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MEMBERSHIP FORM MEMBERSHIP Biloxi, MS. fate of architecture, art, documents collections, historic records, DOCOMOMO DOCOMOMO (photo: Christopher Kyle Craig) and cultural institutions. During this extraordinary hurricane sea- son, we wonder about the impact of Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast region’s physical resources, and, especially for readers of this newsletter, on modern buildings. With the loss of life and with the displacement of citizens from their homes brought about by the storms, one hesitates to talk about lost or damaged buildings or International working party for documentation and conservation destroyed cultural artifacts. Nonetheless, as an architectural historian of building sites and neighborhoods of the whose career has focused on the study of buildings, art, and the modern movement cont’d on p. 6 P.O. Box 230977 New York, NY 10023 NATIONAL NEWS | fall 2005 ARTICLES DOCOMOMO NEWS 11 CONFERENCES & EVENTS
1 Thoughts on the Cultural Impact 2 Welcome of Katrina 11 EXHIBITS by Robert M. Craig 4 Chapter News • North Texas 2 DOCOMOMO‘s New Online • Northern California Register • Georgia by Jon Buono and Gary Koll • Chicago/Midwest NATIONAL NEWS • New York/Tri-State 3 The International Specialist fall 2005 Committee for Registers by David Fixler ANNOUNCEMENTS
4 Saving the Shell 8 Kahn Building Renovation by Andy Kirk 8 Jamaica Savings Bank 5 Salt Lake City's Former Library May Lose its Modern Form 10 Book Announcement by Kirk Huffaker 10 IXth International DOCOMOMO Conference
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the EXHIBITION REVIEW Louis Sullivan Cottage in DOCOMOMO-US Ocean Springs, MS in 1890. 9 Team 10: A Utopia of the Present It was recently destroyed by (1963-1981) Email: [email protected] Hurrican Katrina. Mail: PO Box 230977 (photo: Robert M. Craig) New York, NY 10023
www.docomomo-us.org Welcome DOCOMOMO’s New Online Register
This past October the board of DOCOMOMO’s acronymic name recognizes search criteria such as location, architect, or DOCOMOMO-US met in Dallas, “documentation” as a necessary prerequisite to building typology. Other features, such as the Texas for its annual meeting successfully advocate for the conservation of the ability to search the register by keyword, can be and had the pleasure of being historic built environment. Towards the fulfillment expanded in the future. of this goal, the US Register Committee is in the The online register is inherently a “work in hosted by our North Texas process of creating an online register of American progress,” and, as such, will be managed as an chapter. As a result, a series modern movement resources to facilitate evolving record. Currently, available records of very productive meetings access to documentation of such assets for the primarily reflect the active research of the existing were interspersed, with—what purposes of research, advocacy, and education. DOCOMOMO-US chapters. The register’s goal, else?—visits to modern land- The Committee is composed of representatives however, is to serve as a representative sampling marks. We are very grateful to from all US Chapters and reflects regional of the collective body of modern movement our hosts and the various insti- expertise in the identification and evaluation of resources across the country. Therefore, as new the modern movement resources in this country. Chapters and partnerships are formed, the online tutions and their staff members The system—devoted exclusively to this period of register will necessarily grow to fill gaps in the for providing hospitality, in architecture, landscape, and urban design—is the geographic distribution of documented particular RTKL, who provided only web-based database of its kind. Designed resources. us with meeting spaces in their in conjunction with a database development As we advance the Working Party’s mission to offices throughout the week- consultant, the register was introduced at the foster documentation of American modern move- end. 2004 DOCOMOMO International Conference ment resources, we hope you will visit the US This meeting was an impor- in New York and will be accessed through the website in early 2006 for the public launch of DOCOMOMO-US website. the system. For further information concern- tant one. DOCOMOMO-US, first The register is a browser-based database ing the work of the US Register Committee, conceived in 1995 and formally that will serve as a multi-faceted research tool please contact Jon Buono at organized in 1997, is about to by allowing users to query modern movement [email protected]. enter its second decade. Time buildings and landscapes according to location, has brought changes to the typology, and architect/designer. This capability —Jon Buono and Gary Koll organization and its board. will allow users unique side-by-side comparisons Members that helped the of resource data from minimum documentation fiches, documents that provide all essential founding of the organization information about a particular modern resource. A have moved on but remain browser can search the minimum documentation active within their local chapter. fiches after logging into the register via the Gunny Harboe, our board mem- DOCOMOMO-US website and inserting various ber from the Midwest chapter, resigned as Vice-President. He played a leading role in estab- lishing the organization and we thank him for his efforts and participation over the last ten years. Jorge Otero-Pailos, who has been our Secretary for the last two years, was elected Lovell House, Newport Beach, CA, Vice-President and Hélène 1926. Lipstadt will now serve as Secretary. We are also pleased to announce the following new board members: Nnamdi Elleh from Cincinnati, Barry Solar from New England, and Kazys Varnelis from Los Angeles. The board discussed and Gropius House, Lincoln, MA, 1938. decided on several major issues and initiatives, one of which is described in this newsletter: the new online register. Jon Buono from DOCOMOMO-GA has agreed to be the interim chair of the US Register Committee and he is being assisted by Farnsworth House, Plano, IL, 1951. representatives from the vari- ous chapters in this initiative. (graphic: Maggie Oldfather)
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 2 Welcome DOCOMOMO’s New Online Register Welcome The International lar building typology. These are typically held in the alternate years between the International Specialist Committee Conferences and the theme of the seminar forms This past October the board of OCOMOMO’s acronymic name recognizes search criteria such as location, architect, or In the beginning of next year D the basis for the homework in those years. The “documentation” as a necessary prerequisite to building typology. Other features, such as the DOCOMOMO-US met in Dallas, the US online register will be for Registers first of these was “Sport and the Body,” a look successfully advocate for the conservation of the ability to search the register by keyword, can be Texas for its annual meeting up and running. The new com- at buildings for physical culture that was held in historic built environment. Towards the fulfillment expanded in the future. and had the pleasure of being mittee is also working closely he central mission of DOCOMOMO’s Athens in conjunction with the events leading up of this goal, the US Register Committee is in the The online register is inherently a “work in T hosted by our North Texas with the ISC on Registers and International Specialist Committee for Registers to the 2004 Olympic Games. One building docu- process of creating an online register of American progress,” and, as such, will be managed as an (ISC/R) is to collect, organize, and help mented as a result of this seminar was the D.S. chapter. As a result, a series modern movement resources to facilitate evolving record. Currently, available records David Fixler, its US member, in disseminate information about the resources of Ingalls Hockey Rink at Yale University designed of very productive meetings access to documentation of such assets for the primarily reflect the active research of the existing particular. the modern movement around the world. This by Eero Saarinen & Associates in 1956–1958 were interspersed, with—what purposes of research, advocacy, and education. DOCOMOMO-US chapters. The register’s goal, The two other initia- work of the ISC/R began with the establishment (Figure 1). The second seminar, “The Modern The Committee is composed of representatives however, is to serve as a representative sampling else?—visits to modern land- tives involve the website and of a system for the production and collection of House: Evaluation and Transformation,” is sched- from all US Chapters and reflects regional of the collective body of modern movement marks. We are very grateful to the Technology Committee. fiches on the modern built environment to be uled to be held next summer in London. expertise in the identification and evaluation of resources across the country. Therefore, as new our hosts and the various insti- The new chair of the housed in a central archive at the Netherlands The first ISC/R publication, The Modern the modern movement resources in this country. Chapters and partnerships are formed, the online tutions and their staff members Communications Committee, Architectural Institute (NAi) in Rotterdam. As Movement in Architecture – Selections from the The system—devoted exclusively to this period of register will necessarily grow to fill gaps in the DOCOMOMO has grown, a separate ISC has DOCOMOMO Registers, was published in 2000, for providing hospitality, in architecture, landscape, and urban design—is the geographic distribution of documented Kazys Varnelis, will spearhead particular RTKL, who provided only web-based database of its kind. Designed resources. the effort of establishing a new us with meeting spaces in their in conjunction with a database development As we advance the Working Party’s mission to website for DOCOMOMO-US offices throughout the week- consultant, the register was introduced at the foster documentation of American modern move- and Jack Pyburn, the chair of end. 2004 DOCOMOMO International Conference ment resources, we hope you will visit the US the Technology Committee, is This meeting was an impor- in New York and will be accessed through the website in early 2006 for the public launch of working on hosting a technolo- DOCOMOMO-US website. the system. For further information concern- tant one. DOCOMOMO-US, first gy conference together with the The register is a browser-based database ing the work of the US Register Committee, conceived in 1995 and formally that will serve as a multi-faceted research tool please contact Jon Buono at ISC on Technology in 2007. organized in 1997, is about to by allowing users to query modern movement [email protected]. Leadership renewal is an enter its second decade. Time buildings and landscapes according to location, integral and essential part of the has brought changes to the typology, and architect/designer. This capability —Jon Buono and Gary Koll life of any dynamic and expand- organization and its board. will allow users unique side-by-side comparisons ing organization. DOCOMOMO- Members that helped the of resource data from minimum documentation US has been fortunate in this fiches, documents that provide all essential founding of the organization respect. Its board members information about a particular modern resource. A have moved on but remain browser can search the minimum documentation have always been committed active within their local chapter. fiches after logging into the register via the and active participants, and we Gunny Harboe, our board mem- DOCOMOMO-US website and inserting various are delighted to welcome sev- ber from the Midwest chapter, eral new members of the board resigned as Vice-President. He as we look forward to meeting played a leading role in estab- new challenges in the future. lishing the organization and we thank him for his efforts —Theodore Prudon and participation over the last President, ten years. Jorge Otero-Pailos, DOCOMOMO-US 1. D.S. Ingalls Skating Rink, Yale University, 1956-1958. who has been our Secretary for (photo: Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation) the last two years, was elected Lovell House, Newport Beach, CA, Vice-President and Hélène 1926. been formed for Landscape and Urbanism, and featured twenty selections, one from each Lipstadt will now serve as and the ISC for Registers has continued to of the thirty-one Working Parties, and several Secretary. We are also pleased concentrate on buildings and building complexes. analytical essays. The ISC/R also plans to publish to announce the following new The fiche, which is similar to a National proceedings of the bi-annual seminars. Finally, Register nomination form, has been carefully a major focus of the future of the ISC/R will be board members: Nnamdi Elleh tailored to allow all of the essential information to help find ways to facilitate electronic access from Cincinnati, Barry Solar about a work to fit on a minimum version, which to the considerable information contained in the from New England, and Kazys can serve as a ready-reference document, and fiches. As part of this, efforts are underway to Varnelis from Los Angeles. a full version, which provides a more in-depth standardize a web-based fiche form and to cre- The board discussed and Gropius House, Lincoln, MA, 1938. analysis of the work under consideration. The ate a database that will enable easy access to decided on several major issues fiches are produced primarily through “homework basic information on buildings, with links to both and initiatives, one of which is assignments” that are given out on an annual DOCOMOMO fiches and other resources on basis, wherein each Working Party is asked these subjects. described in this newsletter: the to submit five fiches—four minimum and one new online register. Jon Buono full—for review by the ISC/R, and subsequent —David Fixler from DOCOMOMO-GA has entry into the DOCOMOMO archive at the NAi. agreed to be the interim chair Each assignment is given a theme that parallels, of the US Register Committee in even years, the theme of the DOCOMOMO and he is being assisted by Farnsworth House, Plano, IL, 1951. International Conference. representatives from the vari- Following the 2002 Conference in Paris, the ISC Committee for Registers began a program ous chapters in this initiative. (graphic: Maggie Oldfather) of bi-annual seminars themed around a particu-
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 2 DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 3 Chapter News
NORTH TEXAS
National Board Meeting in Dallas/Fort Worth
DOCOMOMO-US/North Texas was honored to be the host for the national board meetings. Our visitors were able to expe- rience both historic and new modern architecture in the area. On Friday night a reception was held at Richard Meier’s Rachofsky House followed by dinner at the Mockingbird Station development designed by RTKL. The board meetings were held at the offices of RTKL in downtown Dallas which are located in the Republic 1. The La Concha Lobby on the Las Vegas Strip. Bank Building, an aluminum (photo: Andy Kirk) panel-clad pair of high-rises by Harrison Abramowitz. Lunch was Saving the Shell at Renzo Piano’s Nasher Sculpture Center and local chapter mem- bers Chuck and Diane Cheatham Over the past forty-five years millions of people hosted a lovely dinner at their have driven past the distinctive shell-shaped new Texas Society of Architects lobby of the La Concha hotel on the Las Vegas Award-winning home by Oglesby- Strip (Figure 1). Despite its modest size, the La Greene Architects. The weekend Concha looms large in the architectural history of concluded with tours of both Las Vegas; built in 1961, it quickly became an icon Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Museum on the Strip and is today one of the most signifi- and the Modern Art Museum of cant remaining examples of mid-century modern Fort Worth designed by Tadao architecture in the rapidly changing city. The hotel Ando. was designed by internationally renowned African- American architect Paul R. Williams, Hollywood’s Conversations with Texas “Architect to the Stars,” and is an outstanding Modernists: Two Generations example of his wonderfully inventive work. Following the announcement in early 2004 DOCOMOMO-US/North Texas, in conjunction with the University that the La Concha was slated for demolition, a of Texas at Arlington School concerted effort began to save at least part of the building, namely the lobby, by moving it to of Architecture, hosted this 2. The La Concha’s iconic Neon Sign. important event exploring and an appropriate new location. Preserve Nevada, (photo: Andy Kirk) illuminating the rise of modern Nevada’s statewide preservation organization, architecture in Dallas/Fort Worth quickly became involved in the process and thing that cannot be said for many other buildings in the years following World War has since partnered with the Las Vegas Neon in Las Vegas. II on November 12. The sympo- Museum. The museum has agreed to take the So will the La Concha be saved? As sium featured conversations with La Concha’s iconic neon sign (Figure 2) as well of recently, it looks like the answer is yes. The several of the “senior” architects as the lobby which it plans to remake into a new owners of the lobby have given it to the Neon of DFW who were among the first interpretive center. The museum also took the Museum, an engineering plan for the relocation to successfully design modern lead in a serious fundraising effort to raise money of the structure was completed with funding buildings and houses from 1946 for the relocation of the lobby and sign from the from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to 1959. Strip to the museum’s location on Fremont Street and the funding for the move is mostly in place. Architecturally conservative in downtown Las Vegas. However, the construction of the building makes prior to the war, both Dallas and The effort to save the La Concha is one of a move particularly difficult. The lobby’s shell- Fort Worth saw a number of fine the most interesting preservation projects in the shaped structure is firmly anchored to its current modern structures rise during region, generating both national press and some location, but there are serious stability problems to this period, commissioned by local debate. While the La Concha is locally loved, corporations, institutions, wealthy consider once the shell is shifted in any way. Only it still took some convincing to make the public individuals, and the cities them- four inches thick, the shell is vulnerable to lateral selves. This symposium explored understand that a “modern” structure could also tension and could easily disintegrate when moved. why and how this new movement be historic. Even in Las Vegas, most preservation- Despite these challenges, the effort is moving became so widely accepted— ists look to buildings from the early part of the forward and gaining momentum. If all goes well, and if in fact it was—and was century—classical buildings like courthouses and tourists on the Strip will get to see this wonderful moderated in part by the “heirs” post offices—as the model for what is considered Googie masterpiece moving down the road to a to these pioneers, all now estab- historic and worthy of preservation efforts. But new home and a new life of which Williams would lished architects in the prime of the La Concha is a truly unique structure that is have certainly approved. their careers and respected mod- potentially eligible for the National Register on a ernists. cultural, architectural, and historical basis, some- —Andy Kirk
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 4 Chapter News Chapter News Salt Lake City’s Former Library May Lose its NORTH TEXAS The daylong event was held at the University of Texas at Modern Form National Board Meeting in Arlington School of Architecture. Dallas/Fort Worth For more information visit our website at In 1964 Salt Lake City opened a new modern DOCOMOMO-US/North Texas www.docomomo-us-ntx.org. public library building. The city celebrated the was honored to be the host for opening of the new Main Library with announce- the national board meetings. —Greg Ibañez ments in the newspaper and parties at the build- Our visitors were able to expe- ing over opening weekend. Designed by the rience both historic and new forward-thinking Salt Lake City firm Edwards modern architecture in the area. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA and Daniels Architects, the building is an expres- On Friday night a reception was sion of the architectural culture of the 1960s and held at Richard Meier’s Rachofsky DOCOMOMO-US/NoCa focuses today is one of the best representations of 1960s 1. The concrete panel mural on the south side of House followed by dinner at the its efforts on the documentation architecture in Utah. The library’s design is one of Salt Lake City's former Main Library, 1964. Mockingbird Station development of modern resources, education, clean form expressed by its materials and window (photo: Kirk Huffaker) designed by RTKL. The board and public outreach. The patterns. The concrete panel mural on the south that meets all of the programmatic requirements meetings were held at the offices group sponsored a tour of the side is an artistic splash that complements the of The Leonardo while preserving a modern build- of RTKL in downtown Dallas architecture and landscape of building’s otherwise regimented form and design ing that needs seismic retrofitting and rehabilita- which are located in the Republic 1. The La Concha Lobby on the Las Vegas Strip. Foothill College in Los Altos (Figure 1). Bank Building, an aluminum (photo: Andy Kirk) Hills last summer. Foothill tion to meet the city’s executive order to satisfy A 1965 issue of Time magazine featured a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design panel-clad pair of high-rises by College, completed in 1961 photo of the new library and noted its record Harrison Abramowitz. Lunch was with architecture by Ernest (LEED) standards, which are required for all public Saving the Shell room where teenagers could listen to music with at Renzo Piano’s Nasher Sculpture Kump and Masten & Hurd and buildings over 10,000 square feet in size that are earphones, a cutting-edge feature for a library at Center and local chapter mem- a landscape designed by Sasaki city-owned or use city funds. that time. From the moment it opened, the new bers Chuck and Diane Cheatham Over the past forty-five years millions of people Walker, is a significant work of There are significant seismic issues that need hosted a lovely dinner at their have driven past the distinctive shell-shaped regional modernism and campus library had busy circulation and it only continued to be addressed when retrofitting the former new Texas Society of Architects lobby of the La Concha hotel on the Las Vegas planning that proved to be an to grow for decades until the library eventually Main Library building; Salt Lake City is in the same Award-winning home by Oglesby- Strip (Figure 1). Despite its modest size, the La influential model for campus outgrew its space. In 2000 Salt Lake City voters seismic zone as San Francisco and could possibly Greene Architects. The weekend Concha looms large in the architectural history of design throughout the 1960s passed a bond to build a new library north of the experience a major earthquake in the next fifty concluded with tours of both Las Vegas; built in 1961, it quickly became an icon and 1970s. DOCOMOMO-US/ old library building on the same block. The new years. For the team working on the building, this Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Museum on the Strip and is today one of the most signifi- NoCa continues to do research $65 million building, designed by architect Moshe is probably the greatest combination of challenges and the Modern Art Museum of cant remaining examples of mid-century modern and documentation for its San Safdie, was completed in 2003. that will affect the building’s design and preser- Fort Worth designed by Tadao architecture in the rapidly changing city. The hotel Francisco Modern register To the Library Board’s credit, they stayed true vation. However, preservationists believe that Ando. was designed by internationally renowned African- project and has completed to the former building’s design for forty years seismic issues can be solved without compromis- American architect Paul R. Williams, Hollywood’s DOCOMOMO register fiches for while it served as the library, preserving the intent ing the original design intent for the building. The Conversations with Texas “Architect to the Stars,” and is an outstanding many significant sites. Future of every original design element and maintaining challenge for preservationists remains to continue Modernists: Two Generations events include a tour of modern example of his wonderfully inventive work. the building immaculately (Figure 2). This contrib- educating about the importance of the building houses in the East Bay hills and Following the announcement in early 2004 uted to the public’s appreciation of the building and advocating for its sensitive rehabilitation and DOCOMOMO-US/North Texas, in a lecture series planned for early that the La Concha was slated for demolition, a and is why, in 2003, Salt Lake City voters passed seismic retrofit. conjunction with the University 2006. Meetings are held on the a $10 million bond to turn the former Main Library of Texas at Arlington School concerted effort began to save at least part of second Tuesday of every month the building, namely the lobby, by moving it to building into The Leonardo at Library Square, an More information on The Leonardo can be found of Architecture, hosted this 2. The La Concha’s iconic Neon Sign. in various architecture offices art, culture, and science center. important event exploring and an appropriate new location. Preserve Nevada, (photo: Andy Kirk) around the city. at www.theleonardo.org. For more information Working with The Leonardo to rehabilitate the illuminating the rise of modern Nevada’s statewide preservation organization, Please contact chapter about the Utah Heritage Foundation please visit former library building are Ewing/Cole Architects architecture in Dallas/Fort Worth quickly became involved in the process and thing that cannot be said for many other buildings president Andrew Wolfram at www.utahheritagefoundation.org. in the years following World War has since partnered with the Las Vegas Neon in Las Vegas. [email protected] for of Philadelphia and AJC Architects of Salt Lake II on November 12. The sympo- Museum. The museum has agreed to take the So will the La Concha be saved? As more information. City. Their challenge is to open a museum in 2007 —Kirk Huffaker sium featured conversations with La Concha’s iconic neon sign (Figure 2) as well of recently, it looks like the answer is yes. The several of the “senior” architects as the lobby which it plans to remake into a new owners of the lobby have given it to the Neon —Andrew Wolfram of DFW who were among the first interpretive center. The museum also took the Museum, an engineering plan for the relocation to successfully design modern lead in a serious fundraising effort to raise money of the structure was completed with funding buildings and houses from 1946 for the relocation of the lobby and sign from the from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to 1959. Strip to the museum’s location on Fremont Street and the funding for the move is mostly in place. Architecturally conservative in downtown Las Vegas. However, the construction of the building makes prior to the war, both Dallas and The effort to save the La Concha is one of a move particularly difficult. The lobby’s shell- Fort Worth saw a number of fine the most interesting preservation projects in the shaped structure is firmly anchored to its current modern structures rise during region, generating both national press and some location, but there are serious stability problems to this period, commissioned by local debate. While the La Concha is locally loved, corporations, institutions, wealthy consider once the shell is shifted in any way. Only it still took some convincing to make the public individuals, and the cities them- four inches thick, the shell is vulnerable to lateral selves. This symposium explored understand that a “modern” structure could also tension and could easily disintegrate when moved. be historic. Even in Las Vegas, most preservation- Despite these challenges, the effort is moving Foothill College, why and how this new movement Los Altos Hills, CA, 1961 became so widely accepted— ists look to buildings from the early part of the forward and gaining momentum. If all goes well, (photo: DOCOMOMO-US/NoCa) and if in fact it was—and was century—classical buildings like courthouses and tourists on the Strip will get to see this wonderful moderated in part by the “heirs” post offices—as the model for what is considered Googie masterpiece moving down the road to a to these pioneers, all now estab- historic and worthy of preservation efforts. But new home and a new life of which Williams would lished architects in the prime of the La Concha is a truly unique structure that is have certainly approved. their careers and respected mod- potentially eligible for the National Register on a 2. The preserved exterior of the former Main Library, 1964 ernists. cultural, architectural, and historical basis, some- —Andy Kirk (photo: Kirk Huffaker)
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 4 DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 5 Chapter News Cultural Impact of Katrina (cont'd from cover)
GEORGIA culture of the past, I find compelling, at times like by floating barges housing frame superstructures these, to think of Steinbeck’s representation of for gambling. Wrapped in paper-thin imagery with Atlanta Advocacy Update Okies displaced from those “places,” as well as skins of flimsy architectural dress, the coastal city from the “objects” of their lives. had become a trumpet fanfare of neon and artifi- The Atlanta City Council recently After Katrina came ashore, I found myself cial appliqué: stylish modern resort architecture, voted to transfer property, searching for news regarding the survival of his- not modern-styled resort design. How different including the Atlanta Constitution toric landmark architecture, pottery workshops, from Erich Mendelsohn’s De La Warr Seaside Building, to the Georgia and art collections along the Gulf Coast, as well Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea in England! But what Department of Transportation as of museums, libraries, and archival records Charles Jencks once called the carnivalesque for construction of a new multi- housing centuries of New Orleans history. Like branch of postmodernism, had become, in Biloxi, modal passenger terminal in all members of DOCOMOMO, I include modern its own uninhibited beachfront commercial dis- downtown Atlanta. This transfer play, uptown honky tonk without the redeeming will likely result in the demolition of the Atlanta Constitution context of a Coney Island or boardwalk. Katrina Building, the largest remaining blasted ashore and swept right through these example of an Art Moderne blackjack sheds, tearing away the lower half of style building in Atlanta, and the the Treasure Bay Casino Resort (Figure 1), for subject of an advocacy campaign example, and peeling off other layers of its archi- headed by the Georgia chapter. tectural costuming, leaving a shipwrecked ruin on In an effort to sway the Council an empty beach. vote in favor of preservation, The Treasure Bay Casino Resort, Charles Jon Buono, Thomas Little, and Moore, and Frank Gehry may be strange bedfel- Jack Pyburn spoke in favor of lows, but they shared the Gulf Coast and they the rehabilitation of this historic were all in the path of Katrina. Architect Frank building at the council meeting, Gehry was within a year of completing his addi- and both the Georgia chapter and tion to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi the Atlanta Preservation Center when a dislodged casino barge bashed against his 2. Exterior of Gryder House, 1960, participated in a work session buildings and crushed them. The Pleasant Reed following the City Council’s vote Ocean Springs, MS. (photo: Robert M. Craig) House, a museum of African-American history in which the significance of the on the site of the Ohr Museum, was destroyed building was presented. buildings among my concerns. In a series of dam- except for the chimney. Although the fate of the age reports I prepared on the impact of the hur- When Charles Jencks wrote about the aca- Constitution Building is now ricane, my more exhaustive inquiry was initially demic legitimization of the vernacular and démo- in question, the campaign has been very successful in raising focused on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century dé, he referenced “Disney seminars by Charles awareness of the endangered raised cottages, Creole plantation houses, Cajun cont’d on p. 7 Constitution Building and other culture, and historic neighborhoods, but some mid-century sites throughout the information also emerged concerning more mod- city. An update concerning the ern buildings. I provide here a small excerpt of campaign is forthcoming. reporting on buildings whose status will interest DOCOMOMO members. —Thomas F. Little Regarding the Gulf Port and Biloxi beachfronts in Mississippi, my “research” took me to my own son, Christopher, and his personal experi- CHICAGO/MIDWEST ence and impressions as part of the relief effort. Christopher is a member of a North Carolina Illinois Initiative on Recent “Special Operations Response Team” which was Past Architecture (IIRPA) staged in the Mississippi Valley two days before Katrina came ashore and was soon moved to the The Chicago/Midwest chapter Gulf Coast. Based on firsthand observations along is helping to spearhead the the beaches at Biloxi and Gulf Port, Christopher Illinois Initiative on Recent described a virtual “war zone” of three to six Past Architecture. IIRPA is a blocks deep in Gulf Port as well as property lots new partnership of multiple that are now only sand, and city block after city organizations that is dedicated to identifying and advocating for block of piles of broken lumber. the protection of Illinois’s recent Before the storm, the town of Biloxi was a past architecture—architecture surreal juxtaposition of modern popular culture that dates from 1930 to the and historic buildings. The gambling casinos, present. Other members of the those kitsch embodiments of popular culture coalition include the Landmarks with their Disneyesque stage-prop superficiality, Preservation Council of lined the ocean front creating—atop barges—a Illinois (LPCI), the Recent Past shoreline of twentieth century pop architecture Preservation Network (RPPN), the which intruded visually on both the historic Midwest office of the National context of traditional neighborhoods as well as Trust for Historic Preservation, the environmental naturalism of the beach and the Illinois Historic Preservation coastal “edge.” Biloxi, like Myrtle Beach or even 3. Interior of Gryder House, 1960, Agency, Chicago Bauhaus and Las Vegas, had become its own main street of Ocean Springs, MS. modern motels and advertisements punctuated (photo: Robert M. Craig)
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 6 Chapter News Cultural Impact of Katrina (cont'd from cover) Chapter News Cultural Impact of Katrina (cont'd from p. 6)
GEORGIA culture of the past, I find compelling, at times like by floating barges housing frame superstructures Beyond, the Hyde Park Historical Moore—110 credit hours of Camp, Kitsch, and The same cannot be said about work by Goff’s these, to think of Steinbeck’s representation of for gambling. Wrapped in paper-thin imagery with Society, and Preservation Schlock at Yale University”—and one is reminded, friend and paragon, Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright Atlanta Advocacy Update Okies displaced from those “places,” as well as skins of flimsy architectural dress, the coastal city Chicago. IIRPA is organizing therefore, that one of Moore’s master works is in came to the Gulf Coast seventy years before from the “objects” of their lives. had become a trumpet fanfare of neon and artifi- a major survey of recent past New Orleans. The Piazza d’Italia (1978)—where Goff’s Gryder House was constructed and built The Atlanta City Council recently After Katrina came ashore, I found myself cial appliqué: stylish modern resort architecture, architecture in the Chicago area Maybeck’s Palace of Fine Arts meets Star Wars, two houses in 1890 at which point in time he voted to transfer property, searching for news regarding the survival of his- not modern-styled resort design. How different that can then be extended to Italian Mannerism, and Giorgio de Chirico—is worked for Adler and Sullivan. The Ocean Springs including the Atlanta Constitution toric landmark architecture, pottery workshops, from Erich Mendelsohn’s De La Warr Seaside other communities in Illinois. located in the Central Business District just off vacation cottages, one for Louis Sullivan himself Building, to the Georgia and art collections along the Gulf Coast, as well Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea in England! But what This survey will address recent Canal Street, and thus experienced only minimal (Figure 4) and the second for James Charnley, are Department of Transportation as of museums, libraries, and archival records Charles Jencks once called the carnivalesque past architecture from 1930, flooding. about as “early Wright” as you can get—he had for construction of a new multi- housing centuries of New Orleans history. Like branch of postmodernism, had become, in Biloxi, the date when many existing “Modern” for orthodox DOCOMOMO devo- begun his architectural career only three years modal passenger terminal in architectural surveys commonly all members of DOCOMOMO, I include modern its own uninhibited beachfront commercial dis- tees, no doubt refers to the “white” architecture prior. Sullivan fell in love with the Gulf Coast downtown Atlanta. This transfer end, to the present. Conducting a play, uptown honky tonk without the redeeming of high modern, and it was not my intention to and the beauty of the natural landscape; a 1905 will likely result in the demolition survey that examines architecture of the Atlanta Constitution context of a Coney Island or boardwalk. Katrina of the last three quarters of the write about only this “other” modern. While we Architectural Record description of the veranda of Building, the largest remaining blasted ashore and swept right through these twentieth century is particularly think of New Orleans as a city characterized by the Sullivan bungalow speaks of “great clusters example of an Art Moderne blackjack sheds, tearing away the lower half of important as these potential more nineteenth-century vernacular architecture of white wisteria hanging from the roof” and the style building in Atlanta, and the the Treasure Bay Casino Resort (Figure 1), for landmarks tend to be vulnerable subject of an advocacy campaign example, and peeling off other layers of its archi- to demolition. Their vulnerability headed by the Georgia chapter. tectural costuming, leaving a shipwrecked ruin on is primarily due to the fact In an effort to sway the Council an empty beach. that many local preservation vote in favor of preservation, The Treasure Bay Casino Resort, Charles ordinances do not allow for the Jon Buono, Thomas Little, and Moore, and Frank Gehry may be strange bedfel- landmark designation of buildings Jack Pyburn spoke in favor of lows, but they shared the Gulf Coast and they less than fifty years old. It is also the rehabilitation of this historic were all in the path of Katrina. Architect Frank extremely difficult to list buildings building at the council meeting, Gehry was within a year of completing his addi- less than fifty years old in the and both the Georgia chapter and tion to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi National Register of Historic the Atlanta Preservation Center when a dislodged casino barge bashed against his Places. 2. Exterior of Gryder House, 1960, participated in a work session buildings and crushed them. The Pleasant Reed LPCI is coordinating the following the City Council’s vote Ocean Springs, MS. survey effort and is currently (photo: Robert M. Craig) House, a museum of African-American history in which the significance of the on the site of the Ohr Museum, was destroyed gathering information from Illinois building was presented. buildings among my concerns. In a series of dam- except for the chimney. communities with preservation Although the fate of the commissions to determine the age reports I prepared on the impact of the hur- When Charles Jencks wrote about the aca- Constitution Building is now extent of local awareness of ricane, my more exhaustive inquiry was initially demic legitimization of the vernacular and démo- in question, the campaign has recent past architecture. With been very successful in raising focused on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century dé, he referenced “Disney seminars by Charles the findings from the survey, the raised cottages, Creole plantation houses, Cajun cont’d on p. 7 awareness of the endangered coalition will be able to inform 4. Louis Sullivan Cottage, 1890, Ocean Springs, MS. Constitution Building and other culture, and historic neighborhoods, but some and educate public officials (photo: Robert M Craig) mid-century sites throughout the information also emerged concerning more mod- and preservation commissions city. An update concerning the ern buildings. I provide here a small excerpt of about important recent cultural than “modern” architecture, we have also seen view “across the stretch of water of the bay glit- campaign is forthcoming. reporting on buildings whose status will interest resources in their communities televised images of windows blown out of the tering with countless gems beyond the ransom DOCOMOMO members. that should be protected. Hyatt Hotel on the edge of the French Quarter, of kings.” When Katrina hit Ocean Springs, the —Thomas F. Little Regarding the Gulf Port and Biloxi beachfronts parts of the roof peeled off the Superdome, and Louis Sullivan House was “vaporized,” accord- in Mississippi, my “research” took me to my Chicago/Midwest the modern engineering of bridges appearing like ing to its owner, and Louis’s “paradise, the poem own son, Christopher, and his personal experi- Recent Events collapsed domino slabs as I-10 crosses the bayou of spring, Louis’s other self,” as he wrote in An CHICAGO/MIDWEST ence and impressions as part of the relief effort. or Lake Pontchartrain. Autobiograpy of an Idea, was simply gone. Christopher is a member of a North Carolina Our summer lecture and discus- A bit to the east stands Ocean Springs, Next door, the James Charnley House was Illinois Initiative on Recent “Special Operations Response Team” which was sion topic was the Bauhaus in Tel Mississippi, where Bruce Goff, in 1960, built severely damaged, with both house and guest Past Architecture (IIRPA) staged in the Mississippi Valley two days before Aviv. Our guest speaker for the the William Conneil Gryder House (Figures 2 house knocked off their piers; a tree fell on the Katrina came ashore and was soon moved to the meeting, Stacey Pfingsten, gave a and 3) for a chain store shoe salesman. Having guest house roof. This cypress shingle-clad The Chicago/Midwest chapter Gulf Coast. Based on firsthand observations along beautifully illustrated presentation already quoted Charles Jencks, I cannot resist house was something of a sister house to the is helping to spearhead the the beaches at Biloxi and Gulf Port, Christopher on these Tel Aviv buildings. Ms. reminding readers of his description of Goff as more famous James Charnley House in Chicago; Illinois Initiative on Recent described a virtual “war zone” of three to six Pfingsten, a local preservation- the “Michaelangelo of kitsch.” Again, hardly Wright designed the brick “palazzo” residence Past Architecture. IIRPA is a ist and member of the Board of blocks deep in Gulf Port as well as property lots orthodox modern, the Gryder House is a notable for Charnley in Chicago in 1891 and it is now new partnership of multiple Directors of Preservation Action, that are now only sand, and city block after city architectural site in the Gulf Coast region, and the headquarters of the Society of Architectural organizations that is dedicated has completed extensive research to identifying and advocating for block of piles of broken lumber. on modern architectural works it appears to have survived the hurricane. The Historians. Some say the Charnley vacation cot- the protection of Illinois’s recent Before the storm, the town of Biloxi was a in Tel Aviv and the efforts to pre- house was not on beachfront property and is tage may be salvageable, but at considerable past architecture—architecture surreal juxtaposition of modern popular culture serve this unique resource. located on slightly higher ground. Nevertheless, expense; the Sullivan House is simply gone. that dates from 1930 to the and historic buildings. The gambling casinos, The Annual Fall Tour was the winds must have whistled around the curved Merely three years ago, accompanied by present. Other members of the those kitsch embodiments of popular culture held in conjunction with the walls and roof of the Gryder House which still Phil Oszuscik, a scholar of the Gulf Coast and a coalition include the Landmarks with their Disneyesque stage-prop superficiality, University of Chicago Department sits like a preying mantis surveying its private colleague of mine from the University of South Preservation Council of lined the ocean front creating—atop barges—a of Humanities and the Hyde Park water garden; the design of the house is Goff at Alabama, I visited both houses, and I have includ- Illinois (LPCI), the Recent Past shoreline of twentieth century pop architecture Historical Society. It was a sold- his post-Wrightian geometric best and modern at ed them in lectures I have given on Frank Lloyd Preservation Network (RPPN), the which intruded visually on both the historic out event. Anne Stephenson of its most unorthodox. Reports from a colleague in Wright at Georgia Tech. They are among Katrina’s Midwest office of the National context of traditional neighborhoods as well as the University of Chicago with Mobile, Alabama inform me that the house lost its major nineteenth-century architectural losses, and Trust for Historic Preservation, the environmental naturalism of the beach and Jack Spicer and Sam Guard, high stove-pipe chimney which rose like a flagpole were some of the earliest designs of America’s the Illinois Historic Preservation coastal “edge.” Biloxi, like Myrtle Beach or even 3. Interior of Gryder House, 1960, both of the Hyde Park Historical over its sweeping roof, but the Gryder House most famous modern architect. Agency, Chicago Bauhaus and Las Vegas, had become its own main street of Ocean Springs, MS. Society, led the tours and lecture. appears to be relatively intact. modern motels and advertisements punctuated (photo: Robert M. Craig) —Robert M. Craig
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 6 DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 7 Chapter News ANNOUNCEMENTS
The modern campus buildings Renovation of Louis Kahn Building courtyard on the west side of the building, had, in a previous renovation, been roofed over to create on our tour included works by Progresses Edward Barnes, Bruce Graham, additional interior space at the building’s basement Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, level. The renovation will restore the court as Walter Netsch, Eero Saarinen, The Yale University Art Gallery, the oldest college exterior space, which will become the new site of and Harry Weese. Of grave con- art museum in America and the third oldest in Richard Serra’s Stacks sculpture. The restoration cern to local preservationists are the world, continues work on the renovation of of the court will also restore to the building the the University of Chicago Medical its main building, designed by American architect original five-storey west window wall. Center’s potential—and prob- Louis I. Kahn and opened in 1953. The Gallery able—demolition plans for Bruce was Kahn’s first significant commission and is Announcement courtesy of the Yale University Graham’s Lab for Astrophysics widely considered his first masterpiece. Designed Art Gallery. and Space Research designed while he was a visiting critic at the Yale School of by SOM in 1963–1965 and the Architecture, the building—constructed of brick, High Energy Physics building by Hausner and Macsai from 1967. Jamaica Savings Bank The modern works in Hyde Park Designation Revoked included residences designed by I.M. Pei, George and William The New York City Landmarks Preservation Keck, Harry Weese, Y.C. Wong, Commission’s decision to designate the vernacu- Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan. Our lunch meeting covered lar modern Jamaica Savings Bank in Elmhurst, updates of event and register Queens earlier this year was revoked by the New activities as well as a discussion York City Council this past October. The Council of current preservation issues did not consider the reinforced concrete hyper- regarding recent past and mod- bolic paraboloid structure, designed by William ern architecture in Illinois, in par- Cann in 1968, to be a strong enough case for ticular the latest initiative IIRPA landmark designation even though the Council as discussed above. has professed an interest to designate more The Register Committee modern buildings and more buildings in the outer also took a field trip in October Renovation of Louis Kahn's to visit the site of the 1933 Yale University Art Gallery, 1953. Chicago World’s Fair (Century of (photo: Elizabeth Felicella, Progress) Homes. The houses, © 2005, Yale University Art Gallery) including Keck & Keck’s House of Tomorrow, were moved by a real concrete, glass, and steel—was the first modern- estate developer to the Indiana ist structure at Yale and a radical break from the Dunes lakeshore soon after the neo-Gothic character of much of the campus. The fair ended in 1934. The proper- Kahn building has been celebrated not only for its ties are now part of the Indiana beauty, geometry, and light, but also for its struc- Dunes National Lakeshore of tural and engineering innovations. Among these is the National Park Service and are being rehabilitated through the housing of electrical and ventilating systems a program with the Historic in hollow concrete tetrahedrons that make up the Landmarks Foundation of Indiana ceiling and appear to float overhead. Jamaica Savings Bank, Historic Landmarks Foundation The Art Gallery renovation has been designed by the New York City-based Polshek Partnership Elmhurst, Queens, 1953. of Indiana. (photo: Theo Prudon) Architects and will be completed in 2007. One of — Lynette Stuhlmacher the major focuses of the renovation is to update boroughs. Though area Councilmember Helen the building systems. The existing heating, air Sears and the local Community Board in Queens conditioning, electrical, plumbing, and security backed the landmark designation, the other City NEW YORK/TRI-STATE systems are being replaced or refurbished to Council members, as well as the owner of the provide a state-of-the-art conservation environ- bank, were against this decision. The outcome of Progress on the Gores Pavilion ment. This work is being undertaken with care the Landmarks Subcommittee meeting, the Land to preserve all aspects of the building’s historic Use Committee meeting, and the floor of the In the late 1950s, Landis Gores, architecture, including its famous tetrahedron City Council, all of which occurred in late October, one of the Harvard Five archi- ceiling, where the existing distribution ductwork, was a strong vote in favor of denying the designa- tects, designed a secondary cast into the concrete structure, will be cleaned tion. This is the fourth time since 1991—when house on the New Canaan estate and reused. The new thermally broken window the City Council became involved in approving of Jack and Jane Irwin. Gores wall system, while duplicating the appearance and landmark designations—that the Council has voted and Jack Irwin first knew each profiles of the original, will accommodate the cli- to revoke a landmark designation made by the other at Princeton in the 1930s. mate of fifty percent relative humidity required by Commission, and the fifth time that a modification They served in the army during World War II and were colleagues modern museums. to a designation has been made. in the Army Reserve after the The renovation will also restore the open plan war. Irwin was a lawyer who characteristic of the original building by removing —Toni DiMaggio later became the Ambassador to miscellaneous offices and other facilities added France and the Undersecretary over the years and by making use of a new ver- of State. When he married Jane sion of Kahn’s original free-standing “pogo walls,” panels for the display of art. An open exterior
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 8 Chapter News ANNOUNCEMENTS Chapter News EXHIBITION REVIEW Team 10: A Utopia of the Present (1963-1981) The modern campus buildings Renovation of Louis Kahn Building courtyard on the west side of the building, had, in a previous renovation, been roofed over to create on our tour included works by Progresses Edward Barnes, Bruce Graham, additional interior space at the building’s basement Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, level. The renovation will restore the court as The exhibit “Team 10: A Utopia of the Present John Voelcker (Britain), and Herman Herzberger Walter Netsch, Eero Saarinen, The Yale University Art Gallery, the oldest college exterior space, which will become the new site of (1953–1981)” opened at the Netherlands (The Netherlands). and Harry Weese. Of grave con- art museum in America and the third oldest in Richard Serra’s Stacks sculpture. The restoration Architecture Institute (NAi) in Rotterdam on After an introduction, the exhibit is organized cern to local preservationists are the world, continues work on the renovation of of the court will also restore to the building the September 25, 2005 and will remain there chronologically according to the Team 10 meet- the University of Chicago Medical its main building, designed by American architect original five-storey west window wall. until January 8, 2006. The exhibit was curated ings and their themes. The themes range from Center’s potential—and prob- Louis I. Kahn and opened in 1953. The Gallery by Max Risselada and Suzanne Mulder and is the problems of housing—a large problem after able—demolition plans for Bruce was Kahn’s first significant commission and is Announcement courtesy of the Yale University accompanied by an extensive publication that, like World War II—to context, mobility, connections, Graham’s Lab for Astrophysics widely considered his first masterpiece. Designed Art Gallery. the growth and change of the historical and Space Research designed while he was a visiting critic at the Yale School of city, flexibility, and collectivity and identi- by SOM in 1963–1965 and the Architecture, the building—constructed of brick, ty. The studies and the projects produced High Energy Physics building by at the Team 10 meetings including draw- Hausner and Macsai from 1967. Jamaica Savings Bank ings, sketches, photographs, and models The modern works in Hyde Park Designation Revoked are exhibited in large spaces and are included residences designed interspersed with smaller spaces dedicat- by I.M. Pei, George and William The New York City Landmarks Preservation ed to photographs and documents of the Keck, Harry Weese, Y.C. Wong, The Gores-designed Pool House, Commission’s decision to designate the vernacu- 1960. particular meetings. The entire exhibit is Bruce Graham and Fazlur Khan. lar modern Jamaica Savings Bank in Elmhurst, (photo: Pedro Guerrero / almost overwhelming in its depth and the Our lunch meeting covered www.guerrerophoto.com) quantity of materials shown, but is, with- updates of event and register Queens earlier this year was revoked by the New out a doubt, an impressive and important activities as well as a discussion York City Council this past October. The Council Watson in 1946, they took over retrospective on architectural thinking of current preservation issues did not consider the reinforced concrete hyper- the New Canaan estate of her regarding recent past and mod- bolic paraboloid structure, designed by William father T.J.Watson, the founder of and design of the time. What continues ern architecture in Illinois, in par- Cann in 1968, to be a strong enough case for I.B.M. The Gores built their home to be remarkable was the willingness of ticular the latest initiative IIRPA landmark designation even though the Council in New Canaan in 1948, and the the Team 10 architects to search for a as discussed above. has professed an interest to designate more two men commuted together to new architecture within the context of The Register Committee modern buildings and more buildings in the outer New York. its time, in this case, postwar society in also took a field trip in October When Landis Gores devel- Europe. Renovation of Louis Kahn's oped polio in 1954, Jack Irwin to visit the site of the 1933 Yale University Art Gallery, 1953. On a personal level, the exhibit Chicago World’s Fair (Century of (photo: Elizabeth Felicella, sent a quick message that he reminded me of being in architec- Progress) Homes. The houses, © 2005, Yale University Art Gallery) was still counting on his friend to tural school in Delft in the 1960s when including Keck & Keck’s House of design his dream house and then Bakema and van Eyck were part of the arranged for I.B.M. to build a spe- Tomorrow, were moved by a real concrete, glass, and steel—was the first modern- faculty. It got me thinking about how cial typewriter that would help estate developer to the Indiana ist structure at Yale and a radical break from the much of my own work and interests Dunes lakeshore soon after the Gores communicate. Five years have been influenced by that period neo-Gothic character of much of the campus. The of planning resulted in the dream fair ended in 1934. The proper- Kahn building has been celebrated not only for its of architectural design and activity. It ties are now part of the Indiana house becoming a weekend beauty, geometry, and light, but also for its struc- is probably the very reason that I am Dunes National Lakeshore of lodge of redwood, Appalachian tural and engineering innovations. Among these is interested in preserving modern archi- the National Park Service and brick, and broad expanses of the housing of electrical and ventilating systems glass that the Irwins could use tecture, buildings that represent a search are being rehabilitated through for a cohesive and collective sense of a program with the Historic in hollow concrete tetrahedrons that make up the when they did not want to open social responsibility. The preservation of Landmarks Foundation of Indiana ceiling and appear to float overhead. the main house. The “Pool Jamaica Savings Bank, architecture from the postwar period, Historic Landmarks Foundation The Art Gallery renovation has been designed House” was dedicated in 1960 at by the New York City-based Polshek Partnership Elmhurst, Queens, 1953. a grand surprise party in honor including the work of Team 10, may not of Indiana. (photo: Theo Prudon) Architects and will be completed in 2007. One of of Gores that included I.M. Pei, Recent cover of The Architect‘s Newspaper advertising the yet be easy and will, in many instances, — Lynette Stuhlmacher the major focuses of the renovation is to update boroughs. Though area Councilmember Helen Philip Johnson, and other archi- exhibition with a photo of Team 10 meeting in Spoleto in 1976. still face serious opposition. However, an the building systems. The existing heating, air Sears and the local Community Board in Queens tecture luminaries of the day. (photo: Sandra Lousador) exhibit of this scope and comprehensive- conditioning, electrical, plumbing, and security backed the landmark designation, the other City In 2005, the Irwin family sold ness helps in establishing its importance NEW YORK/TRI-STATE systems are being replaced or refurbished to Council members, as well as the owner of the the estate to the town of New the exhibit, drew on a large number of scholars and provides the arguments for the preservation provide a state-of-the-art conservation environ- bank, were against this decision. The outcome of Canaan for use as a public park. from different countries. The book, published by battles of the future. Progress on the Gores Pavilion ment. This work is being undertaken with care the Landmarks Subcommittee meeting, the Land A task force has aligned itself the NAi, is edited by Max Risselada and Dirk van This important exhibit might open in an to preserve all aspects of the building’s historic Use Committee meeting, and the floor of the with saving the Pool House and den Heuvel and includes essays by scholars and American venue in 2006. This would be an making it part of Irwin Park. In the late 1950s, Landis Gores, architecture, including its famous tetrahedron City Council, all of which occurred in late October, historians and a series of interviews conducted by important event in the States, particularly in light The building is expected to be one of the Harvard Five archi- ceiling, where the existing distribution ductwork, was a strong vote in favor of denying the designa- Clelia Tuscano with various Team 10 members. of recent discussions about “New Urbanism” renamed the Gores Pavilion for tects, designed a secondary cast into the concrete structure, will be cleaned tion. This is the fourth time since 1991—when The chosen time frame for the exhibit begins regarding the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast house on the New Canaan estate the Arts and serve as a museum in 1953 when the participants of Team 10 first after the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. and reused. The new thermally broken window the City Council became involved in approving and meeting place for graphic of Jack and Jane Irwin. Gores wall system, while duplicating the appearance and landmark designations—that the Council has voted met each other within the context of the CIAM The contrast could not be starker. The work of and Jack Irwin first knew each artists, a venue for small con- profiles of the original, will accommodate the cli- to revoke a landmark designation made by the congress and ends with the death of Jaap Bakema Team 10 was about a search for a truly new other at Princeton in the 1930s. certs, and a site for weddings mate of fifty percent relative humidity required by Commission, and the fifth time that a modification in 1981, the same year that the group stopped urbanism and architects that did not seek to be They served in the army during within Irwin Park. The pavilion modern museums. to a designation has been made. will also stand as a symbol of organizing meetings. The “core members” of pastry chefs confectioning a new past. World War II and were colleagues Team 10 were Jaap Bakema and Aldo van Eyck in the Army Reserve after the The renovation will also restore the open plan the “moderns”—some 60-plus (The Netherlands), Giancarlo de Carlo (Italy), More information about the exhibit may be found war. Irwin was a lawyer who characteristic of the original building by removing —Toni DiMaggio modern movement houses—that Georges Candilis and Shadrach Woods (France), on the website of the Netherlands Architecture later became the Ambassador to miscellaneous offices and other facilities added are a significant part of New France and the Undersecretary over the years and by making use of a new ver- Canaan’s history. and Alison and Peter Smithson (England). Other Institute at www.nai.nl. of State. When he married Jane sion of Kahn’s original free-standing “pogo walls,” Friends of the Gores Pavilion participants included Ralph Erskine (Sweden), panels for the display of art. An open exterior José Coderch (Spain), Oswald Ungers (Germany), —Theo Prudon
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 8 DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 9 Chapter News BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT are being actively solicited. Support for the project is surfac- DOCOMOMO-member ing from local and not-so-local Virginia Smith’s new book persons who have an interest in affirming the New Canaan phe- Forms in Modernism—A Visual Set: nomenon within the development The Unity of Typography, Architecture, of American modern architecture and the Design Arts 1920s–1970s of the mid-century. There are was recently published by Watson- strange and wonderful details Guptill Publications. Smith, a typo- to resolve. For instance, not all graphic design expert and former town residents like the idea of university professor, believes that encouraging strangers to drive typography is the unifying discipline into their newest park to visit a through which we can understand, small museum. And although the analyze, and compare form in a wide building was designed and over- range of visual mediums. Her book seen by an architect handicapped sets out to prove that point by study- by polio whose wheelchair fit well ing forms—shapes and their varieties through the doorways, there are and permutations—in all of the design corners that do not meet current arts. Though the main focus of ADA code. However, the commit- the book is on architecture, it also tee working with the New Canaan looks at fashion, furniture, and Parks and Recreation Commission common artifacts. is confident that the pavilion will be saved and that it will become a center for “moderns” history in the area. Persons who would like to be involved with Friends of the Gores Pavilion or kept abreast of the project are invited to contact Lyn Chivvis at lchivvis@chivvis. com or Tom Nissley at [email protected]. When the task force meets in November it IXth International hopes to approve plans for res- toration and finalize a brochure DOCOMOMO describing the history and pos- sible uses of the pavilion in years Conference to come. Istanbul/Ankara, Turkey —Tom Nissley September 27-29, 2006
2 Columbus Circle “Shame Cam”
The 2 Columbus Circle “Shame Cam” will keep a 24/7 vigil on what could be the last days of 2 Columbus Circle. Friends of this unofficial, and therefore unpro- tected, landmark have mounted a web camera producing a live video stream of the building’s north facade available at www. save2columbus.org.
—Kathleen Randall
DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 10 Chapter News BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT DOCOMOMO-US CONFERENCES & EXHIBITS EVENTS are being actively solicited. Newsletter Staff Support for the project is surfac- DOCOMOMO-member The Americanization of Postwar Architecture Villa Tugenhat Exhibition ing from local and not-so-local Editor: Virginia Smith’s new book International Conference Georgia Tech College of Architecture persons who have an interest in Heidi Druckemiller affirming the New Canaan phe- Forms in Modernism—A Visual Set: University of Toronto Atlanta, GA nomenon within the development The Unity of Typography, Architecture, Assistant Editor: December 1–3, 2005 Ongoing of American modern architecture and the Design Arts 1920s–1970s Toni DiMaggio of the mid-century. There are was recently published by Watson- Sarasota Modernism and its Origins Raymon Loewy: strange and wonderful details Guptill Publications. Smith, a typo- Graphic Designer: Five-day Study Tour sponsored by the Designs for a Consumer Culture to resolve. For instance, not all graphic design expert and former Unjoo Noh Society of Architectural Historians Museum of Design town residents like the idea of university professor, believes that Sarasota, FL Atlanta, GA encouraging strangers to drive typography is the unifying discipline Contributors: February 19–23, 2006 Through December 23, 2005 into their newest park to visit a through which we can understand, Jon Buono (Contact Kathy Sturm for more information: [email protected]) small museum. And although the analyze, and compare form in a wide Robert M. Craig Extra Ordinary Every Day: building was designed and over- range of visual mediums. Her book Toni DiMaggio Heritage at Risk: The Bauhaus at the Busch-Reisinger seen by an architect handicapped sets out to prove that point by study- Greg Ibañez Preservation of 20th Century Architecture The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University by polio whose wheelchair fit well ing forms—shapes and their varieties David Fixler and World Heritage Cambridge, MA through the doorways, there are and permutations—in all of the design Kirk Huffaker International Conference Through December 31, 2005 corners that do not meet current arts. Though the main focus of Andy Kirk Moscow Architectural Institute ADA code. However, the commit- the book is on architecture, it also Gary Koll April 17–20, 2006 Prairie Skyscraper: tee working with the New Canaan looks at fashion, furniture, and Thomas F. Little Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower Tom Nissley Parks and Recreation Commission common artifacts. How to Preserve a Modern Utopia: Price Tower Arts Center is confident that the pavilion will Theo Prudon The Documentation and Sustainability of Bartlesville, OK be saved and that it will become Kathleen Randall Modern Heritage Through January 15, 2006 a center for “moderns” history in Lynette Stuhlmacher the area. Andrew Wolfram Case Study: Ataköy – Istanbul Persons who would like to Workshop in conjunction with the Julius Shulman, Modernity and Metropolis be involved with Friends of the IXth International DOCOMOMO Conference J. Paul Getty Museum Gores Pavilion or kept abreast of Istanbul, Turkey Los Angeles, CA the project are invited to contact Board Members September 23–26, 2006 Through January 22, 2006 Lyn Chivvis at lchivvis@chivvis. com or Tom Nissley at Theodore Prudon “Other Modernisms” Cityscapes Revealed: [email protected]. When the President IXth International DOCOMOMO Conference Highlights from the Collection task force meets in November it Istanbul / Ankara, Turkey National Building Museum IXth International Jorge Otero-Pailos hopes to approve plans for res- September 27–29, 2006 Washington, DC Vice-President toration and finalize a brochure DOCOMOMO Opening December 3, 2005 describing the history and pos- Hélène Lipstadt sible uses of the pavilion in years Conference Secretary to come. Mark Lee Istanbul/Ankara, Turkey Treasurer —Tom Nissley September 27-29, 2006 Laura Culberson Nnamdi Elleh 2 Columbus Circle Robert Meckfessel “Shame Cam” Nancy Levinson Brendan D. Moran The 2 Columbus Circle “Shame Andrew Phillips Cam” will keep a 24/7 vigil on Jack Pyburn what could be the last days of 2 Nina Rappaport Columbus Circle. Friends of this Barry Solar unofficial, and therefore unpro- Kazys Varnelis tected, landmark have mounted a web camera producing a live video stream of the building’s north facade available at www. save2columbus.org.
—Kathleen Randall
Board members who attended the recent meeting in Texas are pictured from left to right: Jack Pyburn, Mark Lee, Jon Buono, Nnamdi Elleh, Nancy Levinson, Barry Solar, Hélène Lipstadt, Robert Meckfessel, Theo Prudon, Patricia Cummings Laud (Kimball Art Museum), and Mark Gunderson. DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 10 DOCOMOMO-US/FALL 2005 11
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Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Louis Sullivan Cottage in Ocean Springs, MS in 1890. It was recently destroyed by Hurrican Katrina. (photo: Robert M. Craig)