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Like "Modern" But Not Modernistic
George McDonald McConkey
The Michigan Alumnus 103
The Michigan Alumnus 103
He Likes "Modern" But Not Modernistic
GEORGE M. McCONKEY, knows that imagination is necessary to an architect but he believes that more than half the fun is to be found in construction. Supervision and expedition right on the job are the phases of his profession which interest him most.
When he entered Michigan he had studied a year at Wittenberg College in Ohio—his native state. There were six years of professional experience on the outside and three years of teaching—as an Instructor in Michigan's College of Engineering and Architecture— to his credit, even before he received his degree, with the Class of 1914.
"Modernistic" as applied to architecture is a term he smiles at, but ''modern"—there is an adjective he likes. We shall never have to live in standardized homes, he is sure, but believes simplicity of construction and a wiser use of materials will come out of such experiments.
Professor McConkey has a workshop at home where he builds models to illustrate new ideas in construction. He built the trailer, complete with sleeping and dining compartments, which went along when he drove with his family to Yellowstone Park last summer.