Changes to Halprin’s Landmark Freeway Park in

Originally designed by Lawrence Halprin and Associates, the plantings at Seattle’s Freeway Park are currently being updated by Seattle landscape architect and professor Iain Robertson, who aims to “not change the character of the park, but to recharge the design." Executed by Mr. Halprin’s office under the design direction of Angela Danadjieva, Freeway Park is one of the best preserved masterworks of post-war landscape architecture, yet the horticultural requirements of the plants necessitate renewed attention to the origi- nal design intent. However, its fate may also be a bellweather for the future of modernist architecture, landscapes and engineering feats associated with the interstate highway system across the country. After the publication of Halprin’s book Freeways in Aerial view of the park over Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle circa 1999. 1966 and his work with the Freeway Park, Seattle, WA (Photo courtesy of the City of Seattle) Federal Highway Administration’s Urban Advisors group, the Seattle Parks Commission sought his assistance in designing a park along the edge of the new interstate gorge. Rather than confining himself to the proposed plot of land, Halprin pushed the ideas in his book into the cityscape by proposing an extensive landscape that scaled down the impact of the freeway for both driver and pedestrian by building right over it. Rather than balking at this audacious plan, the city bun- dled the proposal into the county-wide open space bond measure

cont’d on pg. 11

NATIONAL NEWS | winter 2008 ARTICLES ARTICLES (cont’d) ANNOUNCEMENTS (cont’d)

1 Changes to Halprin’s Landmark 9 Louisiana Supreme Court Building 14 New Resources at the Freeway Park in Seattle Faces Demolition Environmental Design Archives by Brice Maryman by Toni DiMaggio by Marc Treib

2 Urban Renewal Renewed: A 10 Rehabilitation of Bunshaft 15 Glass House Maintenance Makeover for Baltimore’s Designed LBJ Library in Austin by Deirdre Gould Center Plaza by Catherine Gavin by Olivia Klose 15 Protecting Beijing’s ANNOUNCEMENTS 3 Boston City Hall Plaza: A Modern by Deirdre Gould Space for the City Upon a Hill 13 D.C.’s Only Brutalist Church by Gary Wolf 15 Albert Ledner House Tour Designated a Landmark by Toni DiMaggio by Olivia Klose 4 Landscapes of Industrial Archeology Sites: Preservation 13 Bell Labs Update DOCOMOMO NEWS Projects for Social Spaces by Hélène Lipstadt by Maristella Casciato 2 Welcome 13 NY/Tri-State Chapter Spotlights 5 Parkmerced, a Modern Landscape 3 Chapter News the O’Toole Building and its Masterpiece under Assault Tri-State/New York Architect, Albert Ledner by Chandler McCoy NOCA by Kathleen Randall Texas 6 The Temporality of Being: WEWA 14 Modern Talk: Northwest Conservation Through Subtraction New England Mid-Century Architect’s Oral by Nadya K. Nenadich & History Project 9 Winter Shows and Exhibits Enrique Vivoni-Farage by Eugenia Woo 7 Boston’s Christian Science Center 14 Book Review: DOCOMOMO US by David Fixler Louis I. Kahn: Beyond Time and Email: [email protected] Style, A Life in Architecture 8 UC Irvine Strips Off Pereira Façades Mail: PO Box 230977 by Olivia Klose by Deirdre Gould New York, NY 10023 www.docomomo-us.org Welcome Urban Renewal Renewed: A Makeover for Baltimore’s Center Plaza Welcome and Happy New Year. Continuing with our recent initia- escalators and skywalks in order to overcome the n the heart of Baltimore, 1960s-style urban tive for theme-based newsletters, I problem of the site’s steep topography (a 68-foot renewal has received a facelift with the comple- this winter issue looks at modern drop in grade from the northern boundary of the tion in October 2007 of a $7.5 million renovation site to the southern boundary) and in order to plazas and landscapes. Many of of Center Plaza, the urban plaza at the core of create a series of “pedestrian islands.” Though these were created in the context downtown’s complex of office, retail and residen- futuristic in appearance, this circulation system of urban renewal projects in the tial buildings known as Charles Center. In 2002, was a typical component of urban design of the postwar era as an integral part of the design of housing, civic, office or cultural institutions or simply as stand alone features. Many of these spaces and places have not been maintained and have fallen into disrepair or have been aban- doned in their entirety, serving as symbols of urban blight and failed design principles or social views. In recent years, so much has changed and so many alter- ations have been made to what are important designs and represent work by significant Center Plaza under construction, with Mies van der Center Plaza under construction, April 2007. designers of the period that we Rohe’s One Charles Center on the right, April 2007. Charles Center, Baltimore, MD believe it is important to dedicate Charles Center, Baltimore, MD (photo: Olivia Klose) (photo: Olivia Klose) a newsletter to this issue. We a national competition was held for the re-design 1950s and 60s and was often promoted as a want to highlight the significance of the unpopular and rundown Center Plaza, origi- means of separating pedestrians from the escalat- of these landscapes and advocate nally designed by the Baltimore firm of Rogers, ing nuisance of auto traffic and congestion. In the for their preservation in a mean- Taliaferro, Kostritsky & Lamb as the focal point of case of Charles Center, the exterior circulation ingful and appreciative way. Baltimore’s first urban renewal project and system was also intended to provide a venue for Too many of these landscapes or inspired by the great urban plazas of the Italian extensive retail activity. spaces have become the victim Renaissance. The local architecture and design Although the Charles Center plan had all the of unnecessary and insensitive firm of Brown & Craig won the competition with right ingredients for successful place-making, its changes, or have been obliterated their design of extensive greenscaping, a reflect- physical realization made plain many of the short- altogether because of poor or ing pool, movable seating and dynamic lighting comings of modern urban design principles. In the inappropriate maintenance or effects. Brown & Craig had collaborated with words of Charles Center’s chief urban planner misbegotten ideas about safety Daniel Biederman, the talent behind the success- himself, David Wallace, the skywalks at Charles or use. ful revitalization of New York City’s Bryant Park in Center were “circuitous and hard to find,” and 2007 saw the continued growth the early 1990s; however, it is too early to tell retail was consistently “lackluster.” City govern- of DOCOMOMO US with the whether the team’s design will foster the desired ment did not end up retaining ownership of the addition of Florida as a US chap- transformation of Center Plaza into a hip and entire system of open spaces and exterior infra- ter and entry of New Orleans and inviting urban space. structure (only the three plazas), and so treatment North Carolina for approval. The As originally designed, Charles Center’s open of its various sections—in terms of services, spaces reflected the principles and ideals of the end of 2007 had its usual array of amenities, ambiance and maintenance—was left urban renewal movement that swept through building preservation challenges. up to individual building owners and retail tenants. American cities beginning in the 1950s, forever While the emblematic Encounter The first skywalks were dismantled in the 1980s, transforming the urban landscape. As consulting restaurant at LAX airport was and by the 1990s only two remained. architects to the Charles Center urban renewal The introverted nature of the Charles Center reopened, the Morris A. Mechanic project, which was launched by a public-private plan was a built-in handicap and prevented the Theater in Baltimore was partnership in 1957, RTKL’s goal was to make the lively, populous atmosphere envisioned by nominated for designation and plazas and open space a “social center for 24- planners. Placement of the two major plazas, the Brutalist Third Church of hour citizens of Baltimore.” The 1958 Charles Center and Hopkins Plazas, on the interior of the Christ, Scientist in Washington Center promotional report gushed that ”Here, superblocks meant that they were virtually invisi- D.C. was designated. Many others open space will be used, loved and economically ble from the street. Fixed seating, copious hard- remain uncertain: the fate of successful because it will be full of pleasant scaping, and insufficient greenery all contributed Albert Ledner’s O’Toole building things: fountains, sculpture, flowers, umbrellas, to the plazas’ underuse. As early as 1962, a in New York City is tied to the flags and trees. The open space will be, in its own member of Baltimore’s Planning Council predicted expansion plans of St. Vincent’s way, as concentrated as the city around it.” that the majority of plaza users would be office hospital, and the future of such George Kostritsky of RTKL envisioned an urban tenants on their lunch break, and that a mere corporate campuses as Eero landscape along the themes of light, sculpture, quarter would be the visitors, shoppers and Saarinen’s Bell Labs in Holmdel, and water, for Charles, Center and Hopkins plazas, tourists envisioned. A distinct obstacle to the New Jersey, remains unresolved. respectively. The three plazas, located on the plazas’ popularity stemmed not from design, but interior of the two superblocks comprising the perhaps from the absence of integrated planning: Charles Center urban renewal site, were to be cont’d next page linked through a series of elevated walkways, cont’d on pg. 12

DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 2 Welcome Boston City Hall Plaza: A Modern Space for the City Upon a Hill This year, 2008, the Xth International DOCOMOMO Government Center, the 9-1/2-acre plaza occupies conference will take place in the Hailed by critic the key location, identified in Kevin Lynch’s The Netherlands where almost twenty Ada Louse Image of the City (1960): “Potentially it [the city Huxtable as “one hall site, historically Scollay Square] could play an years ago DOCOMOMO was of the best urban even more striking visual role as the central point formed. The theme of the confer- spaces of the 20th of the old head of the Boston peninsula, the hub ence is “The Challenge of century,” Boston’s of a whole series of districts…the node of such Change”, and the conference will often reviled City important paths as Tremont, Cambridge, Court- mostly take place in Rotterdam in Hall Plaza faces State, and Sudbury Streets….” The prescriptions the restored Van Nelle Factory, an uncertain fate. for the government center design competition, reinvigorated as a ’design facto- Designed by established by I.M. Pei and Partners’ 1960 master ry’. The theme reflects the need Kallmann, plan, retained these roads and opened unexpect- for DOCOMOMO International McKinnell and ed views to major landmarks: Faneuil Hall, Quincy and its members to revisit and Wood between Market, Old North Church and the Old State reassess the role and goals of the 1962 and 1968, House. organization. the last concerted Pei’s plaza site essentially excised this frag- In more practical terms, we effort to improve ment of the historic city, defined by existing or The building was constructed continue to use our website to this centerpiece of using mainly poured-in-place and rebuilt roads and structures and by thin new build- update you with news on “the New Boston” precast Portland cement. Boston ings along two edges. A half-dozen blocks of solid DOCOMOMO events and activi- fell victim to post- City Hall, Boston, MA. “ground” became an open “figure,” to use the ties as well as our advocacy 9/11 inter-govern- (photo: Chris Brazee) urban design parlance most often applied to efforts. Links to the websites of our chapters where most region- al news is reported are also provided. Finally, we have upgraded the site to allow for the on-line payment through PayPal of dues and the purchase of past journals and DOCOMOMO publications.

— Theodore Prudon President, DOCOMOMO US

View across the plaza at night. Boston City Hall, Detail view of the building’s sculptural volume. Boston, MA. (photo: Chris Brazee) Boston City Hall, Boston, MA. (photo: Chris Brazee) mental disputes. In 2006, Mayor Tom Menino Nolli’s famous map of Rome. But where the announced his intention to sell both the plaza and prototypical figural space on that map, the Piazza building to the highest bidder. Over recent Navona, recalls the ancient “outdoor room” months, the monumental City Hall itself has maintained by the surrounding urban “poche,” received wide spread support. The Boston in Boston the new Plaza’s boundaries reflect the Landmarks Commission voted to accept a petition arbitrariness of the historic urban layout. The north for study (although landmarking is subject to may- edge splays outward as the former Hanover and oral veto), and a Determination of Eligibility by the Sudbury Streets did; its west side bulges inward far sighted Massachusetts Historical Commission in front of the hill; and the 19th-century row to surfaced. In 1991 MHC had determined that City the south sweeps away along old Cornhill Street’s Hall is eligible for the National Register of Historic path. The resulting space has a non-sheltering, Places, and had commented that “the plaza is a centrifugal character, opening at its corners. significant component of the building.” KMW “bulked-up” the new City Hall in order to City Hall Plaza is the latest transformation of hold down this space more effectively. the slopes of Boston’s colonial city; the succeed- In response to the sloping hillside site, KMW ing two centuries leveled the hills and filled the crafted a huge warping terrace of brick. High at coves to form the Boston we know today, Cambridge Street and at both sides, it cascades including the Plaza’s setting. On the Plaza’s west, down 20 feet around the building to Congress tremendous earth-moving shaved 65 feet off a Street, stopping partway down for an amphithe- four-acre mount for Pemberton Square, and nearly ater and stage on the north. The Plaza rolls right as much from Beacon Hill just beyond. To the into and through City Hall, where it wraps down east, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market were devel- one level and up another, as a transposed, oped on harbor fill in two separate endeavors symbolic hill for the city. From Dock Square eight decades apart. Such extraordinary reshaping below, one sees the new City Hall astride this of the terrain suggests the challenge—and the three-tiered mound. precedent—for those in the 20th century who planned the new center for the “City Upon a Hill.” cont’d on pg. 10 Although it is only a small piece of the 56-acre DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 3 Chapter News Landscapes of Industrial Archeology: Preservation Projects for Social Spaces NEW YORK/TRI-STATE DOCOMOMO New York/Tri-State Surprisingly and equally unexpectedly a new The range of different arrangements has been is part of a working coalition situation has occurred in Europe regarding the broad, combining commercial with recreational including Preservation New future of disused industrial areas. Starting in the spaces, as well as providing educational facilities Jersey, the National Trust for early 1990s the number of preservation projects and sites for urban forestry and urban agriculture Historic Preservation, DOCOMO- for the transformation of sections of industrial that will aid in creating a more sustainable and MO US, the Recent Past landscapes, already in decay or abandoned have, functional future landscape. All of the new func- Preservation Network, the Cultural by and large increased. These industrial activities tions are based on the deliberate incorporation Landscape Foundation, and had generated polluted landscapes in conditions of the industrial heritage into the new landscape. AIA-New Jersey that is currently of full hostility for human beings and nature. The The industrial plants remain as landmarks and exploring ways to preserve huge industrial machineries have stood empty of architectural witnesses narrating the history of Eero Saarinen’s 2,000,000 sq. ft. users and materials in a desolated land of debris. the region. Bell Laboratories on a 472-acre Most of the new projects resulted in the creation One of the fully completed sections of the site in Holmdel, New Jersey. The of new open spaces for leisure facilities and new preserved landscape is the Landschaftspark groups also aim to assist with a collective public activities. The largest and most in North Duisburg (1993-2001), designed by Peter direction for the sites future preservation and reuse. The coalition sponsored a talk about Saarinen’s career on October 30th in Holmdel, NJ by Donald Albrecht, co-curator of the travel- ing exhibition “Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future.”

—Kathleen Randall

New York/Tri-State Chapter Spotlights the O’Toole Building and its Architect, Albert Ledner

In February 2007, New York/Tri- State chapter members learned that St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers planned to demolish the O’Toole Building, located on 7th Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets in Manhattan. Originally the Joseph Curran Building, the Site of Landschaftspark in North-Duisburg. View of Latz’s incorporation of thyssen Steelworks into five-story structure was designed Landschaftspark, North-Duisburg, Germany. the parks design. Landschaftspark, North-Duisburg, (photo: Franco Panzini) Germany. (photo: Franco Panzini) complex intervention that has become a standard Latz. An outstanding example of a park area of reference for the transformation of post-indus- shaped by its industrial history, the heart of the trial landscapes elsewhere, has been achieved in park is the decommissioned Thyssen Steelworks, the Ruhr area, located in North Rhine-Westphalia. converted into a site of industrial heritage and a (Germany). This has been Europe’s heart of indus- venue for different leisure facilities. Based on the trialization. Remains of the period are the large idea of calling for empirical solutions, Latz has population (the region, with 18 million people has interpreted the parts of the huge steel structures the highest population density of all Germany) and as bearer of a spontaneous naturalization process. a totally artificially transformed landscape. A new landscape has emerged; the park is the During the middle of the 20th century as the manifesto of the re-appropriation of the obsolete industrial boom stopped, many heavy industries industrial features by nature. A botanical garden, (predominantly coal and steel) moved away, leav- where plants suitable to grow among the ruins of ing abandoned industrial plants and a large num- steel industries are cultivated, represents a space ber of post-industrial sites, including many brown- for discovery and play at the same time. fields. In 1989 the regional government of North Equally successful has been the preservation Rhine-Westphalia started an integrated develop- of the Zollverein coalmine industrial complex in ment strategy for the former industrial region. The the vicinity of Essen, where the main structure is major goal was the creation of a new “regional Shaft XII, a technical and architectural master- Jay Shockley (right) confers with park” with a length of seventy kilometers along piece designed by the architects Fritz Schupp and Albert Ledner (left) over a historic the Emscher River. More than 150 years of indus- Martin Kremmer and built in 1932. The design of photo of the Joseph Curran Building trialization have left their mark on the region: the plant is based on pure modern aesthetics, showing original details. mines, coking plants and winding towers are the with clear lines, reduced forms and an impressive (Photo courtesy of Jay Shockley) symmetry. impressive relics of the past industrial era. cont’d on pg. 12 DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 4 Chapter News Parkmerced, a Modern Landscape Masterpiece Under Assault by Albert Ledner for the National Maritime Union and formally opened in 1964. Between 1954 A 191-acre, 2,500-unit apartment development and 1968 Ledner designed 14 situated in the southwestern part of , buildings for the Union, primarily adjacent to the campus of San Francisco State hiring halls in port cities across University, Parkmerced is close enough to the the country. Pacific Ocean that it is continually under assault Over the summer an informal from wind and foggy weather. Unfortunately, working group of members current plans by the new owner, Parkmerced contacted Albert Ledner in New Investors, LLP, and the University, are creating an Orleans and began archival assault that threatens to sweep the development research to fill out the history off the map. With its Thomas Church landscape, behind the structure. The results Parkmerced is one of the most significant modern were a DOCOMOMO fiche, a sites in San Francisco and its loss would be a 10-page backgrounder document defeat for the city’s modern heritage. detailing the history and status of View of the shared lawn spaces. the building, and a fall lecture in Parkmerced, San Francisco, CA. (photo: Chris Verplanck) New York by Albert Ledner. The lecture was held courtyards, parking courts and service courts, September 25th at the New York and engaged Church to create designs for the showroom of Knoll, Inc. Over 80 75 unique internal courtyards and landscape people attended and were treated throughout the complex. This was Church’s first to Albert Ledner’s slides and large-scale commission and allowed him to put sharp recall of his buildings for into practice his fundamental concepts for residen- the union and particularly the tial landscape design. Each courtyard is different, design progression of the Curran responding to its particular topography and solar headquarters building. A half hour conditions, and each provides semi-private of audience questions was terraces adjoining the apartments living rooms, followed by a reception and an a shared lawn area, sidewalks, and a limited, wind- tolerant plant palette. Curving walks and biomor- informal talk with the architect Parkmerced, San Francisco, CA. about the building’s future. (Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, phic shapes define the central lawns, while raised For more on Albert Ledner and San Francisco Public Library) planters, wide steps, and low-maintenance plant- the Maritime Union buildings, ing groups give each courtyard its modern feeling. plus photos and drawings, the Thomas Church, considered the father of For students of Thomas Church, walking through backgrounder document can be modern landscape architecture in the United the interconnected courtyards of Parkmerced found on the DOCOMOMO States, exerted an especially strong influence over provides a primer on the Church residential land- website. In addition, Ledner’s the look of residential landscape architecture in scape, offering a rare opportunity to experience lecture at Knoll, Inc. is now the post-war years. A figure with an international firsthand the work of one of the country’s founding available on DVD; please contact reputation, his ideas for livable, low-maintenance modernist landscape architects. the NY/Tri-State chapter to obtain garden design were published in popular maga- In the last few years, San Francisco State a copy. zines and he worked closely with the leading Bay University has purchased several blocks of Because St. Vincent’s redevel- Region architects of his day; William Wurster, Parkmerced while releasing a plan to replace at opment plan—a joint project Gardner Dailey, John Funk, and others whose least five of these blocks with new student hous- with the Rudin Management regional modern style was characterized by a ing. In addition, the current owner of the remain- Company—is located in the seamless integration between building and land- der of Parkmerced has hired the San Francisco Greenwich Village Historic scape. During the course of his prolific career, office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill to develop a District, it will need to be Church designed over 1,000 individual landscape new master plan. Initial concept drawings shown reviewed by the Landmarks projects. Most of these are private gardens and at a recent public meeting indicate that Preservation Commission, who are off-limits to the public, such as the often-pho- Parkmerced would be demolished in its entirety will determine its appropriate- tographed Donnell Pool and Garden in Sonoma, and replaced with a completely different grid pat- ness. The hospital filed its appli- California . tern and higher density housing, while commercial cation in December 2007, while Parkmerced, designed by Leonard Schultze uses would be added along its major green New York/Tri-State is continuing Associates, a New York City architect, was devel- spaces. Local preservation organizations, including its outreach and preparing formal oped by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company the Northern California Chapter of DOCOMOMO testimony for the numerous starting in 1941 as part of a nationwide venture US and the Western Regional Office of the hearings that will attend the into real estate development. Three similarly National Trust for Historic Preservation are con- St. Vincent/Rudin plan. scaled developments were built by MetLife at cerned about both initiatives. A joint site tour was about the same time: Park Labrea in , conducted on November 2, 2007, which included —Kathleen Randall Parkchester in the Bronx, New York and Parkfairfax representatives of the California Preservation in Alexandria, Virginia. All four planned communi- Foundation, San Francisco Heritage, and the ties are predominantly low-rise apartments situat- San Francisco Planning Department, as well as ed on significant amounts of landscaped open the Parkmerced tenants’ advocacy group. space. Parkfairfax is listed on the National Register Understanding the importance of Parkmerced, in recognition of its role in the Post-War housing these organizations are wide awake and looking effort as an early . closely at ways to preserve Parkmerced for the At Parkmerced, Schultze laid out a “Garden future. City”style radiating site plan with interconnecting DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 —Chandler McCoy 5 Chapter News The Temporality of Being: Conservation Through Subtraction NOCA glass jalousie windows that pivot as doors, allowing The Northern California Chapter Henry Klumb bought the 5-acre Cody Ranch in for a framed and controlled view of the exterior. of DOCOMOMO US has been Puerto Rico in October 1947, where it had served As recycling was one of Klumb’s main inten- focused on several important as a pineapple, cucumber and citrus-growing farm tions in this project, the reutilization of the original preservation issues that could to the previous owners. Of the ranch’s five original shuttered doors can be seen in their conversion to have a large impact on San structures, Klumb retained only the large wooden privacy screens. Also recycled were the original Francisco’s modern heritage. house and garden. Built around 1906, the house garden and farm area transformed into a protective The most important has been the was a typical hacienda design: a raised cottage with envelope for living. Klumb continuously trans- potential complete destruction of a large corrugated-metal hipped roof and a wrap- formed the garden. He added exotic and rare trees, Parkmerced, a large planned around porch. Klumb’s remodeling of the house, such as the polygala cowelii—commonly known as community located near the even though its original character was preserved, the violet tree—almost extinct in Puerto Rico. The Pacific Ocean in the southwest garden was also sculpted by the planting of fruit corner of the City. Designed by trees that grew into enormous umbrellas and by noted landscape architect subtracting existing vegetation which created open Thomas Church, this community lawns or “skylights” that allowed sunshine to of over 2,000 apartments is penetrate the otherwise dense vegetation. Sunlight currently threatened on several became an obsession and Klumb’s design contem- fronts. DOCOMOMO NOCA is plated a structured movement from sun to shade. closely monitoring the situation, His wall-less dining room opened to the veranda with details provided in a sepa- rate article in this newsletter. DOCOMOMO NOCA plans to resume its regular meeting schedule in 2008, with meetings held the second Tuesday of every View from the pond. Klumb House, Puerto Rico. month. (Photo courtesy of Henry Klumb Collection, Architecture and Please contact Andrew Wolfram Construction Archives at the University of Puerto Rico) at [email protected] for more information.

—Andrew Wolfram Drawing of the south-west elevation. Klumb House, Puerto Rico. (Photo courtesy of Henry Klumb Collection, Architecture and Construction Archives at the University of NORTH TEXAS Puerto Rico)

On November 15th, the North and to the rear garden. A pivoting table—the Texas Chapter of DOCOMOMO US room’s centerpiece—was designed to capture the co-hosted an in-depth tour of the early morning sun, the shade for a noon lunch, or Masonic Temple of Dallas in the feeble dusk light for a late dinner. coordination with the Texas The construction of a kidney-shaped pond Chapter of The Association for framed by two caimito trees, in front of the main View of the house’s interior. Klumb House, Puerto Rico. Preservation Technology and the stairs to the house offered a secondary living space (Photo courtesy of Henry Klumb Collection, Architecture and within nature: light and ephemeral, this allowed him AIA Dallas Historic Resources Construction Archives at the University of Puerto Rico) Committee. The Masonic Temple to view his house from within nature, and inextrica- is a significant structure within served as a laboratory for radical tropical solutions bly linked the two, making house and garden one. Dallas’ Harwood Street Historic that he later used in many of his buildings and man- Therefore, Klumb’s house, albeit a romanticized ver- District, an eclectic grouping of ifested his idea that “Man’s work that disregards sion of life in the tropics, represents an intimate structures in Neo-Classical the existence of nature, and ignores man as the relationship between interior and exterior space Revival, Renaissance Revival, measure has no true meaning, no significance of that far outdid the Modern Movement’s under- Beaux-Arts, , and Art being.” standing of architecture as an object in space. In Moderne styles. The remodeling of the house and garden repre- remodeling the Cody Ranch and its gardens, Klumb The Art Moderne Masonic sented this “significance of being” as for Klumb, made space and object inseparable. Moreover, he Temple, one of the newer build- being is intrinsically encumbered in nature. It was made one a reflection of the other, each serving to ings in the District, was built in not surprising, then, that when remodeling the highlight the beauty of its counterpart. Being-in-the- 1941, and designed by the firm hacienda house the surrounding garden was used world had for Heidegger both temporal and spatial of Flint & Broad. The imposing as the defining structure of what Klumb considered qualities and Klumb agreed that in that sense, being Temple is predominantly faced to be his private space. Opening up the main made reference to a nearness rather than a with limestone and features a façade in order to make the most out of living in remoteness. Contrary to many of his contempo- black granite surround at the a garden, he allowed the inside to become the raries, Klumb’s vision of space began from the main entrances and aluminum outside, eradicating the hard vertical surfaces by outside-in and not from the inside-out. This reversal fenestration. When viewed in the adding areca palms surrounding the wrap-around of thought evidenced his preference for the natural larger context of Dallas history, it porch for a fluid, yet sure protection from rain and over the built form, as living in nature was for represents a transitional time for wind. Therefore, the elimination of walls allowed Klumb a consciously structured process intrinsic to the city’s architecture, positioned for a restructuring of the public areas so that three the making of architecture. sides were opened toward the garden. On the other hand, the private rooms, such as his studio —Nadya K. Nenadich & Enrique Vivoni-Farage DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 6 and bedrooms, were opened through the use of Chapter News Boston’s Christian Science Center between the 1936 Art Moderne collection of Texas Centennial Buildings at Fair Park, and the In 1964, the First Church of Christ Scientist distinctly modernist 1955 Old presented architects I.M. Pei and Araldo Cossuta Dallas Public Library, located just with the challenge of providing space, amenity four blocks away. The Temple is in and an intangible presence for the expansion of relatively good shape and is not their Mother Church complex, which had occu- immediately threatened. It was pied a part of this same site since 1898. With the put up for sale in 2006 at a price incipient completion of the adjacent Prudential of $3.6 million, perhaps reflecting Center complex, a commercial development that the decline in the fortunes and featured a 52-story tower and several apartment popularity of the Masonic fraterni- slab blocks set off from the street on a large ty. To date, the Temple remains in raised plaza, the “High Spine” development con- Freemasonry ownership, but that cept promulgated by planner Kevin Lynch and the sector of downtown Dallas is Boston Society of Architects seemed to be taking attracting much new develop- off. The Prudential was to be the first of a series ment. Concerned preservationists, of skyscrapers that would stretch along Boylston including DOCOMOMO NTX, and Huntington Streets, defining Boston’s skyline. will be closely monitoring future It became apparent to Pei and Cossuta that the developments in and around the dome of the 1908 Mother Church would no Temple. longer be a commanding presence on the Boston DOCOMOMO NTX’s next event skyline. They responded by persuading the is a tour of mid-century modern Church to do something out of the financial religious churches and temples reach of a commercial developer. They would designed by several of North “command the ground plane” and construct Texas’ earliest modernists. The the great plaza around which the new Christian tour is planned for late winter or Science Center evolved. Boston’s Christian Science Center, Boston, MA. early spring of 2008. (Photo courtesy of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, Architects) High Court at Chandigarh, that defines the north —Robert Meckfessel side of the plaza. At the southwest corner, the sweeping curve of the Sunday School redirects the thrust of the space of the reflecting pool out WEWA into the reconfigured forecourt of the Mother Church as it is presented to the open space along DOCOMOMO WEWA’s advocacy Massachusetts Avenue. There, it is firmly efforts in late 2007 culminated at bounded by the long slab of the Church Park an important meeting of the Apartments, designed by The Architects Seattle Landmarks Board on Collaborative (TAC), which were also a component January 2, 2008 with the designa- of the original Master Plan. tion of the Norton Building and The CSC is one of the most striking and the nomination of the Manning’s successful modernist urban complexes in the Cafeteria Building. Aerial view of Christian Science Center, Boston, MA. world. As the Church embarks on a new master In 2007, parked by a zoning (Photo courtesy of Alex MacLean, Landslides) plan for the adaptive use of some of the buildings resolution to allow taller buildings and the development of the Plaza, it will be in the commercial core, the City This great gesture was described by Cossutta imperative that the character and dignity of this of Seattle released the results of as the “heart and soul” of the project. The quiet, complex be properly maintained. The Church is a historic inventory of downtown dignified but unabashedly monumental urban well aware of the unique quality of this heritage buildings eligible for landmark complex of the Christian Science Center (CSC) and has come out in supporting of the proposed status. One of the first buildings stretches from Copley Square to Symphony Hall. landmark designation of the complex. Still, it will to be considered was one of the Featuring a long reflecting pool at the center of be important that the City of Boston, advocacy city’s most prominent Modern the space and a planted terrace to the south, it organizations like DOCOMOMO, and everyone aluminum and glass curtain-wall creates a cohesive and dignified identity for the concerned with the future of one of Boston’s skyscrapers. The Norton Building, Christian Science Church, mitigates the insensi- most distinguished works of mid-twentieth built in 1958, was designed by tive urban boundary of the Prudential Center, and century urbanism be alert to the unique and SOM and local architects Bindon knits together older monumental structures such delicate qualities of this ensemble. With vigilance & Wright and represents an as the Christian Science Mother Church and we can ensure it that it will remain a its future as important shift in the design of Publishing House, and the adjacent Horticultural a great urban complex and a link to the best of commercial real estate in Seattle. Hall. Through these moves, the CSC establishes Boston’s modernist heritage. Acting on the support of a strong sense of place at the intricate complex DOCOMOMO WEWA, the board urban juncture of the Fenway, Back Bay and —David Fixler, AIA nominated the Norton Building South End. The buildings themselves are com- in the autumn of 2007 and was posed in a classic modernist dynamic asymmetry, unanimously designated on with the strong vertical slab of the Administration January 2nd. Tower (the Center’s own small contribution to the High Spine) serving as a counterpoint to the Library or Colonnade, inspired by LeCorbusier’s

DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 7 Chapter News UC Irving Strips Off Pereira Façades

Designed by Clarence Mayhew In 1964, a well-regarded Bay Area architect, the swoopy roofline of One of William Pereira’s most iconic buildings the Manning’s Cafeteria Building on the campus of the University of California, in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood Irvine, Steinhaus Hall, is poised to receive a stands as one of the last surviving disfiguring facelift that will replace its sculptural examples of Googie style restau- concrete sunshades with a bland aluminum rants in the city. Threatened with curtainwall. demolition in 1983 after Manning’s Constructed in 1963 by William Pereira & closed, the community galvanized Associates as part of a larger complex of build- and saved the building and it ings, Steinhaus was originally designed in 1961 as reopened as a Denny’s. The build- part of the architects’ master plan. Known for his ing currently faces the wrecking sculptural brutalist work in concrete, Pereira is ball again with plans for an eight- most famous for the design of the Los Angeles story retail/condo development. International Airport with its “Theme” building As part of the Master Use control tower, and the pyramidal high rise for the Permit process the project’s Transamerica Corporation in San Francisco. proponents submitted a landmark Steinhaus Hall, along with the other Pereira nomination for review and designs at UC Irvine, created a signature look for consideration by the Seattle the campus with volumetric buildings lifted off Landmarks Preservation Board. the ground on pilotis, open pavilions marking the At its January 2, 2008 hearing, the topmost floor, and the organic quality of precast Board voted 8 to 1 to nominate concrete sunshades that cast strong shadows in the Manning’s Cafeteria Building. the hot sun. These signature The Board heard public com- Pereira elements are all present at Steinhaus Hall. ments supporting the nomination Working extensively with experimental and received numerous letters of technologies, William Pereira strove to achieve the thinnest concrete possible in order to give a support prior to the meeting. The Detail of the building’s signature elements—pilotis and Seattle Landmarks Preservation sharply defined shape to his buildings’ façades. concrete sunshades. Board will next consider the build- However, Steinhaus hall’s pre-cast concrete Steinhaus Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA. ing for designation as a landmark technology is approaching the end of its (photo: DOCOMOMO NOCA) at its February 6, 2008 hearing. serviceable life with the sunshades exhibiting DOCOMOMO WEWA will continue working with a group of active citizens, Ballard residents, archi- tects, and preservationists to save the Manning’s Cafeteria Building and promote consideration of the potential for re-use and rehabilitation.

—Andrew Phillips

NEW ENGLAND

DOCOMOMO NE continues its advocacy efforts for Boston City Detail of sculptural concrete sunshades on Steinhaus Detail of the shadows created by the precast sunshades. Hall, cooperating with the Hall, University of California at Irvine. Steinhaus Hall, Steinhaus Hall, UC Irvine, Irvine, CA. Preservation Alliance who are UC Irvine, Irvine, CA. (photo: DOCOMOMO NOCA) (photo: DOCOMOMO NOCA) presenting on The Government Center’s history and its preserva- tion issues at the Traditional signs of deterioration. The University is currently building’s strongest character-defining features, Building (Renovation/Restoration) starting design work on a major exterior renova- and futilely mix the new façade with the few conference in Boston in March. tion, including plans to remove the sunshades original elements that will remain. The chapter also continues to from the building’s middle three stories, while Unfortunately, although the Pereira buildings keep a watchful eye on Paul maintaining the sculptural concrete elements at successfully create a strong visual style on the Rudolph’s former Blue Cross Blue the lowest and uppermost floors of the buildings. campus, the modification of Steinhaus Hall is Shield building, now 133 Federal The possibility of repairing, restoring in kind, or likely to be the first of many renovations to the Street, which is slated for replacing the sunshades with a compatible and Pereira buildings. This will result in the loss of the demolition to make way for a sympathetic replacement shade has been rejected best features on a campus not otherwise known 1,000 ft. tower. and the University’s current plan is to completely for significant architecture. strip the precast sunshades and replace them —Hélène Lipstadt with an aluminum curtain wall with exterior metal —Deirdre Gould louvers. The resulting design will remove the

DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 8 Announcements Louisiana Supreme Court Building Faces Demolition WINTER SHOWS AND EXHIBITS

Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture National Building Museum Washington, D.C. November 3, 2007 to February 17, 2008

1973: Sorry, Out of Gas Canadian Centre for Architecture Montreal, Quebec, Canada November 7, 2007 to April 20, 2008

Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future Aerial view of the Supreme Court building in the Duncan Civic Center Complex. LA Supreme Court Building at Cranbrook Art Museum Duncan Plaza, New Orleans, LA. (photo: Neil Alexander) Bloomfield Hills, MI Building, along with the adjacent State Office November 17, 2007 to The Louisiana Supreme Court Building (currently Building, suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina March 30, 2008 the State Office Building Annex) in New Orleans, that makes its unfeasible to restore, the main LA—part of the Duncan Plaza Civic Complex—is problems cited are basement flooding and dam- Minneapolis Institute of Arts facing imminent demolition to make way for new age to the mechanical and electrical systems that Minneapolis, MN construction. The State Office Building and the service both buildings. The applicant for the build- September 14, 2008 to Annex in question, integral components to the ing’s demolition stated that retrofitting the building mid-century Civic Complex tout ensemble, are for other uses was found to be “difficult” and January 4, 2009 being razed to make way for a single new building that they did not feel that it would be possible to of approximately 342,000 sf. The Annex, noted as “move back and look at alternatives to demolition. Cold War: having elegant, “expensive” finishes and stylized ”An architect has already been selected for the Modern Art & Design in a elements, is sheathed in granite panels and new construction. Divided World, 1945-1975 placed as a jewel box in the Duncan Plaza plan, FEMA, along with the SHPO, has determined Victoria & Albert Museum which is surrounded by City Hall, the State Office that the LA Supreme Court Building is eligible for London, United Kingdom Building and the New Orleans Public Library. The listing on the National Register of Historic Places, building itself is an architecturally significant and that its demolition “has the potential to affect September 4, 2008 to example of Modern Movement design as well historic buildings located in the area.” New January 4, 2009 as a major component of the Duncan Plaza Civic Orleans is a city with a limited roster of Modernist Complex master plan, which at the time of buildings and the Supreme Court building an SAVE Riverview Competition construction was envisioned as the architectural important part of the city’s historic fabric, and SAF—The Sarasota Architectural embodiment of New Orleans as a city looking while it is essential to rebuild and improve the Foundation towards a more open and efficient government. It city after Hurricane Katrina, more consideration Sarasota, FL is one of the most important post-WWII initiatives should be given to rehabilitation when major in New Orleans, garnering participation from all of historically significant built fabric is threatened Now to March 31, 2008 the pre-eminent New Orleans architects and civic with irreversible decisions such as demolition. leaders of the time in its development. While some say that the LA Supreme Court —Toni DiMaggio

View of the building’s entrance now called the State View of entrance and curved façade. LA Supreme Court Office Building Annex. LA Supreme Court Building at Building at Duncan Plaza, New Orleans, LA. Duncan Plaza, New Orleans, LA. (photo: Neil Alexander) (photo: Neil Alexander)

DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 9 DOCOMOMO US Rehabilitation of Bunshsaft Designed LBJ Library in Austin NEWSLETTER STAFF

Editor Deirdre Gould

Assistant Editor Olivia Klose

Graphic Designer Unjoo Noh

Contributors Maristella Casciato Toni DiMaggio David Fixler Catherine Gavin Deirdre Gould Overall view of LBJ Library. The complex includes the 3-story structure and Detail of library plaza through Olivia Klose fountain. University of Texas-Austin, LBJ Library, Austin, TX. construction. LBJ Library, Austin, TX. (photo: Catherine Gavin) (photo: Catherine Gavin) Hélène Lipstadt Brice Maryman In conjunction with the rehabilitation of the Nadya K. Nenadich The 2007 rehabilitation of the University of interior spaces of the base, the plaza is being Texas-Austin’s Lyndon Baines Johnson Library removed to install new waterproofing and larger Chandler McCoy designed by Gordon Bunshaft aims to balance drains and to reslope the surface. The proposal Robert Meckfessel conservation with material replacement and new has evolved over the last two years from the Andrew Phillips landscape design. Completed in 1971, the library’s intrusive introduction of an amphitheater to a Kathleen Randall travertine and terrazzo base has been plagued design by Hargreaves Associates that replaces Marc Treib with material and design performance issues that the three reflecting pools on the east side of the Enrique Vivoni-Farage began shortly after construction. Moisture pene- library with small knolls of native plants and trees. Gary Wolf tration due to the porous stone and thin building All of the original travertine and green terrazzo envelope was exacerbated by the intense sun pavers will be replaced with granite pavers Andrew Wolfram exposure in Austin, which regularly heats the approved by the Texas Historical Commission. Eugenia Woo stone to temperatures above 140 degrees. The Preservationists in Austin note this as a compro- heavy loads on the plaza also contributed to mise that generally retains the integrity of the Board Members systematic structural failure which caused the original design despite the loss of original material Theodore Prudon, President interior spaces of the base to close. and the single plane of the plaza. The project is Jorge Otero-Pailos, Vice-President Overland Partners’ rehabilitation includes the scheduled for completion in the summer of 2008 Hélène Lipstadt, Secretary completed restoration of the tower and ongoing in time to commemorate the legacy of Lady Bird Mark Lee, Treasurer plaza renovations. The tower’s travertine required Johnson as well as the centennial anniversary of cleaning due to staining from the failure of the former President Johnson’s birth. sealants, crack repairs, and armature replacement. Barry Solar The stone panels were in good condition overall —Catherine Gavin Brendan Moran and only a handful were replaced in kind. Jon Buono Jack Pyburn Kazys Varnelis Boston City Hall Plaza (cont’d from page 3) Nancy Levinson Nina Rappaport The Plaza is at its best hosting ice cream has been insufficiently funded. A City Hall Robert Meckfessel and chowder fests, political protests, concerts designed to welcome the public is now barricaded and sports celebrations. It accommodates tens of for security. Gunny Harboe thousands, drawn from throughout the region for Nevertheless, with improvements such as gatherings that number among the country’s most those proposed by the Trust for City Hall Plaza, Corporate Members memorable urban events. the Plaza could find continued validity as a great Johnston Marklee & Associates It is at the everyday level that the Plaza falls modern space. It opened a crowded, once failing Platt Byard Dovell White short. Critics observe its inadequate response to city with a powerful new symbolic center. It Prudon & Partners the climate, the absence of mid-scale structures became a grand civic forum. It exposes vistas Super Structures and spaces, too little nature, and an overall lack of in a city that was characterized by a lack of visible Barry Solar activity. While design improvements can address connections. And it symbolically re-creates Harboe Architects such faults, city and federal policies must be sup- Boston’s defining topographic feature, the hill- portive and coordinated, which has not always sides that greeted the first settlers and became been the case. For instance, KMW’s proposed the raw material forming the “City Upon a Hill.” rathskeller was rejected. The subway station was kept in a distant corner. Commercial vendors were —Gary Wolf banned; a new hotel, nixed. The recessed foun- tain was shut off, then covered over. Maintenance DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 10 Changes to Halprin’s Landmark Freeway Park in Seattle (cont’d from page 1) called Forward Thrust, and in 1969 approved of the original design is now reduced to a Lester Piggott Memorial Corridor. Though the local funds were combined with state, feder- relative trickle near 9,500 gallons per minute Convention Center’s formal vocabularies and al and private monies to allow the park plan when running. Most of the time, however, plantings echo the original palette of Freeway to move forward. the canyon water feature is not even active. Park-which is not surprising since they were Perched above Interstate 5 in downtown Again, due to increased safety standards and primarily designed by Ms. Danadjieva—the Seattle and using 5.5 acres of interstate air reduced maintenance budgets, parks officials Convention Center’s landscape necessitated rights, the linked spaces of the park evoca- are not easily able to access all of the basins demolition of some of the walls and plantings tively and imaginatively engage the three and traps within the fountain to clean out of Halprin’s original design. major preoccupations of post-war landscape debris before starting the pumps. In 2004, the City of Seattle allocated design as described by Elizabeth K. Meyer: Throughout the park, the role of vegeta- funds to conduct a study on how to revitalize the car, the garden and the growing aware- tion is not limited to aesthetic or architecton- Freeway Park. Working with the New York ness of ecology. The space is defined by a ic purposes, rather plants were also chosen City-based Project for Public Spaces (PPS), series of linked plazas that are intertwined for their ability to reduce pollution and baffle the City of Seattle staff unveiled draft recom- and enclosed by rough, board-formed con- sound coming from the freeway below. As in mendations that included some strong pro- crete planting containers and walls. Major Halprin’s open space sequence at Lovejoy grammatic recommendations, but that also spaces known as the Central Plaza, East and Ira Keller fountains in Portland, the origi- recommended a significant reworking of the Plaza, and West Plaza develop a consistency nal planting plans reveal a placement strategy original Halprin plan. Of particular concern are and cohesion through a shared materials palette of concrete, broadleaf evergreen plantings and site furnishings. The spaces are differentiated through the dynamism of the water features that occupy the spaces and the attendant differentiation of moods. A roiling precipice of water dominates the Central Plaza, where 28,000 gallons per minute of water tumble over 30-foot tall formed concrete blocks. The effect is at once rugged and decidedly urban, creating a space that is consciously of the city yet inspired by the lithography of the Cascade and Olympic Mountains. By placing the water feature over the freeway, the "natural" cascade was able to drown out-or at least mitigate-the roaring The shadows of the liriodendron trees overhead play against the high relief of the board formed concrete. sound of the artificial, automotive canyon Freeway Park, Seattle, WA. below. (photo: Brice Maryman) Like an idyllic mountain stream, the fountain was filled with children and parents when it opened on July 4, 1976 as part of that develops an analog to the larger land- Seattle’s bicentennial celebrations. Though scape surrounding Seattle. Lower levels are there were no guardrails protecting visitors heavy with azaleas and birch; higher levels from the water, the design intent heightens are dominated by dogwood and other upland an explicit sense of danger so that people are tree species. Although the park appeared The current view into the canyon fountain confronted by risk prima facie and are there- sparsely planted at its onset, the vegetation shows the leaping concrete forms that fore cautious. This place is not soft, safe or has grown dense and has required limbing up became the hallmark of Freeway Park’s “feminine.” Perhaps nowhere is this more for maintenance and security reasons. hardscape vocabulary. apparent than near the base of the canyon Despite its overall integrity, the park has also Freeway Park, Seattle, WA. where a heavy-gauge glass window allows seen the continual, creeping erosion of other (photo: Brice Maryman) visitors to see cars driving by, creating a original design elements. The jagged paving dynamic visual dialogue between nature pattern has been filled in with small, inconsis- plans for demolishing some of the concrete (water) and the city (the cars of the freeway). tent concrete pads that have been poured to retaining walls, redesigning or removing at The framework for these original ele- dissuade large gatherings of transients. Many least two of the original fountains, and ments still exists, but the experience of the of the original lighting elements have been installing a series of exercise stations. canyon today is significantly degraded. A replaced with smaller standards. Entire Since that time, most of the radical pro- steel screen now covers the canyon’s win- planter boxes have been denuded of vegeta- posals have been moved off of the table and dow, obscuring the connection to the free- tion due to drainage problems in some of the a more modest and sensitive revitalization way, and the falls themselves are tragically beds. Other plantings have been replaced has occurred. Ms. Danadjieva was commis- underserved. While there were three pumps with species that tried, with varying success, sioned to re-design the original planting that originally fed water to the canyon (using to echo the spirit of the original design, scheme, which is in obvious need of rehabili- two at a time, cycling through the third), including witch hazel, ornamental raspberry tation. However, the Seattle Parks today only two pumps remain, with only one and snowbell. Department found the plan unworkable and pumping water at a time. The capacity of this Other additions have occurred with the commissioned Mr. Robertson to provide one pump has since been reduced by 30 per- construction of the Washington State cent such that the 28,000 gallons per minute Convention Center and the intrusion of the cont’d on next page

DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 11 Changes to Halprin’s Urban Renewal Landscapes of Freeway Park Renewed Industrial Archeology (cont’d from previous page) (cont’d from page 2) (cont’d from page 4) another vision for the park. Mr. Robertson In 2001 UNESCO had inscribed the whole understands the gravity of his position as a colliery and coking plant ensemble of link between the past and future of the park, Zollverein into the World Heritage List, and it was his appreciation for this responsi- because“ it constitutes remarkable material bility that sent him to Marin County in the evidence of the evolution and decline of the early fall to speak with Mr. Halprin. coal industry over the past 150 years.” The In addition to speaking with Mr. Halprin, whole area has been converted into an anchor Mr. Robertson discussed his ideas with point along the European route of industrial himself and two of Halprin’s previous heritage. The last completed conversion of collaborators and employees: Stephen Koch an industrial plant is the transformation of the and Dai Williams. Together, the four men coal refinery building into a museum and discussed the various design and horticultural visitors center, designed by the joint venture constraints of the current state of Freeway Hopkins Plaza after renovation, April 2007. OMA/Heinrich Böll. The project was awarded Park. Mr. Halprin confirmed that the plants Charles Center, Baltimore, MD. (photo: Olivia Klose) the Deutscher Architekturpreis 2007. were subservient to the other elements of several of the Charles Center office the design, like the water features in the buildings offered subsidized cafeterias, thus foreground and the city in the background, keeping office workers inside for lunch. and also talked about how the revised Ultimately, the sheer scale of Charles planting palette—including larch, pine, Center, the fact of separate building owner- oxydendron, japanese maple and hemlock— ship, and the overall decline in downtown should be, as Robertson phrased it, “robust retail activity were major factors working and masculine,” to reflect the original design against the visual and spatial cohesion of intent. the entire site, and likely prevented the While the future of Halprin and plazas from assuming the status of clearly Danadjieva’s design legacy continues to defined destinations within the city, regard- improve with increased awareness of the less of the aesthetic merit of their individual import of this design and urban planning land- design schemes. Utilization of recreational space. Landschaftspark, mark, permanent protections remain elusive. In many ways, the emphasis on move- North-Duisburg, Germany. (photo: Franco Panzini) A Seattle landmarks nomination submitted in ment and variety as a visual theme has 2005 continues to remain in limbo despite After the German results of creative con- stayed the same from the original design to the desire of the Landmarks Preservation version of decommissioned plants, brown- the new one; it is perhaps only in the exe- Board to formally embrace this unique legacy. fields and mine sites in order to establish new cution of this theme that Brown & Craig’s The central sticking point is also what makes post-industrial landscapes, similar experi- design seeks to differentiate itself from the Freeway Park so unique. The Washington ments have found a certain diffusion all original and announce Center Plaza as a State Department of Transportation and the around Europe. One of the most amazing new 21st century urban destination. Bryce City of Seattle have been trying to establish proposals comes from France. In 2003, the Turner of Brown & Craig describes Center who has jurisdiction over landmarking proper- Louvre announced a competition to create a Plaza’s intended transformation, saying that ty that is within the leased air rights over regional branch of the museum in Lens (north- “As [designers] developed their version of Interstate 5. With so may historic properties ern region of Pas de Calais), on a site of over plazas in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a associated with the Interstate Highway sys- twenty hectares that was a former mine yard. ’Jetsonian’ view that incorporated lots of tem, the resolution of this cross-boundary The decision to build the new museum in the hardscape. Now we have found it is impor- dispute may prove fateful for the modernist former mine yard is highly symbolic for a tant to have more soft spaces”. Their objects, landscapes and buildings across the region that has suffered much in the past, design incorporates the ten key principles country. from both war and from intensive coal-mining that made Bryant Park a resounding suc- followed by the closing of the last pit in 1986. cess, most notably monumental sculpture —Brice Maryman The international architecture competition to as a focal point, movable seating and design the future Musée du Louvre-Lens was outdoor cafes, greenscaping (as opposed Portions of this article were previously launched in early 2005. The winning team to hardscaping), and ambient nighttime published on The Cultural Landscape was the Japanese architectural practice Sanaa lighting. Foundation’s website written by (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa), together There is undoubtedly increased atten- Brice Maryman and Liz Birkholz. with the American museum architects Celia tion to the urban spaces of Charles Center, Imrey and Tim Culbert, and the French land- with the opening in 2001 of Johns Hopkins scape designer Catherine Mosbach. The University’s Downtown Center at the south- design of the museum and the new public east corner of the site, and with the immi- spaces that will be opened in 2010 consists nent redevelopment of the 1967 Morris of nine pavilions in glass and steel, partly set Mechanic Theater, located on Hopkins into the ground with roof glazing. The group Plaza. With enough retail investment—an of buildings blends in with the surrounding important prescription in Brown & Craig’s post-industrial environment, creating a totally plan and the focus of the Mechanic’s new perspective for a future based on the redevelopment—Center Plaza will benefit binomial culture-open spaces, without losing from the most important ingredient of any sight of the glorious industrial heritage. public space: people. —Maristella Casciato DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 122 —Olivia Klose Announcements D.C.’s Only Brutalist Church ern architecture. D.C.’s Historic Preservation the complex’s eligibility for the National Designated Review Board has begun to pay more atten- Register of Historic Places, its listing as one tion to the city’s modernist landmarks, includ- of Preservation New Jersey’s 10 Endangered ing the recently designated Martin Luther Historic Sites, the issuance of a support let- King, Jr. Memorial Library (Ludwig Mies van ter by the National Trust, and the organization der Rohe, 1972) and the Watergate residen- of an extremely well attended lecture in tial and retail complex (Luigi Moretti, Principal Holmdel by Saarinen scholar and curator, Architect; Corning, Moore, Elmore & Fischer, Donald Albrecht. The Coalition is cooperating Associate Architects; Boris Timchenko, with Citizens for Informed Land Use, a non- Landscape Architect 1964-1971) overlooking partisan, not-for-profit organization that pro- the Potomac and next door to the John F. motes informed and thoughtful land use deci- Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sions in Holmdel. CILU is working toward a (Edward Durrell Stone, completed 1971). reuse of the Bell Labs site that is appropriate The Board wrote in its designation state- not only for the site and the town, but also ment that the Third Church of Christ Scientist for the surrounding watershed. The main façade of the octagonal Third Church of is “one of the best examples of Brutalism in The Coalition campaign will continue in Christ, Scientist. Third Church of Christ, Scientist, the Washington area and one of the most the next months, with several significant Washington, D.C. 2006. (photo: Claudine Klose) important Modernist churches.” The Third events planned. Announcements of its Church of Christ Scientist is currently consid- efforts will appear on the DOCOMOMO US In December, Washington D.C.’s Historic ering whether to challenge the landmark des- website, www.docomomo-us.org. Preservation Office unanimously conferred ignation under the First Amendment. landmark status on the Third Church of Christ —Hélène Lipstadt Scientist at 16th and I Streets, NW, along —Olivia Klose with its accompanying Christian Science Reading Room and office tower. Completed Modern Talk: Northwest in 1971, the church was designed by Araldo Saarinen Bell Labs Update Mid-Century Architects Cossutta of the firm I.M. Pei & Partners. The Oral History Project Third Church complex—a Brutalist ensemble Thanks to the termination in November 2007 of the sales agreement between Preferred in poured concrete comprising an octagonal DOCOMOMO WEWA is embarking on an Real Estate Investments (PREI), a private sanctuary building and seven-story office ambitious oral history project that documents developer, and Alcatel-Lucent, the present tower facing each other across a brick the work and lives of those who created a owner of Eero Saarinen’s Bell Laboratories plaza—had been embroiled in controversy as Northwest Regional Modern aesthetic in the complex (1959 to 1962, expanded 1966 and the church’s congregation fought the city’s mid-twentieth century. The architects who 1985) and its 472-acre site in Holmdel, New landmark proposal. designed in the Modern vein in Western Jersey, this landmark in the history of mod- Representatives of the church contended Washington in the post-WWII years left a rich ern architecture, landscape design and tech- that the building no longer served the needs legacy of design in our built environment, nology is no longer under immediate threat of the shrinking congregation because it is which this project aims to honor. of development. PREI had announced several too large (at 400 seats) and the open plan Modern design and its architectural her- options for the Saarinen building, from total makes group activities difficult. Maintenance itage in the Puget Sound region continue to to partial demolition, of which all options pro- costs have also been cited as burdensome, be of growing interest, and the legacy of this jected the construction of expensive housing. for example the claim made by opponents of era is gaining greater recognition. Architects Bell Labs is an important early example the complex that changing a light bulb in the in Washington state were on the cutting of a corporate campus; the site of the first sanctuary requires the erection of scaffold- edge of architectural design during the use of mirror glass, a material developed for ing. The congregation had planned to demol- 1950s. Many of them received national the building; a historic modernist landscape ish the sanctuary and plaza to make way for acclaim for designing some of the finest designed by Sasaki Walker and Associates; a smaller sanctuary building and some form modern buildings in the country. During the and one of Saarinen’s masterworks. Holmdel of commercial property that could generate height of the Modern Movement (1950s and was also home to many scientific innovations income for the congregation. 1960s), many of the designers were either and technological inventions, from the cre- Preservationists and architects defended beginning their careers or were at the apex ation of radio astronomy in 1932 to the inven- the complex as an example of I.M. Pei’s of their profession. Some continued to prac- tion of the transistor and the cell phone. religious architecture and, more importantly, tice well into the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. The importance of the threatened site the only Brutalist church in the city. DOCO- We are thrilled to have the following was never in doubt, however, Bell Labs’ MOMO US strongly supported the designa- architects participate in this project: Ralph future preservation is not assured. A coalition tion as the complex is of exceptional historic Anderson, Fred Bassetti, Wendell Lovett, and consisting of DOCOMOMO US (represented significance and internationally recognized Gene Zema. These men have left their mark by Hélène Lipstadt), its NY TriState chapter architectural merit. From a historical perspec- on the Puget Sound region’s built environ- (represented by Nina Rappaport), the tive (notwithstanding the relative youth of ment. Their work and design philosophy have American Institute of Architect’s New Jersey the complex), it is interesting to note that greatly influenced subsequent generations Chapter, Preservation New Jersey, the the Third Church of Christ Scientist chose of architects. National Trust for Historic Preservation, the to establish such a strong architectural and Jack Straw Productions and architectural Recent Past Preservation Network and the institutional presence in downtown D.C. photographer John Stamets are important Cultural Landscape Foundation formed to during the early 1970s, an era of severe partners in this project. Audio interviews work toward that goal and will therefore con- urban disinvestment. will be streamed onto our website. Photo tinue to advocate for the site. Among the As controversy over the proposed desig- essays of each architect will include a portrait many important recent events for which the nation developed over the last few months, and examples of their finest work. Project preservationists and architects defended the Coalition or its members were responsible church as a stellar example of the city’s mod- are the successful request for designation of cont’d on next page

13 Announcements

Modern Talk (cont’d from previous page) architectural structures were built from the the rare opportunity to view the residence 1950’s to the late 1970’s, and most are locat- sans furniture (due to renovations starting at products will be donated to the University of ed in the city’s Haidian District. The designa- the end of December 2007). During the tour, Washington Special Collections where they tion guarantees a further level of protection Ledner discussed the design process, will be publicly accessible. for these structures as the city increases relayed stories from the construction phase, The project is funded by the generosity its urbanization and prepares for the 2008 and fielded questions from the group. of individual and corporate donors and grants. Olympics. The designation also ensures that Ledner and DiLeo discussed the renovation DOCOMOMO WEWA is the recipient of a if they are renovated, their historical authen- strategy (which will be completed by archi- $5,000 Heritage Special Projects grant from ticity will be preserved. tect John Crestia) as well as the positive and 4Culture and a $4,000 Preservation Fund negative alterations and additions that the grant from the National Trust for Historic —Deirdre Gould house has experienced over the decades. Preservation, Western Office. The chapter in formation plans to continue Albert Ledner House Tour the series of modern movement building —Eugenia Woo tours led by original architects throughout Modern preservation activists in the New 2008. Maintaining the Modern: Orleans area were treated to a tour of Albert —Toni DiMaggio Glass House Ledner’s Galatoire House, guided by Ledner himself, as part of an ongoing series planned Window Replacement by the chapter of DOCOMOMO NOLA in formation. Located on Park Island, a small man-made island on Bayou St. John where two more Ledner residences are located, the Galatoire House blends a strong, elegant formal parti with Ledner’s unique detailing innovations. Current owner Greg DiLeo graciously opened the house for the tour, giving visitors

Replacing the damaged pane at Johnson’s Glass House. The Glass House, New Canaan, CT. (photo: Deirdre Gould)

On Wednesday November 7, the Philip Johnson Glass House saw the replacement of its last original glass panel. Damaged dur- ing a storm in October, a small vertical crack was found in the pane. At 1/4 inch thick, the original glass was thinner than the current and recently replaced glass panels. The Albert Ledner guiding the tour of his Park Island Interior, Galatoire House by Albert Ledner, replacement process, which lasted about five residence, the Galatoire House, Park Island, LA. Park Island, LA. hours, was fully documented by the Glass (photo: Tracie Ashe) (photo: Toni DiMaggio) House staff and hopefully will be useful to future conservation projects of this and other Modern Movement houses. The removed panel will be stored in the archives of the museum and is part of the museum’s mission to be a center of information for the conservation of modern architecture.

—Deirdre Gould

Protecting Beijing’s Modern Architecture

In December 2007, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning and the Beijing Administration of Cultural Heritage released a joint list of structures that designated 188 sites in the city of Beijing as worthy of protection from demolition and inappropriate renovations. All the listed Exterior, Bayou side, Galatoire House by Albert Ledner, Park Island, LA. (photo: Francine Stock)

DOCOMOMO US | WINTER 2008 14 Announcements Book Review: New Resources at the Louis I. Kahn: Beyond Environmental Design Archives Time and Style, Founded by William W. Wurster in 1953, A Life in Architecture The Environmental Design Archives (EDA) at the University of California has become By Carter Wiseman Northern California’s premiere collection of (New York: W.W. Norton & historic architecture and landscape architec- Company, 2007) ture records and is one of the world’s largest collections of landscape architecture Carter Wiseman’s biography documents. These include the drawings and of Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974), papers of Thomas Church, Garrett Eckbo, published in March of 2007, and Robert Royston, in addition to those of presents a comprehensive and pre-Modernists such as Gertrude Jekyll and engaging narrative of the life and Beatrix Farrand. As such it is a valuable works of one of the 20th centu- resource for the preservation and restoration ry’s most revered architects. of modern landscapes. Although centered on Arranged in loose chronological California in general, and northern California order, the book begins by in particular, the nature of landscape architec- providing a substantive history tural practice in the past half-century has of Kahn’s childhood as the son fostered a distribution of projects across the of poor Eastern European nation and even internationally. immigrants who settled in Continuing their commitment to docu- Philadelphia, of his early interest menting architecture and landscape history in drawing and painting, and his and design, The College of Environmental fledgling career as an architect Design has recently published three volumes trained in the Beaux-Arts of the Berkeley/Design/Books series in col- classicism of the University laboration with William Stout Publishers of of Pennsylvania’s School of “Louis I. Kahn: Beyond Time and Style, A Life in Architecture” San Francisco. The first volume of this series Fine Arts. (© 2007 W.W. Norton & Company) (which draws on the holdings of the EDA), Wiseman’s interest in uncov- Maybeck’s Landscapes: Drawing in Nature, ering the personality behind architectural vocation, but there are a few was written by Dianne Harris of The Kahn’s architectural genius is apparent in the instances where the author offers what feel University of . The Donnell and Eckbo illustrative titles he has chosen for the chap- like flimsy suppositions based on circumstan- Gardens: Modern Californian Masterworks, ters devoted to Kahn’s major works, begin- tial information. For example, his interpreta- authored by Marc Treib, is a more detailed ning with the Yale University Art Gallery tion of the unified spiritual vision characteriz- investigation of subjects introduced in his (“Academia and Emergence”), and closing ing Kahn’s successful collaboration with the earlier Thomas Church Landscape Architect: with the Yale Center for British Art (“The scientist Jonas Salk on the conception and Designing a Modern Californian Landscape, Moth and the Butterfly”). In the intervening execution of the Salk Institute for Biological Noguchi in Paris: Isamu Noguchi and chapters, Wiseman takes the reader through Studies feels somewhat contrived. The Unesco Garden (both also published by Kahn’s personal struggles and professional Louis I. Kahn: Beyond Time and Style is William Stout) and Garrett Eckbo: Modern achievements as they evolved through his lavishly illustrated (with many more photo- Landscapes for Living, co-authored with work on the Richards Medical Research graphs than plans), and contributes the most Dorothée Imbert and published by the Building at Yale (1957-64); the Salk Institute comprehensive analysis of the architect’s life University of California Press. University of for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California and works to date. Carter Wiseman teaches Virginia landscape professor Reuben Rainey (1959-65); the Indian Institute of a seminar on Kahn at Yale University, and and San Francisco landscape architect JC Management in Ahmedabad, India (1962- is also the author of I.M. Pei: A Profile in Miller authored Modern Public Gardens: 1974) and the government center at Dhaka, American Architecture (New York: H.N. Robert Royston and the Suburban Park, East Pakistan (1962-83); the Phillips Exeter Abrams, 1990) and Twentieth-Century which appeared at the end of 2006. The next Academy Library in Exeter, New Hampshire American Architecture (New York: W.W. volume, Marc Treib’s Appropriate: The (1965-72); and the Kimbell Art Museum in Norton & Company, 1998). Houses of Joseph Esherick, is due out in Fort Worth, Texas (1966-72). early 2008, while Greenwood Common: Wiseman participates in the familiar —Olivia Klose A Biography of Modern Living, written by dialogue about Kahn’s personal flaws— Environmental Design Archives Curator notably his ongoing relationships with several Waverly Lowell, will be published in late women and his “unorthodox approach to 2008. design” that resulted in severe delays to many of his projects—but only to the extent All the books are available from William Stout that the evidence, solidly based on archival Publishers: www.stoutpublishers.com documents and interviews with those who knew and worked with the architect, brings The Environmental Design Archives website out deeper themes in the examination of can be found at: Kahn’s projects. Wiseman is understandably http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/ reticent to draw conclusions based on the historical record about what emotions —Marc Treib and ideas ultimately motivated Kahn’s

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