The University of Texas at El Paso

destroyed in a fire. The school was rebuilt on its present site in 1917. Kathleen Worrell, the wife of the school's first dean, Steve H. Worrell, had seen pictures of Bhutanese buildings in an April 1914 issue of National Geographic. Noting the similarity of mountainous Bhutan (which is in the Himalayas) to the location of the campus, she suggested the new buildings be built in the style of Bhutanese dzongs (monastic fortresses), with massive sloping walls and overhanging roofs. This idea was enthusiastically accepted by all.
El Paso architect Charles Gisbon of the firm Gibson and Robertson originated the Bhutanese Revival building designs. However, the school's governing board purchased the designs and awarded them to prominent El Paso architect Henry Trost. Since then, all buildings through 1950 have followed this style, including those designed by Trost's successor, Percy McGhee. In 2024, the student body voted to demolish one of the original Bhutanese Revival buildings under a new campus master plan, which …