Emily Martin. The Conklin and Rossant Reston project collection was originally attached to the larger Planned Community Collection currently in the Special Collections and Archives. In 2009 the papers were removed and organized into a separate collection. The old box and folder numbers for each folder are also included as part of the new arrangement.

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Contents List