All I want for Christmas is the Saints in the Super Bowl!

Superdome under construction, Curtis and Davis, architects, courtesy the Tulane School of Architecture New Orleans Virtual Archive. http://NOVA.tulane.edu


And all I want for my birthday is to go see the Saints in the Dome, though I admit tickets are a bit rich. I may have to play the lottery for that one. In the meantime, check out Kermit's Christmas list courtesy Basin Street Records and WWL.

PechaKucha Night :: New Orleans :: Volume 3

Meditation IV, originally uploaded by francinestock.

PechaKucha Night : New Orleans : Volume 3
Thursday October 29th, 2009
Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center [map]
Doors 7pm / Start 8:20pm (20:20)
FREE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Music by DJ Musa
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Volume 3 Presenters:
Francine Stock / artist
Justin Shiels / Curious Tribe
Luis Quinones / installation
Zach Youngerman / Groundwork NOLA
Stephen Collier / artist
[BREAK]
Aubrey Edwards + Alison Fensterstock
Alex Nassar / photography
Simon Dorfman / Gumbo Labs
Robin Wallis Atkinson / curator
David Gregor / architect

Times Picayune :: World Monuments Fund 2010 Watch

Phillis Wheatley School, 2300 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LA. Charles R. Colbert, architect, 1954.

Frank Lotz Miller, photographer, source: "Idea: The Shaping Force" Uploaded by regional.modernism

The glass-and-steel Wheatley School, designed in 1954 by architect Charles Colbert, had classrooms on the second floor and a play area underneath, shielded from sun and rain. It was "progressive for a school facility at the time," the fund says. "The building was critically acclaimed and its design was exhibited internationally. It is a valuable example of regional modernism in a city most noted for its 18th and 19th century architecture."

read more....
World Monuments Fund Watch List includes two New Orleans Sites, Bruce Eggler, Times-Picayune, Friday October, 9, 2009

New Orleans magazine :: paying attention

Mollere Summer House Albert Ledner, architect, 1959. Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Uploaded by regional.modernism .

New Orleans mid-century modern architecture – typified by post-World War II design innovations, geometric forms and smooth lines – doesn’t get much notice compared to the courtyards and carriageways of the French Quarter or the Victorian showboats of the Garden District. But that’s starting to change.

read more....

Paying attention to modern architecture
Ian McNulty, New Orleans magazine, October 2009

Proposal to rehabilitate Phillis Wheatley Elementary School

DOCOMOMO. US. Louisiana

NPR :: New Orleans School Among World Endangered Sites

Mystery Modern :: Lost and Found!

"Social Hall" of Methodist Church in Ponchartrain Park, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Back in June a blog reader sent me a jpg of this unmarked photo looking for help. I posted the image here and in my flickr. It took three months, but we now have a positive identification.

This is the "Social Hall" of Bethany United Methodist Church in Pontchartrain Park, 4533 Mendez Street. google street view

Bethany had eleven feet of standing water after Hurricane Katrina. It was totally gutted and renovated. The church reopened on October 22, 2006.

New Orleans Church reopens; "blessed, beautiful' after the storm

A very special thanks to Carol Reese for helping us identify this structure. Prof. Reese recently served as co-editor for the Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods Landscape Manual, a joint project of Longue Vue House and Gardens and the Pontilly Disaster Collaborative.

Thomy Lafon Elementary School :: comments due by midnight!

Thomy Lafon Elementary School (THREATENED), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

You can still add your comments to support the preservation and adaptive reuse of the Wheatley and Lafon Schools.

http://www.crt.state.la.us/culturalassets/fema106/

Below is my statement on Lafon.

I am continually floored that the RSD wants to demolish the Wheatley and Lafon schools which DID NOT FLOOD! Eighty percent of the city was under water - and yet these elementary schools were high and dry. In addition, in the case of Lafon the RSD has no intention of building on this site. This is a historic building which needs to be made available on the market for re-development with historic tax credits. The Lafon School is ripe for a sustainable adaptive re-use. The school was designed to address the extremities of our climate - in deference to our high heat and risk of high water.

The new housing development at CJ Peete could benefit from a facility which could function like the Colton Studio. This would foster greater creativity in this community rich with culture. And the studio artists could also offer community services by teaching after school art programs to the youth in the neighborhood.

Regional Modernism needs YOU!

Phillis Wheatley School needs YOU!, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

NOW is the time for all good architects, preservationists and active citizens to come to the aid of the Wheatley and Lafon Schools threatened with imminent demolition by the so-called Recovery School District. Submit public comments in support of preservation. Deadline Wednesday 9.30.2009.
www.crt.state.la.us/culturalassets/fema106/

My statement on Wheatley follows. Statement on Lafon coming soon.

I support the preservation and adaptive reuse of the Philis Wheatley Elementary School, the master work of the architect Charles R. Colbert, and one of the most important mid-century modern buildings in the state of Louisiana. I encourage the planners and architects of the Recovery School District to open their hearts and minds to consider the renovation of this historic structure. I would like to remind them that the Wheatley School has been deemed eligible to National Register of Historic Places. This means tax credits and good karma! The Wheatley School can be saved AND the Treme neighborhood can have a new school at the same time. It's not an either/or proposition. Docomomo Louisiana has presented the RSD with a proposal for how to address issues of program on this site by adding a 3-story structure (traditional scale of most neighborhood schools) connected via elevated passage to the original and renovated school building. Architects are educated to solve problems with creativity and technology. In the past fifty years, engineers have developed numerous advances is glazing technologies (impact resistant, energy efficient, any range of translucency you desire). Architects can solve any perceived negative condition and maintain the luminous spirit of the school. Give the children of the Tremé the opportunity to witness the resurrection of an abandoned building. Give them the opportunity to see the future reborn. This piece of architecture is a gem - a true diamond in the rough. Let it shine.

Lafon Elementary School :: public meeting

Lafon School (threatened), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The FEMA 106 public meeting on Wheatley was quite interesting, at times enervating but upon reflection, a small win for the preservationists.

Those who spoke in favor of preservation offered numerous solutions, ideas, and offers for continued discussion. DOCOMOMO Louisiana presented historic drawings and and photographs of the Wheatley School. They also presented a proposal for preservation of the school by integrating it with an additional 3-story facility on the site. While the RSD claimed the program did not meet all of their requirements, they are yet to show the community any visualizations for a new building or integration with the existing building. Instead, they keep suggesting outside architects need to do more pro bono design work for them.

You can still take action Wednesday night by attending the FEMA Historic Preservation Public Meeting for the Lafon Elementary School 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm at the C.J. Peete Center 2514 Washington Avenue.

Of course, you can also submit your public comments online.

http://www.crt.state.la.us/culturalassets/fema106/

THANKS!

p.s.
A little backgrounder... RSD does not intend to put a school on the Lafon site. They just want to demolish this historic building to provide clear green space for a developer.

New State Office Building (1957-2009)

New State Office Building (1957-2009)), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

August Perez & Associates. Goldstein, Parham and Labouisse. Favrot, Reed, Mathes & Bergman.
demolished.
image source: 1954-55 Annual Report of the Mayor.
http://NOVA.tulane.edu


take a minute to read today's t-p :: Flood damaged state office building, state Supreme Court finally demolished

"Finally" demolished? And yet the close of the article admits the building has been demolished even AFTER the plan for its replacement structure is no longer in place. It's obscene.

"However, the need for a new building evaporated when the state and Saints owner Tom Benson agreed on plans for the state to lease office space in the nearby Dominion Tower building. The state now plans to leave the sites of the former office building and Supreme Court building vacant for the foreseeable future."

Unfortunately our foreseeable future still lacks a leader with a VISION.

Preserving the Recent Past :: Lecture and Panel Discussion

Pre-cast concrete space frame system. Pre-cast units held together with post-tensioned steel cables. Simon Bolivar Ave. Central City. Albert C. Ledner, architect. from: Talk about Architecture, Lemann, Heard and Klingman

Tuesday, September 15, 2009
6:30 p.m. Cash bar
7 p.m. Lecture and panel discussion

At the PRC
923 Tchoupitoulas St.
(in the Warehouse District)

This exclusive event for PRC and Ogden members will illustrate the value and integrity of architecture from our recent past.

Speaker:
Arthur Q. Davis, born in 1920 in New Orleans, is a modern architect whose long and prolific career has earned fame and respect both locally and around the world. He studied under masters at Tulane University's School of Architecture as well as Harvard University. He has been a pioneer in the fields of modern architecture and design in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast; and although he is internationally renowned, he remains deeply rooted in the culture of his native city.

Moderator:
J. Richard Gruber is director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. He and Arthur Q. Davis co-wrote a book, It Happened by Design: The Life and Work of Arthur Q. Davis, published by University Press of Mississippi in April 2009.

Panelists:
- Jack Davis, editor, writer, and board member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Albert Ledner, modernist architect and former apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright
- Wayne Troyer, award-winning architect and board member of the PRC
- Elliot Perkins, executive director of the Historic District Landmarks Commission

Presented by the PRC's Membership Education Committee, chaired by Julie Habetz.

$5 - open to members of the PRC and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

PRC memberships start at $35 per year - join onsite!

For more information, contact Suzanne at 504.636.3399 or sblaum@prcno.org.

"Modern New Orleans :: One of the finest and most progressive cities in the United States"

What a gem! Found this brilliant clip today on YouTube via CoolIris. This short film includes fantastic aerial views and streetscapes of the River, downtown (the "Parisian" Cafe du Monde) uptown (Tulane - and some grand "suburban" homes) Shushan Airport and Canal Street, Roosevelt Hotel, Charity Hospital, fabulous cars, men in suits and hats. A must see. Unfortunately, I can't embed the video here, but click on the icon and it will take you to YouTube. Enjoy!

Hoffman Elementary (yes we can!)

Hoffman Elementary (THREATENED), Section showing sun control and ventilation. 2622 Prieur Street, New Orleans, LA. Sol Rosenthal and Charles Colbert, architects, 1948-1954. Image source = Idea: The Shaping Force. SFMPOP Preliminary assessment: "complete replacement"
originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

While it's raining outside, the sun is shining on Hoffman Elementary and the residents of the Hoffman Triangle neighborhood. The Recovery School District has been seeking a demolition permit for Hoffman Elementary, even though the RSD currently does not have funds to rebuild a school on that site.

Yesterday the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee (NCDC) voted to DENY the RSD a demolition permit for Hoffman. The Hoffman structure is well-designed for our extreme climate and could definitely be adapted with contemporary advances in glazing and given a new life. Need inspiration? Look no further. A zeitgeist school design exists in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Munkegaard's School was designed by architect Arne Jacobsen 1952-1956. The Danes have taken good care of the school and it is still in use and fresh as the day it was born.

Thank you NCDC for returning a bit of faith in good government to this nearly weary warrior.

Comments on Wheatley coming soon...

Sacra Conversazione

DECONSTRUCTION: AN IMPRESSION OF VANISHING TREASURES
new paintings by Nell C. Tilton
June 6-30, 2009

Carol Robinson Gallery, 840 Napoleon Avenue (at Magazine Street)

Statement by the Artist

The focus of this exhibit is a collection of abstract paintings that recall elements of specifically two demolished buildings - one destroyed before Hurricane Katrina, the Rivergate Convention Center, and one demolished after and because of Katrina, St. Frances Cabrini Church in Gentilly.

My emphasis in these paintings is to capture the essence of the buildings and to represent the feeling of turmoil, destruction and a sense of loss for those creations by using form, color, value, and textural properties of the paint.

These structures were treasures because they were the result of a vision, a collaboration of many talented artists and craftsmen expressing their dream and creativity, special skills, abilities and brilliance through their art. They were places for a community to gather, exchange ideas, worship, practice commerce, or come together and celebrate. They were treasures because of the innovative designs and engineering feats that were revolutionary at the time of their construction in the 1960's.

My father, Nathaniel C. "Buster" Curtis, Jr. was an architect, artist, and historian. He loved people, his family, his heritage and his work. He was the Chief Project Architect and Director as well as the designer of the Rivergate Convention Center and held the same title for the Louisiana Superdome. He was a gentle, humble man who was very talented and proud of his accomplishments. He died in 1997, almost two years to the day after the demolition of the Rivergate began. This exhibit is dedicated to his memory and his love of architecture.

Arthur Q. Davis: Legacy of a Modern Architect

Arthur Q. Davis, FAIA, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

press release: Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Arthur Q. Davis: Legacy of a Modern Architect
Exhibition highlighting local architect’s career and debut of his new biography

In 1947, a time in which few New Orleans-based architects were advancing modern architecture, Arthur Q. Davis and his partner, Nathanial C. Curtis, established their practice in the city. The Curtis and Davis firm was best known for designing the Louisiana Superdome and modernist landmarks in New Orleans, including the New Orleans Rivergate Exhibition Center; the New Orleans Public Library; Royal Orleans Hotel; St. Frances Cabrini Church; the Caribe Building; the Automotive Life Building; private residences (including Davis’ own); Thomy Lafon Elementary School; and the George Washington Carver Elementary, Junior and Senior High schools. In later decades, under his Arthur Q. Davis, FAIA, and Partners firm, he designed the New Orleans Arena, a new town project in Indonesia and numerous other projects.

On April 23, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art will open the exhibition “Arthur Q. Davis: Legacy of a Modern Architect,” an overview of Davis’ long and illustrious career. The exhibition will showcase images, drawings and related archival materials to create a cohesive look at Davis’ life and work. The exhibition will be on view until July 19, 2009.

“This exhibition and the related publication seek to increase the public’s awareness of his legacy, and that of his architectural partners, while also focusing attention on the significance of many of these now endangered modernist landmarks,” says Ogden Museum of Southern Art Director J. Richard Gruber.

Arthur Q. Davis at Exhibition Opening and Booksigning on Thurs. April 23

Davis will be at the Ogden on Thursday, April 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (during Ogden After Hours) to open the exhibition and sign copies of his recently released book “It Happened by Design: The Life and Work of Arthur Q. Davis” (University Press of Mississippi/Ogden Museum of Southern Art). Davis’ co-author, Ogden director J. Richard Gruber, will also be at the event. (Ogden After Hours is the Ponderosa Stomp Preview featuring Bobby Rush.)

About Arthur Q. Davis, FAIA
Arthur Q. Davis was born in 1920 in New Orleans. After graduating from Isidore Newman School, he entered Tulane University’s School of Architecture at age 17. Davis met his wife, Mary Henriette Wineman Davis, while he attended Tulane and she—a native of Detroit, Michigan—attended Newcomb College. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then advanced his architectural studies at Harvard University under noted masters Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer before working with Eero Saarinen. As a partner in the firms including Curtis and Davis, and more recently Arthur Q. Davis, FAIA, and Partners, Davis worked on a number of notable projects in United States and abroad, including Vietnam, Aruba, Scotland, Indonesia, and Berlin, Germany. Today, at age 89, Davis is still active in the community.

DOCOMOMO New Orleans map

DOCOMOMO New Orleans map, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

This map was created with Loc.alize.us. It shows some of the buildings which DOCOMOMO Louisiana intends to submit to the national registry.

NOVA.tulane.edu

Ponchartrain Expressway (1958), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The Tulane School of Architecture is pleased to announce the presence of the New Orleans Virtual Archive online. This project was conceived during the Exodus of 2005. In June of 2006 we were awarded a generous grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts to preserve and create universal access to our slide collection of New Orleans. Nearly 3000 slides that were taken by faculty, staff and students over the past sixty years have now been digitized and catalogued in LUNA.

Special thanks our partners at Tulane Technology Services who have provided server support and to all who have contributed to this collection.

http://NOVA.tulane.edu

Preservation Matters: Keynote address by Robert Ivy

On January 31, 2009 the Tulane School of Architecture hosted the Preservation Matters symposium organized by Dean Kenneth Schwartz. In this introduction he outlines the two main purposes of the symposium. "First, to focus on preservation education issues and the future of preservation in an open exploratory way, while inviting everyone interested in this topic... to focus on what this means to Tulane University as a national research university in this amazing city. . . . Second is to recognize the extraordinary contributions by Gene Cizek - the contributions he has made throughout his distinguished career at Tulane as Director of Preservation Studies." Dean Schawrtz also introduces the panel, Erica Avrami, Daniel Bluestone, Eugene Darwin Cizek, Ned Kaufman, Stanley Lowe, Jorge Rigau and the Keynote speaker, Robert Ivy.

The editor of Architectural Record since 1996, Robert Ivy holds a Masters in Architecture from Tulane University and is a former student of Gene Cizek. He provides an overview of Cizek's extensive accomplishments and legacy. Ivy looks forward to discuss challenges to preservation in China and London. He then looks back and frames the history of architectural preservation in the context of iconic buildings that focus on a significant person, event or place.

Ivy reminds us of the rich history of preservation in New Orleans. (In preservation we are progressive!) In 1925 New Orleans was the first city to pass an ordinance to create a historic district - the Vieux Carré. He also recalls the dedication of citizens like Elizabeth Werlein of New Orleans and the role of Tulane University in the growth of our local movement. He reviews the advances made by Tulane alumni in the field.

• Richard Koch (1910) "the progenitor of the Historic American Building Survey in New Orleans"
• Samuel Wilson (1931) "scholarly, authoritative, erudite and accurate"
• A. Hays Town (1926) "headed HABS in Mississippi....and produced the first drawings that HABS produced"
• Bernard Lemann (1926) "created an inventory of historic sites...part of the 1967 Community Renewal Program....mentor to generations of Tulanians"

In the Vieux Carré: A General Statement Lemann voiced the importance of recognizing the tout ensemble - the relationship of the part to the whole. This marks the evolution of an attitude of preserving individual buildings to one of preserving districts and a more comprehensive understanding of place.

Ivy reviews the history of legislation which enabled the growth of the movement. He discusses the National Trust's Main Street program as transformative - linking commercial revitalization to the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods. He credits New Orleans as a model community for preservation activity due to the combination of the high number of National Register Districts, efforts of the Preservation Resource Center, the enabling legislation and the commitment of individuals. Ivy's "democratization of preservation" is then the expansion of the dialogue and activity to a larger audience, "achieving the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people." He poses the question of representation. "Who is in charge here? Who guards the legacy? Who tells the story?"

Modernism, as exemplified locally in the Phillis Wheatley School, generally presents a problem to preservation. After the Second World War there was tremendous need for new buildings now. Some were excellent, worthy of care and recognition, while "others merely filled space." They present technical challenges due to the degradation of the physical fabric. They are often overlooked due to an "architectural myopia" - a condition that disables us from appreciating that which is too close.

Regarding sustainability, Ivy notes that the embedded energy of buildings is the greatest contributor to carbon emissions in the world. The percentage ranges by study -33% to 48% - more than transportation! This is increased by the energy required for demolition, hauling rubble and storing it somewhere "as a problem for the next generation."

New Orleans' architecture is generally well suited to its climate, utilizing convection, understanding how to pull a cooling breeze across a room. Extended roof lines shield walls from intense sun and rain. (see: Hoffman School) This responsiveness to site needs to be recognized and LEED needs to integrate its standards with preservation. Ivy suggests we are approaching a renewed Urbanism, an "Age of the City." He challenges the panel and audience to consider the following:

• What does Preservation mean now and for the future?
• Who is it for?
• What is the role of archaeology, science, economy, sustainability?
  

Special thanks to Tulane Technology Services for editing the video and hosting it on the Tulane YouTube channel.

Sign the National Trust's Petition to Save Charity

Health Care -- Of the People, By the People, originally uploaded by Preservation Resource Center, Advocacy Department.

TAKE ACTION - Sign the National Trust's Petition to the Louisiana State Legislature

sign it here

The petition reads:

On November 25, 2008, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Louisiana State University announced the selection of the Mid-City neighborhood for the site of their new hospitals, in spite of the fact that the State Legislature has not yet finalized plans for funding for the LSU Hospital. The current plan would needlessly destroy the historic neighborhood around Charity Hospital, where residents have been rebuilding and restoring their community since Hurricane Katrina.

We, the undersigned, applaud the Legislature’s intention to have a hearing and urge consideration of ALL the alternatives for bringing quality health care back to New Orleans, including alternatives that rehab the historic Charity Hospital into a state of the art medical facility an option that would be both faster and cheaper and much less destructive than the plan proposed by LSU and the VA.

Thanks PreservationNation.