Frank L. Moreland collection

Frank L. Moreland was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 14, 1937, to Parker and Frances Moreland. He graduated from Paschal High School in Fort Worth, where he was active in the ROTC program. Moreland earned an undergraduate degree in Mathematics (with a minor in Physics) from Texas Christian University, as well as two Master's degrees in Architecture from The University of Texas at Austin and The University of California, Berkeley. Moreland completed advanced coursework in Architecture, Mathematical Economics, and Organizational Analysis at UC-Berkeley, and Advanced Study of Structures at The University of Texas at Austin. During his graduate work, Moreland became interested in the construction of earth-covered structures. Using emerging technologies to design and build safe, energy efficient earth-covered dwellings became his life's work.

Moreland served on the Man-Environment Relations faculty at Pennsylvania State University (1970-1972) and as a tenured faculty member at The University of Texas at Arlington (1973-1981). During this time, Moreland coordinated conferences on earth-covered buildings for the National Science Foundation (1975) and Department of Energy (1979) and edited the published proceedings from both conferences.

After designing his first two built projects, Moreland was dissatisfied with the performance of the contractors hired to build the residences. He decided to leave his tenured faculty position at The University of Texas at Arlington in 1981 so that he could begin his own firm, Moreland Associates. He became planner and contractor for the construction of his architectural designs and earth-bermed and earth covered dwellings and communities. During his career as an architect, Moreland worked for or with several firms including Kneer & Hamm (Fort Worth, Texas), Wilson & Patterson (Fort Worth, Texas), Albert Komatsu (Fort Worth, Texas), Paul A. Ryan (San Francisco, California), and Thos. A. Byrne, Inc. (Minnesota).

In addition to his architectural practice, concrete contracting, and teaching, Moreland worked as a structural investigator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Department of State, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. He published studies on earth-covered buildings for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and FEMA.

Moreland published books and articles on earth-integrated architecture. His work was featured in several prominent journals (Journal of the American Institute of Architects), newspapers (Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times), magazines (Newsweek, The Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Better Homes & Gardens) and television shows ("Your New House" on the Discovery network, CBS Evening News).

Throughout his career, Moreland delivered lectures at a number of institutions including Harvard University, Georgia Tech, University of Montreal, University of Arizona, University of Wisconsin, University of Colorado, Louisiana State University, and New Mexico State University.

In retirement, he continued designing and overseeing the construction of earth-covered dwellings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Moreland's professional affiliations included the American Underground Space Association (AUSA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the International Institute for Energy in Architecture (IIEA), and The Clearinghouse for Earth Covered Buildings. He served on the AUSA's board of directors from 1976-1987, and as AUSA president from 1986-1987. Moreland was an active member of the AIA's Energy Committee between 1978-1982.

Frank Moreland died in Fort Worth, Texas, on December 14, 2010.