MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

that has surely served him well in his subsequent endeavors. He earned a bache- lor’s degree and pursued graduate study in international economics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and I know he is excited about moving back to AM VERY PLEASED TO REPORT that the Washington after many years. Welcoming a National Building Museum has a new Chase’s appointment follows an I president! His name is Chase W. Rynd extensive search, during which we inter- New President (in case you are wondering, his last name viewed a number of very impressive candi- rhymes with “pinned”), and he officially dates. He received the unanimous endorse- assumed his new role on September 2. ment of the search committee—all agreed The Board of Trustees and staff are highly that he was “a good fit” for the Museum, enthusiastic about Chase, who brings both possessing an outstanding combination of exceptional qualifications and an engaging leadership ability, vision, entrepreneurial personality to the Museum’s chief execu- instinct, and pragmatism. I am grateful tive position. to fellow trustees Will Miller, Jim Todd, Chase most recently served as and Bob Stern who served with me on executive director of the Frist Center for this committee. the Visual Arts, a relatively new institu- Ambitious yet patient, confident tion in Nashville that quickly gained acco- yet gracious, Chase brings a balanced lades for its high-quality programming. temperament and an inspiring enthusiasm As the center’s founding CEO, he hired a to the Museum presidency. I hope all of talented and diverse staff, attracting a the Museum’s friends and supporters will Carolyn S. Brody number of respected professionals from have the opportunity to meet him soon. cultural organizations across the country. Meanwhile, he is already forging ahead The center opened to the public in 2001 to lead us to new and evermore exciting with an outstanding roster of exhibitions heights. Welcome, Chase! featuring art from around the world, which immediately established the institu- tion’s excellent reputation with the press Sincerely, and the public alike. Before taking over the Frist, Chase was executive director of the Tacoma Art Museum, another well-regarded institu- tion. While there, he hired famed architect Carolyn Schwenker Brody Antoine Predock to design a new building Chair for the museum, which has since opened to great acclaim. Chase served two terms as Chase W. Rynd chairman of the Seattle Arts Commission, and has long been active in organizations such as the American Association of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors. Before entering the museum world, Chase ran his own fine art photography gallery, and worked for several years in finance in New York, providing a foundation in management and business

blueprints 1 FEATURE ROOMS THAT MOVE

Roomsthat Move

by Martin Moeller N THE MOVIE BEING THERE (1979), a char- acter named Chance, a simpleton whose I dim musings are mistaken by others for profound political commentary, is befud- dled by the elevator in the mansion where he is recuperating from an accident. “This The National Building Museum’s is a very small room,” declares Chance, who latest exhibition examines the pro- is played in wickedly deadpan fashion by plunging to the floor. From that moment, architects and builders had at their dispos- found but often overlooked impact Peter Sellers (the mansion itself is played al a mechanism for safely transporting of “human conveyance” systems on with aplomb by the enormous Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina). In his people great vertical distances, and cities architecture and design. Up, Down, extreme naïveté, Chance cannot conceive would never be the same. Across: Elevators, Escalators, and of an elevator as the one tangible element A few decades later in Chicago, Moving Sidewalks, which will be on of an otherwise hidden intra-building the Home Insurance Building (1885), view until April 18, 2004, is an transportation system. It is just another designed by William Le Baron Jenney, entertaining and informative explo- salon, albeit minuscule, where people stand made news as the first large-scale, multi- ration of these now ubiquitous and wait for a few moments before reenter- story building—though not particularly tall by current standards—to be entirely devices, without which most mod- ing a room they have just left, which has supported by a steel frame. Freed from ern buildings would be inconceiv- somehow mysteriously changed appearance the limitations of masonry or cast iron able. This issue of Blueprints uses in the meantime. The humor in this modest scene construction systems, architects could now the exhibition as a point of depar- derives from the innocent’s inability to see imagine buildings of seemingly unbounded ture for a series of articles about beyond the sole visible manifestation of a height, with elevators carrying occupants aspects of the history and percep- common but complex technological system. to levels that would otherwise be com- tions of such machines. In somewhat similar fashion, most people pletely impractical for human habitation. routinely suspend disbelief when boarding The era of the true skyscraper had Up, Down, Across: Elevators, an elevator, ignoring the mechanics and dawned, and despite much doubt and Escalators, and Moving Sidewalks electronics that make their ride possible. hand-wringing after the destruction of is sponsored by United Technologies Though elevator travel is now utterly the World Trade Center in 2001, that era Corporation and its subsidiary Otis routine and unremarkable, this was not seems far from over. Elevator Company, which has moved always the case. Primitive versions of the Arguably the safest mode of top / Elevator core in the Paul people up, down, and across for elevator have existed for millennia, but transportation, elevators have become Löbe Haus. Courtesy Stephan Barunfels Architekten. 150 years. it was not until 1854 that such devices incredibly sophisticated in terms of both became feasible for general architectural design and technology over the past centu- above / Elevator attendant, ry and a half. Once rickety, utilitarian c. 1900, Zürich, Switzerland. applications. In that year, at the Crystal Courtesy Schindler Elevator Corporation. right / Elevators in the Paul cages, elevators gradually came to be seen Löbe Haus, Parliamentary Palace exposition hall in New York, Elisha Committee Chambers, Berlin, Otis famously and theatrically stood on a as unique vehicles—literally and figura- designed by Stephan Braunfels wooden platform that had been hoisted tively—for design expression. The elevator Architects, 2001. Courtesy Stephan doors and cab interiors in the Chrysler Braunfels Architekten. into the air and ordered the cable support- ing it to be cut. The safety brake he had Building (1930), for instance, were seen as invented caught the platform immediately, integral elements of the tower’s exuberant preventing Mr. Otis and his stage from decorative program, and as works of art in

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ROOMS THAT MOVE FEATURE

themselves. By the 1960s, the advent of the Though it is indeed easy to atrium hotel provided a new opportuni- ignore the mechanical marvels that hurtle Space Elevators ty—the use of glass-enclosed elevators as a you up and down a building, the next time kind of kinetic art, enlivening public and you board an elevator, you might take a semi-public spaces while still providing moment to appreciate the nuances of the From 20th-Century Dream to 21st-Century Reality? practical inter-floor transportation. More experience. Riding on an elevator in a tall recently, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, in building can be remarkably reminiscent of by Alisa Goetz a house for a wheelchair-bound client in attending a play—with each stop on a new Bordeaux, France (1998), designed the resi- floor, there is a change of scenery, and the dence around a large, unenclosed elevator cast of characters gradually mutates as platform—in effect, the device makes tra- individuals and groups enter and exit from ditional conceptions of separate stories the stage. And of course, we all know that meaningless, as the owner can move seam- the rules of social interaction are different lessly through space as if all of the house’s inside an elevator. Passengers almost floors existed simultaneously on one level. always face forward, as if they were in an Changes in elevator technology automobile or on an airplane, though have been dramatic, as well, and seem to there really is no reason for them to do so. be—forgive the pun—accelerating. Indeed, in those relatively unusual eleva- Virtually gone now are the human opera- tors that have both front and rear doors, tors, some of whom developed an astound- one can sometimes sense the discomfort of ingly accurate “feel” for their cabs’ fellow riders, nervous that a look in the mechanics. I recall one operator in the wrong direction might be taken as a form above / The Hudson Terminal absurdly outdated building where my pedi- of intimidation—or a romantic advance. Building, New York, designed by Clinton & Russell, 1896. atrician had his office who would crank The most accepted behavior in elevator Courtesy Otis Historical Archives. the elevator to full throttle and then stop cabs seems to be staring at the illuminated it suddenly, aligning the platform precisely floor numbers, as if some surprising news left / Ground Floor, 1999. with the destination floor time after time. or visual effect might pop up at any Artist: Pat Rawlings. Courtesy The feat was often disconcerting, occasion- moment. Meanwhile, the elevator itself NASA. ally gut-wrenching, but always impressive goes calmly about its business, consistently to small child and parent alike. and quietly responding to the often con- Alisa Goetz is assistant curator at the WENTY-FIVE, 50, MAYBE 75 YEARS FROM Acting in the operator’s stead flicting solicitations and demands of a National Building Museum. She served NOW—that is when some experts are now are computers, of course, some of multitude of users. predicting a space elevator could be in on the curatorial team for the Up, T which go far beyond merely managing the As a tiny sociological laboratory, operation. It is not a new concept, a struc- Down, Across exhibition and edited movements of banks of elevators. Some a quasi-theatrical venue, a technological ture on Earth reaching into space, but it command centers can “learn” from move- phenomenon, or a potentially well- the companion catalog. has become more realistic over the last ment patterns over time, and then antici- designed “very small room,” an elevator few years. Even using the materials and pate when an elevator is likely to be needed can be a surprising source of intrigue and methods currently suggested for the space at a particular floor. Advanced systems can interest in one’s daily routine. Just don’t elevator, however, the project is not feasi- even allow multiple cabs to share a track miss your floor. • ble at present. Nonetheless, the various when advantageous, switching them from elements necessary to create the space ele- shaft to shaft like trains in a rail yard, or vator are being developed now, with exper- like cars switching lanes on a superhigh- iments taking place all over the world. way. As a result of such innovations, wait- Why would we want to build an ing times are being reduced, energy is elevator into outer space? Essentially, such a being saved, and passengers are free to device could be used as a successor to space be even less aware of the technology that shuttles. Permanently in place, a space eleva- allows them to get from floor to floor. tor could be used to funnel supplies to space

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SPACE ELEVATORS: FROM 20TH-CENTURY DREAM TO 21ST-CENTURY REALITY? SPACE ELEVATORS: FROM 20TH-CENTURY DREAM TO 21ST-CENTURY REALITY?

stations, facilitate launches of Infrastructure for the New Millennium, a left / Highway, 1999. Artist: craft into deep space, accommodate publication describing how a space eleva- Pat Rawlings. Courtesy NASA. powerful telescopes and antennas, tor might work. A base tower, 31 miles and provide opportunities for a high, would be located somewhere in the broad range of meteorological waters along the equator. Mathematical and other scientific measurement calculation has established the necessary and testing. height of the tower, and an equatorial area The idea of a structure soaring is desired because it suffers almost no hur- into the heavens from Earth goes back at ricanes or tornadoes, and it aligns properly least to the writing of the Bible. The book with geostationary orbits (objects directly above / Sketch of meteor of Genesis, chapter 11, mentions an earlier overhead). Attached to the top of the tower counterweight, 1999. Artist: civilization that tried to build a tower to are cables, stretching a total length of Pat Rawlings. Courtesy NASA. Heaven. Known as the Tower of Babel, it 89,000 miles, that would serve as elevator below / Hexagonal section was said to have been built in 2100 BC tracks. In order to keep the entire system through the space elevator, and located in Mesopotamia. Undoubtedly from tumbling to the ground, a large 1999. Artist: Pat Rawlings. Courtesy NASA. there were other such proposals through counterbalancing mass in space would the ages, but the first mention of this be attached to the end of the cables. The type in the modern era appeared in likeliest candidate for this job so far is an the late 19th century. Russian scientist asteroid that would be moved into place Konstantin E. Tsiolkovski published a and maintain an orbit complementary to manuscript in 1895 entitled “Speculations the Earth’s. On one end, the Earth’s gravi- about Earth and Sky and on Vesta.” tational pull, and on the other end, the Apparently inspired by the Eiffel Tower outward centrifugal acceleration would (1889), Tsiolkovski wrote about a celestial keep the cables under tension. Elevators castle that would be attached to a cable at would then climb the tracks, could stop at Feasible by 2100,” from May 2, 2001, as cables that can transfer momentum from 22,245 miles in the air, and orbit the Earth stations on various levels, and use momen- “tiny, hollow cylinders made from sheets one object to another.” Scientists know while remaining at the same spot (a “geo- tum from the climb to launch into space of hexagonally arranged carbon atoms how tethers behave on Earth, and how synchronous” orbit). Throughout the 1960s toward different destinations. exceed[ing] the tensile strength of steel by short tethers behave in space (they are cur- various Russians and Americans wrote NASA’s publication also discusses at least a factor of 100.” The problem right rently used to attach astronauts to the articles about space elevator-type projects, the technologies and materials that would now (besides the $500-per-gram cost of the space shuttle during space walks). but they got little notice from the aero- be necessary to create a space elevator. material) is that researchers have not been However, these tethers need to be tens of space engineering community. Then, in According to NASA there are five techno- able to create a tube longer than a few thousands of miles long, raising questions 1975, American scientist Jerome Pearson logical hurdles that science must overcome micrometers. However, given the speed at about deployment and control of long published a technical paper in the journal before the space elevator can become a which research is progressing, as the structures. Acta Astronautica. It was this paper that reality. The first is developing a high- About.com article suggests, the cost of The third technological hurdle inspired Sir Arthur C. Clarke to write his strength material for the cables. The nanotubes could be reduced to a few cents to overcome is the introduction and use of novel The Fountains of Paradise (Harcourt strongest materials in existence today, like a gram within five years. lightweight, composite structural materi- Brace Jovanovich, 1979), which brought steel and diamonds, do not have enough The second delay in the develop- als on the base tower—and in the con- the concept of the space elevator to the tensile strength to support the system’s ment of a space elevator is a lack of knowl- struction industry at large. Currently, the attention of the world. weight. The solution is carbon nanotubes, edge and experience with tether technolo- tallest structure on Earth is a television In 2000, NASA released Space defined by the About.com Web site in the gy in space. Tether technology is defined transmitting tower near Fargo, North Elevators: An Advanced Earth-Space article “NASA Claims Space Elevator by the HowStuffWorks Web site as “long Dakota, but at 688 yards (0.39 miles) it is a

6 blueprints blueprints 7 SPACE ELEVATORS: FROM 20TH-CENTURY DREAM TO 21ST-CENTURY REALITY? FEATURE

right / Artist’s concept of transportation systems, launch systems, The Endless Conveyor Magnetic Levitation System, and high-velocity launch rails. The idea is 1999. Courtesy NASA to use maglev (magnetic levitation) tech- John King writes about urban design by John King below / Drawing of the base nology to run the elevators. Using maglev tower and space elevator car, for transportation has been discussed for for the San Francisco Chronicle. He 1999. Artist: Pat Rawlings. contributed an essay titled “A Matter of Courtesy NASA over 100 years, but the first commercial maglev train did not make its test debut Perception: Escalators, Moving Sidewalks, until 2002 in China. Just as the trains are and the Motion of Society” to the designed to hover on a magnetic cushion of catalog accompanying the Up, Down, air over the tracks, the elevators would Across exhibition. never touch the cables, reducing wear and eliminating friction, and enabling speeds of up to 310 mph. However, this technology ACK IN EARLY JULY, as Colorado Rockies Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping, far cry from the 31 miles that would be has never been employed in a vertical fans streamed from Coors Field after a a publication of the Project on the City necessary for the base tower. Though exist- application. Bfireworks show, a three-story escalator that is overseen at Harvard by no less a ing materials could build a structure sever- The final element that must be gave a traumatic lurch and picked up self-appointed cultural arbiter than Rem al miles tall today, the cost would make developed is transportation, utility, and speed. People spilled downwards, and 35 Koolhaas. the project prohibitive. facility infrastructures to support space were sent to hospitals with a variety of And if that statement seems over- The fourth impediment to the construction. Once again cost becomes the injuries including broken bones. The inci- stated—a typical bit of Koolhaasian bom- space elevator is the development of high- main issue. There must be money to sup- dent made news across the country. bast—just look back on the role that esca- speed electromagnetic propulsion for mass- port these initiatives, and the return on What triggered such attention lators have played in shopping. The proto- the initial investment would be a long way wasn’t the amount of damage—nobody type was patented by Jesse W. Reno in 1892 off. In writing for the Space.com Web site, died—but the man-bites-dog quality of the as “a new and useful endless conveyor,” Leonard David states that budget estimates incident. Escalators are like air-condition- and within a decade they were the norm for the beginning of the construction ing; the background fabric of modern life. as retailers sought to emulate, on a more process are just under $10 billion. They’re not supposed to call attention to modest scale, the upward climb of office So will the space elevator become themselves—certainly not by sending peo- buildings. They took shoppers into the a reality within this century? Some scien- ple off in all directions. highest reaches of Bon Marché in Paris, tists at NASA certainly think so, and it In the process of being ubiqui- tous and essential they play a subtler role: will be their continuing research, along above left / The view of with that of entrepreneurs and private they shape our perception of cities and the Flood Building in San space and movement itself. Think of the Francisco from escalator companies around the world, that may leaving the Powell Street first time you entered some new part of a make it possible. • Bay Area Rapid Transit city by escalator, rising up to a framed station. Photographer Gina view of urban life. Or that way that an Gayle, 2002. escalator allows you to drift placidly left / An escalator at through a tumultuous mall, bathed in the Harrod’s in London, glamorous racket of consumerism while 1899. Courtesy Company Archive Harrods Ltd. moving not a muscle. “No invention has had the impor- tance for and impact on shopping as the escalator,” is the emphatic verdict of The

8 blueprints blueprints 9 THE ENDLESS CONVEYOR THE ENDLESS CONVEYOR

Bloomingdale’s in New York, and Harrods sidewalks bring order to the chaos of dense in London. Even 50 years later, stores still urban life. In Hong Kong, for instance, an advertised their presence and marketers at entire hillside neighborhood is focused on Otis Elevator were pushing their wares the Central Mid-Level Escalators—a 2,625- with hyperbolic accuracy: Escalators foot (800-meter) collage of moving side- “encourage impulse buying,” a brochure walks topped by a canopy and lined by proclaimed, since they “make every floor open-air markets as well as apartment tow- as accessible as the main floor.” ers. The system opened in 1993 and quickly With that accomplishment under became a tool of daily life, offering a pre- their belt, so to speak, escalators rested—in dictable, smooth alternative to automobiles. In design terms, and in the above / The Kaufman-Straus America, anyway. They move at about the left / The moving department store in Louisville, same speed as they did in 1948, and they abstract, this sort of gliding vantage point sidewalks at O’Hare 1949. Courtesy Otis Historical Archives. play the same basic role of getting people to is a tremendous opportunity. And occasion- International Airport, featuring the neon right / A portion of Hong Kong’s and from the merchandise, to and from the ally it has been exploited; the best-known sculpture Sky’s The Limit Central Mid-Level Escalators. subway, to and from your seats. They work example might be the moving sidewalk by Michael Hayden. Courtesy David Liu. best when they don’t attract notice and at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Boston waterfront is set to open in 2005 shopping cart escalator at the suburban ©Bob Rowan; Progressive Image/CORBIS. they don’t require thought—as bruised where travelers moving between two with a much different experience for visi- city’s new Target. “They’d finally try it … Rockies fans can attest. United Airlines concourses are pulled tors: they will move between floors in an and then it becomes cool.” To grasp the modern possibilities through 870 feet of soft darkness framed oversized elevator with glass walls. If history teaches anything, nov- of Reno’s endless conveyor, you’d need to go by ambient music and slow skittering neon. No, when escalator innovation elty will fade. People will take the conve- to Asia and see how escalators and moving More often, though, the real-world occurs in the United States it is at the beck nience in stride. And even if something dictates of budget triumph over artistic and call of commerce, same as it ever was. occasionally goes wrong, the response will gestures. The moving sidewalks at O’Hare be a societal shrug. That’s the experience of Elizabeth exist for a reason, for instance; travelers The day after the accident at Diller, who with her husband Ricardo need to get from point A to point B. That’s Coors Field, Rockies fans again turned out Scofidio forms one of the most lauded teams also the case at big-box retailers such as en masse. They found all the escalators of new talent in American architecture. Target or Ikea; as they look to place their shut off for safety inspections—meaning In their original design for the Institute of huge stores in established suburbs, they a humid trek up 94 steps leading to the Contemporary Arts in Boston, the pair envi- find the land isn’t there to allow for infi- upper deck. sioned a single-run escalator slicing upwards nite asphalt prairies. So parking spaces go “I was wanting to use them through the building, popping out of the on the roof or in the basement—and spe- tonight,” one man told a reporter for the lobby into open air and then cutting diago- cial escalators are ordered that can pull Rocky Mountain News. “I was hoping it nally through galleries. Problem is, that shopping carts up or down alongside cus- would happen again. It sounded like it lone ingenious stroke was too expensive. tomers on their way from the check-out might have been a fun ride.” • And when they tried breaking it up— line to the car. stopping on this or that floor—the effect And what happens when you wasn’t the same. change something that everyone takes for “That little interruption was granted? Guess. “You’d see people get to enough to change the feel from theatricali- them, look over the edge, wonder how ty to feeling like a department store,” they’d work and watch other people,” sighs Diller. “It could have been spectacu- laughs Joe Bologna, an architect in Walnut lar.” Instead, the ICA’s new home on the Creek, California, recalling the arrival of a

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FEATURE THE ESCALATOR IN ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY

of the escalators’ balustrades. In artist’s The Escalator paintings—and in advertisements and photographs—there is often an air of drama and excitement created by the sharp in Art and Photography diagonals of the escalators and the spaces they define. by Julie Wosk Julie Wosk is professor of art history, Escalators also transported English, and studio painting at the State people to a dramatic new view of the future. At the 1939 New York World’s Fair University of New York Maritime College held in Queens, a custom-made escalator in the Bronx. Her article on the subject moved crowds of visitors up to the towering of the representation of escalators in Trylon. From there they continued on to the art and photography appears in the Up, domed Perisphere where they saw designer Down, Across catalog. Henry Dreyfuss’ diorama, “Democracity,” with its vision of a perfect world. In the 1930s, streamlining— right / The Seeberger escalator T THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY, with its love of the aerodynamic features at the 23rd Street Elevated escalators were an exciting new form of airplanes—became a dominant style Railroad Station, New York, of transportation machine. Charles storied department stores. When Macy’s in American design, seen not only in c.1903. Courtesy Otis Historical Archives. A Seeberger’s step-type escalator, manufac- opened its store in Manhattan in 1902, it American locomotives but in escalators, tured by the Otis Company in New York, installed escalators up to the fifth floor. too. Designers like Eleanor LeMaire in 1936 won the Grand Prize at the Paris Exposition Early in the 20th century, theater owners, used rounded balustrades and speed lines in 1900. At Coney Island’s spectacular Luna finding themselves competing with newly for the Otis Streamlined Escalator in a Park, an escalator lifted passengers to machine. “The first essential of design is popular motion picture houses, installed California department store (and Otis itself Helter-Skelter, a thrilling new ride. to inspire confidence on the part of the escalators so that people could reach the used a streamlined float complete with Escalator designs, though, were passenger,” wrote Charles Seeberger in an cheaper balcony seats. Photographers and stylized sculptural figure and an escalator above left / An “electric travel- still in flux. In 1892 American engineer American engineering magazine in 1904, artists celebrated the appearance of escala- in a parade the year before the 1939 ing stairway” in a department Jesse Reno patented his “inclined eleva- and the story’s illustration showed a young tors in stores and train stations in cities World’s Fair). store, c. 1904. From Edwin J. tor,” a type of conveyer belt pitched at a girl standing on an escalator without hold- throughout the world, including Tokyo. Commercial artists helped endow Houston, Electricity in Everyday Life, Vol. II, P.P. Collier & Son: 25 degree angle, moving at 100 feet per ing her mother’s hand or the handrail, a Photographers of the period department store escalators and their New York, 1905. minute. It had cleats rather than steps, picture suggesting an easy ride. captured the many advantages of this riders with sophistication and style, seen above / Advertisement for the and combed landings made it easy for Assured of the machine’s safety, modern new machine—though sometimes in Otis advertisements in the 1920s. In Otis Elevator Company’s riders to step on and off. In 1898, Charles people even tried to improve on the ride. in an unintentionally humorous way. In the 1960s, Otis’ advertisement for its “Escal-Aire,” c. 1963. Courtesy Otis Seeberger took over inventor George In its story “A New Kind of Speed Mania,” an early photograph in an electricity book “Escal-Aire” design featured men and Historical Archives. Wheeler’s patents for a step-type escalator. the Brooklyn Eagle in 1923 reported that, from 1905, customers crowd the steps of women glamorously clad in evening This escalator made it easy for people to at a subway station in Brooklyn, most an escalator in a department store. clothes riding on escalators with transpar- stand on its flat, ridged steps but required people—“young and old, fat and thin, Looking through the windows ent, tinted, and shimmering balustrades. waist-high shunts at the landings to guide weak and strong”—were running up the of new transportation machines—from New Jersey painter Mari-Louise passengers safely off the machine. Otis moving escalators, pushing aside individu- speeding trains to automobiles and air- Van Esselstyn was fascinated by a different bought out both Seeberger’s and Reno’s als riding it the proper way—a sure sign planes—people experienced new ways of aspect of escalators: the way they conveyed patents, and by the 1920s, combined the of “American impatience and foolishness,” seeing, and escalators also were changing the energy of a country on the move. best of both designs in its step-type escala- its “get-there-in-a-hurry-tiveness,” the people’s points of view. In department In 1914, French artist Fernand Léger in tors with combed landings. newspaper complained. stores, escalators not only brought cus- Les Soirées de Paris had written about the In an age when new technologies Escalators were keeping pace tomers to the upper floors, they also let way new transportation machines were for travel were appearing at an almost with changing times, moving large num- them see great displays of merchandise in not only changing people’s vision but also dizzying pace, artists and photographers bers of people in a continuous flow—a a panoramic, bird’s-eye view. Moving up changing painting styles, too, as artists helped introduce escalators to the public, useful feature not only in rapid transit or down, riders saw slowly-enfolding slices used fragmented forms to suggest disjunc- making them seem a safe and stable new stations but also in factories and multi- of space, shaped by the diagonal lines tive views. To celebrate their infatuation

12 blueprints blueprints 13 12 Blueprints

THE ESCALATOR IN ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY MUSEUM ONLINE

Museum Introduces Spotlight Web Page right / Escalator, 1970. with “the whirling life” of fast-moving For American photorealist ANS OF THE MUSEUM’S EVER-POPULAR Artist: Richard Estes. Courtesy automobiles and trains, the Italian painter Richard Estes, it was not the esca- SPOTLIGHT ON DESIGN LECTURE SERIES private collection. Building America Online Futurist painters in the early decades of lator’s steady movement that fascinated F now have a new resource to help them below right / The Escalator, the 20th century often used the fragment- him but the elegance of the machine. In stay abreast of upcoming programs. The 1942. Artist: Mari-Louise Van ed Cubist style of geometric abstractions his painting Escalator (1970), Estes made Museum has launched an expanded Exhibition Wins Award Esselstyn. Courtesy Museum of the City of New York, gift of the artist. and overlapping planes. Years later, when the machine itself the center of attention, Spotlight on Design Web page listing sched- America was in the midst of World War II, capturing in precise detail and close focus uled lectures, along with an easy-to-use HE NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM’S Van Esselstyn herself drew on Cubist and the escalator’s rhythmic curving lines and online registration system. The page also GROUNDBREAKING “VIRTUAL EXHIBITION,” Futurist idioms for her own paintings of mirrored metallic surfaces. There are no lists past lecturers, with links to speakers’ TBuilding America, received a Silver escalators and transportation machines. people in his painting, just the escalator’s own Web sites and, when available, tran- Muse Award from the American Using small brushes and egg steps and gleaming balustrades. scripts or summaries of their presenta- Association of Museums at its 2003 annual tempera, the artist in her painting The entry yawns wide, inviting us to take tions. You can access the expanded page meeting in Portland. The Muse Awards Escalator (1944) used Cubist-inspired a ride on this smoothly swooping machine. through the Museum’s main Web site at program, now in its 14th year, recognizes fragmented forms to create a scene of Photographers in the 1970s and www.nbm.org. “excellence in all varieties of media pro- grams produced by or for museums.” people rushing through a small city bus the years ahead captured yet another The Spotlight on Design lecture series and the In praising Building America, the terminal—a space filled with the dramatic aspect of escalators—the wit and playful- expanded Web page are sponsored by Lafarge, jury said: diagonals of escalators and streams of ness of contemporary escalator designs, the world leader in building materials with “This Flash site was exquisitely light from the window above. like the exterior escalators in Renzo operations in 75 countries and sales in excess Piano and Richard Rogers’ design for the of $13.9 billion. • designed and executed. The content, image Pompidou Center in Paris. Journeying quality, audio, design, animation and to exhibits in the Musée National d’Art interface were all of very high quality. . . Moderne housed in the center, visitors This is an example of a well-conceived, see a panoramic view of Paris through the rich media experience that is compelling. escalators’ curving glass-covered space. Production that combines and nurtures all Since the 1990s, photographers these elements is rare.” have captured the continuing exuberance Building America, which is acces- in escalator design—presenting images of sible through the Museum’s main Web site, escalators revealing their fluidity and grace. was supported by the Museum’s trustees, Escalator designs are also becoming sculp- as well as by the Morris and Gwendolyn tural in their own right and playful as Cafritz Foundation. • well, seen in the spiraling escalators at the San Francisco Centre and in Mitsubishi’s large yellow dragon-shaped escalator taking above / Sample pages from visitors to the top of the dam at the Long Building America Quing Xin Gorge northwest of Beijing. Manufacturers promise still more innova- tions as they continue to add artfulness to today’s escalator designs. •

14 blueprints blueprints 15 MUSEUM NEWS SPONSORSHIP

New Trustee Joins Board The Corinthians

The Museum’s Board of Trustees recently The Great Hall National Association The Real Estate Freestate Electrical Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. The Museum takes Society of Real Estate Roundtable Company elected ROBERT W. HOLLEYMAN, II as its Robert Peck and this opportunity Carolyn and Investment Trusts Deedie Rose John and Ann Gardner Lynn Palmer newest member. Holleyman is president Kenneth D. Brody Peterson Family Ann Satterthwaite Gilbane Building Wanda and Jim Pedas/ to recognize all Foundation and chief executive officer of the Business Mike Goodrich/BE&K Victor O. Schinnerer Company Lea and Ted Pedas current members Frederick A. Kober Ridgewells Caterer & Co., Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Michael Irene and Abe Pollin Software Alliance, which advocates global Support the Museum J.E. Robert Cos. Glosserman of The Corinthians, STUDIOS Architecture Polshek Partnership The Arcade Society policies and programs that promote inno- Skidmore, Owings Truland Foundation Greenebaum & Rose Architects who provide vital, Chevy Chase Bank & Merrill vation and continuing growth in the digi- Choose National Building Museum #8662! Walton Street Capital Gulick Group Pulte Home Corp. unrestricted support Joseph F. Horning, Jr. Robert A.M. Stern Beth and Brent Harris Quite a Stir tal economy. He has been recognized by Did you know that you can sup- Architects Beverly A. Willis, FAIA for its programs. We Turner Construction Co. Harvard University/ Rathgeber/ port the builders, planners, architects, and Thornton-Tomasetti Leonard A. Zax, several organizations and publications as Esq./Latham & Watkins Graduate School Goss Associates thank all of them for The Montgomery Group of Design one of the most influential lobbyists for designers of tomorrow through your work- Meigs Society Rippeteau Architects their loyal commit- Pillars Cornerstones Heffron Company Leslie E. Robertson place giving campaign? American Society of the high-tech industry. Before joining BSA Hickok Warner Fox Associates ment to the National Civil Engineers Harold L. Adams, FAIA, Akridge Robert W. Holleyman II Each year we involve thousands Architects Nancy and in 1990, Holleyman spent eight years in Joanne D. Corzine RIBA, JIA American Planning Building Museum. Association The Hillier Group Richard Rosan senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate. of local students in educational activities International Masonry Andersen Corporation John W. Hyland, Jr. Moshe Safdie & ranging from city planning and urban Institute Mr. and Mrs. Thomas N. Arban & Carosi He holds a bachelor’s degree in political Kesaharu Imai Associates Inc. (as of July 31, 2003) A. Eugene Kohn, FAIA, Armstrong, III Mr. and Mrs. Peter Aron Sheet Metal and science from Trinity University in San design to building bridges and construct- RIBA, JIA/ Kohn BFC Partners Agatha and J.A. Jones/ Air Conditioning Pedersen Fox Laurence J. Aurbach Tompkins Builders Antonio, and a law degree from Louisiana ing houses. If you are taking part in Bovis Lend Lease Contractors’ National Edward J. Mathias W.E. Bowers B&B Washington’s S. Kann Sons Company Association State University. the United Way or Combined Federal Caterer Foundation • Portland Cement & Associates Peggy and David Shiffrin Campaign, you can support our youth Association BDO Seidman Susan L. Klaus Conrad Cafritz The Shockey Companies This Old House Fredric S. Berger, P.E. Robert C. Larson education programs by making a gift to James H. Callard The Society for Ventures, Inc. the National Building Museum # 8662. Century Housing Beyer Blinder Belle lee)sallee & company, inc. Marketing Professional Sharon and Jim Todd Corporation Architects Mr. and Mrs. Services To learn more about our Barbara and Tom Boggs Rafael V. Lopez Southern Iron Works, Inc. Keystones Clark Charitable education programs and how you can Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Lowe Enterprises Barbara Spangenberg Ai David A. Boillot get involved, please contact Shar Taylor, Dennis and Linda and Spaulding & Slye Colliers American Society of Michele Cotter Casework, Ltd. Jonathan Lyons International Landscape Architects Director of Development for Education, Cushman & Wakefield Cassidy & Pinkard Lily and Bob McLean Mark R. Sullenberger, Associated Builders of Greater Washington, Perry C. Cofield The Honorable Henry AIA (Custom Design at 202.272.2448, extension 3905, or via and Contractors, Inc. Inc. Kathryn and Kent Colton Meigs II Concepts Architecture) email at [email protected]. Bloomberg DaimlerChrysler Joseph E. Corcoran MGP Real Estate, LLC Thompson, Ventulett, Richard C. Blum James G. Davis Stainback & Associates Information about workplace Custom Design Hugh Th. Miller David L. Brunner Construction Corp. Concepts Architecture Patrice R. and Tri-State Drywall giving at www.unitedartsorganization.org. • and Rhonda Butler Louis Dreyfus Property Day & Zimmermann Herbert S. Miller Emily van Agtmael The Clark Construction Group Group, Inc. Mortgage Bankers Howard A. Vaughan Group, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert E. DeLorme, Esq. Association of America Wagner Roofing Co. Concord Partners Alfred C. Eckert Devrouax & Purnell Elizabeth B. Moynihan The Washington Post Co. Leo A Daly Delon Hampton Architects/Planners Philip and Tammy Murphy Washington Design Cuisine Hanley-Wood, L.L.C. Donohoe Construction Foundation Woodworking Co. Hargrove, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Company Charles A. and Norbert W. Young, Jr., Alfred C. Eckert Hellmuth, Obata + The Honorable and Mrs. Diana R. Nathan FAIA Kassabaum David C. Evans, Robert W. Duemling National Concrete Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Esq./Reed Smith LLP Herman Miller, Inc. Eakin/Youngentob Masonry Association Partnership Fentress Bradburn The IDI Group Associates, Inc. National Electrical Architects Ltd. Companies EDAW, Inc. Contractors’ Association Mr. and Mrs. Alice and William Konze Mark D. Ein National Plastering Lee Merritt Folger Industry Anthony M. Lanier Enterprise Social John J. Kirlin, Inc. Lehman-Smith + McLeish Investment Corp. National Trust for Susan L. Klaus Historic Preservation Eugene A. Ludwig Cynthia and Mr. and Mrs. Evelyn Stefansson Nef Miller & Long Co. Charles Field Benjamin V. Lambert Oehme, van Sweden NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Finishing Contractors Lee Associates, Inc. & Associates OF REALTORS® Association Will Miller and Mark Ordan Patella Woodworking Herb and Lynne Maguire Barbara Franklin Kay and Robert Oshel 16 blueprints blueprints 17 SPONSORSHIP SPONSORSHIP

Exhibition Sponsorship: United Technologies and Otis Elevator Company

HE NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM thanks United Technologies Corporation and TOtis Elevator Company for generously Thank You! supporting our exhibition and publication Up, Down, Across: Elevators, Escalators, $100,000 and above $5,000–$9,999 Charles E. Smith Nancy and Humanities Council The Museum thanks National Capital Arts Ai Commercial Residential, Richard Rosan of Washington, DC and Moving Sidewalks, exploring the a division of Archstone- the individuals, com- Lafarge to and Cultural Affairs Associated Builders Spaulding & Slye Colliers Gregory F. Hunt, AIA Program and the Smith and Charles E. International panies, associations, architectural and cultural impact of these and Contractors, Inc. Smith Commercial, Kirk R. Hyde U.S. Commission Thompson, Ventulett, people-moving systems. The first major of Fine Arts Cushman & Wakefield a division of Vornado Lloyd Kinch and agencies listed of Greater Washington, Realty Trust Stainback & Sponsor Major Associates John P. Kyle here for gifts of $250 exhibition on this topic, Up, Down, Across, $50,000–$99,999 Inc. Sharon and Jim Todd Tri-State Drywall Tim Lomax continues the Museum’s tradition of look- Baltimore Orioles Design Cuisine Truland Foundation or more received United Arts Organization Sharon B. and Freddie Mac Foundation DuPont James W. Lowe from May through ing at now commonplace technologies in New Exhibition $1,000–$2,499 of Greater International Masonry The Enterprise Washington, Inc. Joan Meixner new and revealing ways. Foundation Akridge July 2003. These gen- Institute Mueser Rutledge “We are pleased to sponsor Up, International Union Mr. and Mrs. Lee Merritt Mr. and Mrs. $250–$999 Consulting Engineers erous gifts provide at Museum of Bricklayers & Folger Laurence J. Aurbach AIA Cleveland Down, Across, elucidating and enlivening Sakura Namioka essential support for Allied Craftworkers Ford Motor Company The Louis Berger Group, Antonio Alcala/Studio A Inc. Mrs. A. Douglas Oliver the Museum’s exhibi- elevators, escalators, and moving walk- Major League Baseball HOK Sport + Venue All Stage & Sound, Inc. HE NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM is + Event The Morris and OPUS 3, Ltd. ways,” comments George David, chairman This Old House Charles H. Atherton, tions, education pro- pleased to announce that Lafarge Ventures, Inc. Frederick A. Kober Gwendolyn Cafritz Susan Piedmont- and chief executive officer of United Foundation FAIA Palladino and grams, and endow- Group and Lafarge North America United States Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin V. John E. Baker Douglas Palladino T General Services Lambert Perry C. Cofield, Jr. ment funds. Some Technologies Corporation. Sally Berk and Sanders Plants Alive! Inc. will be lead sponsors of Liquid Stone: Administration, MMA Foundation, Inc. Colorado Rockies “This is an excellent opportunity Public Buildings Baseball Club H. Berk, M.D. Martin H. Poretsky of the contributions New Architecture in Concrete, an upcom- Service, Office of National Council William L. Bernhard both to support this important exhibition of State Housing Custom Design Eden W. Rafshoon listed here are in ing exhibition scheduled to open in June the Chief Architect Concepts Architecture Nancy and Don Bliss at the National Building Museum and Agencies Rasevic Construction Co. partial fulfillment 2004. Liquid Stone will survey cutting-edge $25,000–$49,999 The Oakland A’s Donohoe Construction Richard C. Blumenstein Will Regan to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Baseball Company Company Boston Properties, Inc. of larger pledges. architecture in which the use of concrete ACS, Inc. Renaissance Housing PEPCO Mark D. Ein Corporation Otis,” states Ari Bousbib, president of Otis Carolyn and Bowie Gridley Architects, is an essential aspect of the design. Kenneth Brody Skidmore, Owings Barbara and Herb PLLC Hans Riecke Elevator Company. Indeed, Up, Down, & Merrill Franklin Lafarge also is the proud sponsor Hunt Construction Warren Breslow Eric Sedlacek Gulick Group, Inc. Across coincides with the sesquicentennial Group Robert A.M. Stern William Bernhard and Daniel K. Shogren of the Museum’s Spotlight on Design Architects of Elisha Graves Otis’ invention of the ele- Lafarge Heffron Company Catherine Cahill and Jennifer L. Rise lecture series. Headquartered in Northern The Hillier Group The Honorable and Mrs. Otis Elevator Company $2,500–$4,999 Mr. and Mrs. vator safety brake, which made elevators William F. Clinger, Jr. Albert H. Small Virginia, Lafarge North America is the The Summit Fund Kesaharu Imai American Society Clinton & Associates, viable for common applications, and the of Washington of Civil Engineers Lt. Col. and Mrs. Steven Smith largest supplier of cement, concrete, aggre- William Konze PC founding of Otis Elevator Company. Today, Turner Construction BE&K, Inc. Doris C. Teplitz gates, and gypsum products in the United Company Linda B. and Common Ground Bovis Lend Lease LMB Community Mr. and Mrs. Otis is the world's largest manufacturer United Technologies Jonathan S. Lyons Alexander C. Tomlinson States and Canada. The Paris-based Lafarge Conrad Cafritz Gianne Conrad, AIA and maintainer of people-moving products, Corporation The Honorable Tom Ventulett, FAIA Group has operations in 75 countries and Greenstein, DeLorme Henry Meigs II David E. Cooper Venturi, Scott Brown including elevators, escalators, shuttle $10,000-$24,999 & Luchs, P.C. worldwide sales in excess of $13.9 billion. MGP Real Estate, LLC Mary and Eugene Covert & Associates systems, and moving walkways. Head- Chevy Chase Bank Hanley-Wood, L.L.C. Mortgage Bankers Sue and For more information about Watkins Hamilton Ross quartered in Farmington, Conn., USA, The Clark Hargrove, Inc. Association George Covucci Architects Lafarge, visit the company's Web site at Construction Group Hellmuth, Obata & Diana R. and Claire and Warren Cox Mr. and Mrs. Otis employs more than 60,000 people Kassabaum, PC Charles A. Nathan lafargenorthamerica.com. • Clark-Winchcole Cudaback Strategic George M. White and offers products and services in more Foundation Hines National Electrical Communications Marion E. Yeck Covington & Burling Robert W. Holleyman, II Contractors Janet and David Curtis than 200 countries and territories. Association D.C. Office of Planning Lehman-Smith + Sara Nominelli Delgado, National Trust for Up, Down, Across opens with a The Walt Disney McLeish PLLC AIA Historic Preservation series of events in mid-September, including Company NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Frank C. Devlin, Jr. ® Oehme, van Sweden The Green Buildings OF REALTORS and Cheryl Brown & Associates a special preview day and an evening recep- for a Sustainable National Society Einhorn/Yaffee/Prescott Future Coalition Kay and Robert Oshel tion for Museum members, and will remain of Professional Laura Einstein and New York Jets Engineers Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc. on view through April 2004. The exhibition Helene Madonick Carl Pohlad and the The Real Estate Pulte Home Corp. Fannie Mae Foundation Minnesota Twins Roundtable, Inc. catalogue will be on sale in the Museum Leslie E. Robertson N.B. Freedman San Diego Padres Deedie Rose Associates, RLLP Shop beginning in September. J. Ford Huffman • Baseball Club ROMA Design Group

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MYSTERY BUILDING

Mystery Building Correction

The “Mystery Building” is back by popular In the article about the Hedrich demand, and will appear in future issues Blessing exhibition in the summer as space permits. issue of Blueprints, the credit for the photograph of the U.S. Air Force The issue’s mystery building is a Academy was incomplete. The photog- little off the beaten path, but is rapher was Bill Hedrich and the worthy of a special trip for lovers photograph was taken in 1959. of modernism. Can you identify the building, its location, and its architect? The next issue of Blueprints will list the names of all readers who submit correct answers.

You may respond to: Mystery Building, National Building Museum, 401 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Members receive reduced admission to education programs, subscriptions ࠗ My check payable to the National Building Museum is enclosed. to Blueprints and the Calendar of Events, invitations to exhibition openings, and discounts on Museum Shop purchases. For more informa- Please charge my credit card: ࠗ American Express tion about benefits, as well as corporate membership opportunities, ࠗ Visa please call 202.272.2448, ext. 3200. ࠗ MasterCard ࠗ Yes, I want to become a member of the National Building Museum! Please begin my membership at the following level: ACCOUNT # EXPIRATION DATE

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NAME BY FAX: 202.376.3436

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CITY/ STATE/ ZIP The National Building Museum is a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax-deductible to the maximum allowable extent of the law. To obtain a copy of the organization’s most recent audited financial statement, please call 202.272.2448 ext. 3500. EMAIL DAYTIME PHONE

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