As majestic images of Ronald Reagan's presidential library flashed across TV screens during his funeral in June, metro Toledo business owner Richard Howard watched with special interest.
Before the library facility was built in Simi Valley, Calif., Mr. Howard and then-employee Harold Roe transformed architectural drawings of it into a full-color illustration that was presented to then-President Reagan and wife, Nancy, at the White House.
"I thought it was an honor to work on it," recalled Mr. Howard, who now lives in Manhattan but still heads Howard Associates Inc. of Sylvania.
But it wasn't the first high-profile building for which Mr. Howard and his staff provided such a drawing, known as an artist's rendering. Over the years, the 46-year-old local firm has worked with prominent architects such as I.M. Pei, Cesar Pelli, and Hugh Newell Jacobsen. Projects have included the Reuters news service headquarters at 3 Times Square and Citicorp Center, both in New York; Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia; and expansion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The firm also has done a number of projects at the U.S. Capitol.
Modern computer technology has simplified the creation of architectural illustrations and prompted many firms to enter the business, but there still is a demand for the traditional hand-drawn renderings that are a speciality of Howard Associates, said Thomas McCartney, studio manager.
The firm provides 400 to 500 illustrations a year, primarily to developers of large housing subdivisions in the South and West. In recent years, only about 40 percent of the firm's work has involved commercial buildings. That development was a result of a slowdown in construction of office and industrial buildings brought on by the nation's economic slump.
"During the recession, most of our work has been on homes," Mr. McCartney said. He has noticed a slight uptick in commercial work the past six months.
But the firm's stock and trade in recent years has become illustrations for sales centers, where house-hunters go to pick from various models available in huge subdivisions with up to 5,000 lots. Clients include construction giants U.S. Home Corp. and KB Homes.
Customers pay about $500 for a routine illustration of a home, Mr. McCartney said.
More elaborate illustrations, especially those that are fully painted, require up to 40 hours to produce and are much more expensive.
Little of the work done by Howard Associates is for local clients, the studio manager said.
The firm's sales fluctuate based on economic conditions, and this year are expected to be about $750,000, Mr. McCartney said.
Ronald Rose left Howard Associates in 1966 and set up a rival firm in Sylvania. Today Art Associates Inc. employs a dozen artists and provides many illustrations for high-rise condominiums on Miami's fashionable South Beach.
"It used to be the architect was our client," said Mr. Rose. "Now the architect has taken over doing his illustrations in house, using computers primarily. We, in turn, end up working with clients who are doing the marketing and sales on the project."
Looking back, the Howard Associates president and founder said the biggest change has been the rise of computers. Also, thanks to overnight shipping services, getting work to customers is easier and faster.
He is proud when he spies buildings in New York and elsewhere for which he provided illustrations. But he is circumspect about his craft.
"A rendering has a limited life," he said. "The job is built and the rendering becomes insignificant. At best, it's a historical document, if it is even preserved."
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Contact Gary Pakulski at: gpakulski@theblade.com or 419-724-6082.
First Published August 9, 2004, 12:36 p.m.
