Bang, Lars

Lars W. Bang (1921-2007) grew up in the Houston Heights. Of Danish descent, his father was an engineer and designer. After serving in the Air Corps in World War II, Bang graduated from the University of Houston architecture program in 1950, where Donald Barthelme and Howard Barnstone were two of his instructors. He was known for his bold and dynamic design skills and even before graduation, secretly worked for older architects who were not well versed in modern design. As a student he also worked for the progressive architect Phillip Willard where he and classmate Lucian Hood were in charge of the design office which employed a number of other talented UH students. Soon after he partnered with Lucian Hood, designing and building several large buildings for the real estate developer Kenneth Schnitzer. Later Bang established his own firm. He designed the original Tony’s Restaurant, still considered Houston’s finest, where Bang was known to have a table where many clients were impressed with his design skills and charming personality. His later projects consisted mainly of commercial developments.