Retail Design Innovator Richard Altuna ’74 B.Arch Honored through CAPLA Endowed Scholarship
Richard "Richy" Eugene Altuna '74 B Arch. Photo courtesy Esther-Marie Carmichael.
From The Gap to Pottery Barn to Starbucks, today’s modern retail consumer experience was created by one architect: Richard “Richy” Eugene Altuna.
Altuna, who passed away at the age of 70 in June 2021 from West Nile encephalitis, graduated with his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arizona in 1974. But it wasn’t until he started his own firm in the late 1970s that he became “one of the greatest retail designers in the history of that discipline,” says Don MacKinnon, founder and CEO of Hear Music.
Restoration Hardware was one of Richy Altuna's clients. Shown here: Restoration Hardware's flagship store in Chicago. Photo by Mark Hug, courtesy Restoration Hardware.
“Richy was a true designer who created concepts and worked with artists and architects to execute his vision,” says his sister Esther-Marie Carmichael. “As a retail strategist, his creative vision resulted in complete concepts—store logo, graphics, shop bags, tile, sculptures, door pulls, lighting, treatments… everything.”
“He honed in at the scale of the store,” says architecture scholar and critic Antonio Pacheco. Altuna “laid the way for the Apple store—you go there to buy things, but also to be there.”
Altuna’s passion for immersive retail experiences, combined with lifelong appreciation of education and a concerted effort to mentor and provide support to young designers, can be credited in part to his experience at the UArizona College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.
Photo courtesy Esther-Marie Carmichael.
“Richy credits CAPLA for giving him the freedom to be creative,” says Carmichael. “He never felt restricted.”
So, when Altuna’s family and friends sought a way to honor his memory, they returned to the source of his architectural education. The Richard “Richy” Eugene Altuna Endowed Scholarship has been established with the goal of supporting CAPLA undergraduate students. The scholarship will provide financial assistance to purchase materials, software or travel to enhance students’ design processes.
Supplies, software and other requirements of a design program can be cost-prohibitive for students. “I remember when our father would get the bills from Posner’s Art Supplies,” recalls Carmichael. “They could be quite large. Richy would be delighted to know that the scholarship will encourage and support students in this way.”
Though Altuna was born in Lordsburg, New Mexico, his family moved to Tucson early in his life, setting the stage for him to attend UArizona. Early on, his impressive skills in design became apparent. His older sister recalls that Richy’s first-grade teacher said “they had a genius artist on their hands,” showing the young student’s detailed drawing of their home, complete with landscaping and architectural elements such as roof shingles, curtains and door knobs.
Following graduation from UArizona, Altuna spent four months in Perugia, Italy, before working first for Kaplan & McLaughlin Architecture and then Lun Chan Associates, in San Francisco. At Lun Chan, he was tasked with creating retail spaces for Confetti, a candy store, where he got his first taste of designing for the consumer experience.
Sketch for PB Teens retail store. Image by Richard Altuna.
After completing Confetti, he opened his own firm, designing a deli and wine shop before landing his first big client: Patagonia. The outdoor clothing retailer wanted to expand its catalog offerings to brick-and-mortar locations in San Francisco and beyond—“storefronts that reflect their brand,” says Carmichael. And that’s exactly what Altuna did, leading to commissions by The Nature Company, Hear Music and many others, including the heralded retail experiences of The Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma.
He also opened his own retail store, Aerial, “so that he could experiment with retail spaces and merchandising—essentially creating a learning lab,” says Carmichael. Indeed, Aerial became a family affair, with his older sister taking on the bookkeeping and adding an ice cream store that grew into a full-service restaurant.
Following his work in San Francisco he relocated to New York City, where his practice and projects expanded. During this time, he traveled extensively and ultimately decided to move back to the West Coast, to the Hollywood Hills, where he lived for 29 years, until his death.
Altuna’s clients consisted not only of chains and large corporations, but also unique shops, such as the NBA Store in New York City, a cannabis chocolate store in California and a high-end barbecue restaurant near Washington, D.C., “often the first endeavor of various entrepreneurs,” notes Altuna’s obituary on NPR.
District Wharf in Washington, D.C. Image by Richard Altuna.
Altuna’s firm also designed custom homes and larger projects, such as arenas for the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets—as well as Washington, D.C.’s District Wharf, which he designed and developed with his friend Stan Eckstut.
“I knew he would help me make it real and authentic,” Eckstut told NPR. “What he did was for the consumer. He was so interested in what they saw and how they’d feel about a place.”
Though Altuna eschewed publicity, he was nonetheless an iconic figure, someone with “a joyful personality, who collected toys, books, DVDs and neon signs,” says Carmichael. “He was always generous, and we’re delighted this scholarship can continue his legacy of generosity.”
To learn more about the scholarship, or other ways to support CAPLA students, contact Angie Smith, director of development, at 520-621-2608 or angiesmith@arizona.edu.
