Far East meets Southwest

Southwestern architecture is nothing new to us, being from Dallas. We expected to see it showcased, in all its adobe grandeur at the University of Texas El Paso. Imagine our surprise, then, when we laid eyes on the campus for the first time.

Trying to place the style? If you guessed Japanese, you're close. If you guessed Chinese, you're even closer.

Would you have guessed Bhutanese?

A little bit of history: UTEP was founded in 1913 as the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy. In 1916 the main classroom building burned to the ground and the university was forced to start from scratch. Moving to a new site, the Dean's wife Kathleen pushed for a new architectural style.

If you think about it, their decision makes sense. The country of Bhutan is nestled into the Himalayas in much the same way UTEP grows out of the (slightly less impressive) Franklin mountain range. Sandwiched between India and China, the Bhutanese built Dzongs - square or rectangular castle-like structures that sprang out of the stone in narrow valleys and along important cliff faces. They feature walls that slope inward and roofs like pagodas. The red stripe along the top symbolizes Buddhism.

The UTEP campus is one of only a handful of examples of Dzongs outside of the Himalayas. It is thought to be the only major Dzong site in the U.S.

Fortunately for UTEP students, the University diverged from typical Dzong construction techniques - they used blueprints. In Bhutan, Dzong builders used no architectural plans. A holy Lama simply divined the dimensions spiritually.