Portfolio

Project:	HERRERA PORTONE (Gate) MEASURED DRAWINGS
Client:	University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures San Antonio, Texas
Media:	Ink on Mylar, 24" x 36" format
Date:	1987
The Herrera Gate is an extremely rare example of Spanish colonial wooden architecture, reputedly from one of the missions in San Antonio. The gate was measured and drawn using standards provided by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). The measuring process was complicated due to the gate’s fragile condition and due to the separate storage locations of the leaves, in San Antonio and Austin, as the gate was conserved. The gate is the subject of a study by Kay Hindes published by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (UT Austin) and the Center for Archaeological Research (UT San Antonio). The drawings are part of the Alexander Architectural Archive at the University of Texas and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The gate is currently on display at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin, Texas.

This axonometric detail (above) shows how the spacer blocks fit into the horizontal rails and vertical stile. The joinery is mortise and tenon construction held together with lathe-cut wooden pegs.

The gate drawing (below) is the product of eighty hours of sketching, measuring, drafting, inking, and some detective work. Evidence as to the placement of hardware on the gate (blackened panel) is shown with stipple on the drawing. Wear on the bottom edge of the mesquite rails suggested the proper orientation of the gates.