Thomy Lafon Elementary School

Thomy Lafon Elementary School, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Looking a bit more closely at the plan of the Thomy Lafon School today. Preparing a lecture on case studies and will discuss Lafon in relation to Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye.

The form of the school has been obscured / marred by the unsympathetic addition of those horrible corrugated red hoods. But the plan better illustrates how this school functioned without corridors. The kindergarten wing was accessible by a playful ramp to the upper story. Beyond the kindergarten, classrooms were paired to share a staircase and toilet facilities. Architect Nathaniel C. Curtis described the plan as "the next logical step after the finger plan."* His partner architect Arthur Q. Davis describes the form as "a long, thin classroom wing, gracefully bent to avoid monotony."**

Here the pilotis serve many functions. The elevation of the classroom wing amplifies available play space which also offers shelter from rain and needed shade.This would also keep the classrooms cooler as there is a greater breeze at higher elevation. This is of course an old French Colonial tradition. Finally, the pilotis saved the classrooms from flooding post-Katrina. The Survivors Council fought to re-open the school in 2007, but to no avail. It has remained shuttered. The RSD has no plans for the reuse of the building. However, it could be adapted to serve the Harmony Oaks community as an early childhood center.


* In 1952 the first modern school was built in New Orleans, designed by Curtis and Davis. It was originally known as McDonogh 39 (later renamed Avery Alexander School) and followed a finger school plan with a series courtyards between the wings. School Facilities Plan called for its demolition. It was on the Louisiana Landmark's New Orleans Nine Most Endangered list in 2009, along with Lafon, Wheatley and Carver. Quote is from Talk About Architecture, Heard, Lemann and Klingman, 1993

** It Happened by Design, Arthur Q. Davis, 2009

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.

Save Wheatley School!

Charles Colbert's master work is threatened with imminent demolition at the hands of the Recovery School Board. Docomomo Louisiana considers Phillis Wheatley Elementary School one of the ten most important modernist buildings in the state. They have presented the RSD with a vision of how this important historic building can be renewed and adapted as part of a state-of the art school for Tremé. Now it's your turn.

Please submit comments in support of the preservation of the Wheatley School (Charles Colbert, 1955) and Lafon Elementary School (Curtis and Davis, 1954) to the FEMA 106 site.

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

Comments are due by September 30, 2009.

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.

Upcoming hearings on our Modernist Schools

Last Thursday the New Orleans City Council decided to change the date of the hearing on Hoffman Elementary to Thursday September 17, 2009 at 10 am City Council Chambers.

In addition, FEMA is hosting two Historic Preservation Public Meetings for Wheatley and Lafon.

FEMA plans to post information requesting public comments on the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism’s (CRT) website on or about September 15, 2009. This posting will include information about the proposed project and the upcoming historic preservation public meeting. The comment period will extend for 15 days and will close on or about September 30, 2009. This will allow the public with the opportunity to post comments for approximately one week following the public meeting and give the Section 106 consulting parties a reasonable opportunity to review the posted comments prior to the next Section 106 consultation meeting. FEMA will forward the link to the CRT website to you once the information is posted.

The Wheatley meeting is set for Tuesday, September 22, 2009 from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm at the Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center, 2200 Lafitte Street.

View Larger Map

The Lafon meeting is set for Wednesday, September 23, 2009 from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm at the C.J. Peete Community Center, 2514 Washington Street.

View Larger Map

Last day to comment on FEMA 106 review of public schools

Today is the last day to submit a public comment to FEMA on the schools effected by the master plan. http://www.crt.state.la.us/culturalassets/FEMA106/
Of the thirty schools built in the 1950s, only Mahalia Jackson Elementary is slated for renovation. All other modernist schools are slated for demolition.

The OPSB and BESE approval of the School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish (SFMPOP) may effectively erase mid-century modern school facilities from the cultural and architectural fabric of New Orleans. In the spring of 2008, DOCOMOMO Louisiana successfully nominated four of these schools to the Louisiana Landmarks Society Most Endangered List.

Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, 1955
2300 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
Charles R. Colbert, architect
Progressive Architecture citation

Thomy Lafon Elementary School, 1954
2601 Seventh Street, New Orleans, Louisiana
Curtis and Davis, architects
AIA Honor Award

George Washington Carver Junior - Senior High School, 1958
3059 Higgins Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana
Curtis and Davis, architects
Progressive Architecture First Design Award

McDonogh No. 39 / Avery Alexander Elementary School, 1952
5800 St. Roch Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
Goldstein, Parham and Labouisse; Freret and Wolf; Curtis and Davis, architects
First modern public school in New Orleans

In A Guide to the Architecture of New Orleans 1699-1959, Samuel Wilson, Jr. cites twenty-five of the thirty public schools which were built in the 1950s. Of these, ten have been demolished or are slated for demolition. Of the remaining fifteen mid-century modern schools, fourteen were assessed as "complete replacement." While many of these buildings were clearly damaged by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent inundation, some are merely victims of neglect. The Recovery School District is indeed in the process of recovering. However, that is not an excuse for the wholesale demolition of mid-century modern public school architecture from the city of New Orleans. These schools were designed with respect to the city's environment and the structures are ripe for sustainable rehabilitation and reuse.

All of the schools suffered from deferred maintenance and general neglect under the governance of the Orleans Parish School Board. The primary structures at the Phillis Wheatley and Thomy Lafon Elementary Schools are elevated, but ground floor adjunct spaces were inundated. McDonogh No. 39 /Avery Alexander and George Washington Carver Schools were heavily inundated. The school facilities were cleared of materials and have been boarded up. These buildings have all been vacant since the storm.
In 1952, Charles R. Colbert was named the architect in charge of the new Office of Planning and Construction. He initiated a study of physical plant and invited local firms to submit designs for review in architectural competitions for the new schools. Architecture firms involved in this mid-century modern renaissance include: August Perez and Associates; Burk, LeBreton and Lamantia; Charles R. Colbert; Curtis and Davis; Favrot, Reed, Mathes and Bergman; Freret and Wolf; Goldstein, Parham and Labouisse; and Ricciuti Associates. Several mid-century school facilities were recognized by national architecture journals and organizations for their design merit. The Thomy Lafon School (1954, Curtis & Davis) received the AIA Honor Award. Progressive Architecture recognized the Phillis Wheatley School (1955, Charles R. Colbert). In 1957 Curtis & Davis earned Progressive Architecture's highest honor, the First Design Award, in for the innovative George Washington Carver Junior and Senior High Schools. New Orleans mid-century modern architects were not just making headlines and history. They were creating models of a regional modernism, inventive designs which are of a place, by a place and for a place.

While McDonogh no. 39 / Avery Alexander Elementary School in Gentilly did not receive any awards, it was nonetheless recognized as a model facility and was the first modern school built in New Orleans. McDonogh No. 39 is a "finger school," with four lengths of classrooms connected at one end to a broad wing of administrative offices. The bands of classrooms are connected by an exterior corridor on one side. Both sides of the classrooms and the hall have operable aluminum and glass windows, so they benefit from ample natural light and ventilation. In addition, the hall also filters the sunlight from the classroom, reducing heat gain. Grassy courtyards fill the space between the stretches of classrooms. While the school flooded post-Katrina, the design of the structure is historically significant and appropriate to our climate. The architects of record were Goldstein, Parham and Labouisse, in association with Freret & Wolf, and Curtis & Davis.

The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School is by far one of the most compelling monuments of the era. It is the culmination of a series of design innovations produced by Charles R. Colbert, one of the primary instigators of change in the public school facilities. Colbert describes how the formal structure of the Phillis Wheatley School was informed by the desire to create additional play space for the children on a relatively compact urban site.

"The city building code was interpreted to allow Wheatley to be a one-floor structure. Because of this decision, the design could combine the advantages of an exposed steel structure, without fireproofing, while concentrating its reduced weight on pile supports. The entire classroom structure was raised above grade to allow the enlargement of a diminutive play area and to create a play yard. Conventional post-and-beam construction would have created a field of hazardous columns throughout the play area while the use of the full effective depth of the cantilevered steel trusses eliminated most of these obstructions. The entire classroom structure was housed within twelve shop fabricated trusses and the twenty-two classrooms were located within this simple floor-to-ceiling structural envelope. Secondary steel joists spanned from truss to truss and supported the horizontal roof membrane, while floors consisted of six inch deep double tongue and groove wood decking that spanned between trusses. The truss, better recognized in bridges, thus became more than the support for a roof system. This old and widely used structural assembly allowed efficient shop fabrication, simple assembly, and a reduced job site construction period. The raison d'etre, to free the play yard, developed into something more.

The result was stunning. Airy, light-filled classrooms, elevated from the street, gave the effect of a modern tree-house, an appropriate and poetic setting for a child's classroom. The elevation of the Phillis Wheatley School protected the classrooms from the post-Katrina inundation of the city. Sadly the building is a victim of decades of neglect. The facility does require some intervention. The steel trusses could certainly benefit from a coat of paint. Also, the clear glass was replaced long ago with cheaper opaque plexi-glass panels. Improvements in glass and automated HVAC make it possible to renovate Wheatley to perform better than originally.

Both Phillis Wheatley and Thomy Lafon Elementary Schools were built on raised piers that saved them from the floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina. The open space underneath the elevated structure helps cool the building in our climate. This structural conceit is borrowed from the French Colonial tradition. Breezes naturally cool an elevated structure. In the case of Wheatley and Lafon, the elevated structures also created a wealth of covered play space, protected from the elements. Both schools were built with a sensitivity to local environmental conditions. The exterior walls were glass in Wheatley, mostly glass in Lafon. This gave the children new perspectives, as well as an abundance of natural light and ventilation. It is tragic that so many of the later generation of school buildings were designed as nearly windowless detention cells.
Colbert encouraged his fellow architects to consider the "emotional and spiritual needs of children" in their design of school buildings.

The George Washington Carver Junior-Senior High School was praised as a model school for the nation. Integrating a junior and senior high school on the same campus as an elementary school allowed the schools to share some common facilities.

The striking design of the auditorium with its concrete vault and hinged bridge-like buttresses helped establish Curtis and Davis as architects on the international stage. Progressive Architecture's recognition of this school with its highest design award in 1958 is a tribute to the architectural quality of Carver High School as well as the design reforms set in place by Charles Colbert.
Buildings dating from the modernist era are currently entering a period of extreme vulnerability. Their architectural and mechanical systems are reaching the end of their life cycle and are in need of re-investment. The clean and clear modernist vision is likewise marred by neglect and unsympathetic alterations during the past decades. While 19th century buildings sometimes become more romantic as they decay, the results of deferred maintenance on mid-century modern buildings are unflattering at best. In addition, the modernist style has yet to reach an era of broad understanding and appreciation by the general public. In New Orleans, the economic argument for demolition and new construction inevitably prevails. We need to preserve the most significant buildings of the twentieth century for our city's future.

Continued education and advocacy for these structures will raise awareness of their significance, quality and importance to the architectural and social history of New Orleans. Increased acceptance of modern buildings as legitimate structures to be maintained, rehabilitated, preserved and restored will help eliminate the threat of demolition. Conservation and re-use of existing buildings is also a widely acknowledged strategy for the increased overall sustainability of a city's building stock.

Modern and contemporary architecture has been seen by some as having had a negative impact. In particular, historic cities that lost significant urban fabric through urban renewal have been averse to the buildings that came in its place. While there has been opposition to their retention, attitudes have been changing. There is a growing appreciation for their role in the urban fabric as a record of diverse values and cultural movements.

New Orleans' current population is approximately half of its 1960 population, so there is less need for so many facilities. It appears that the plan is to clear the lots while FEMA funds are available for demolition and rebuild as necessary. However, in that process, struggling neighborhoods are deprived of a potential community center, artists' studio complex or musicians' practice space. These buildings are ripe for adaptive re-use and they belong to the people of New Orleans. Their structures are solidly engineered, designed in sympathy with our climate, and have become part of our cultural and historic fabric.

The renovation of a modernist school that was built in a moment of sheer optimism can serve as a symbol for the city's rebirth. We can recover the future from the past.

Francine Stock
Visual Resource Curator, Tulane University, School of Architecture, New Orleans

FEMA 106 public comment period on the Schools

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

The fifteen day FEMA 106 public comment period on the schools affected by the School Facilities Master Plan of Orleans Parish begins December 2, 2008.

The Master Plan was approved by the OPSB and BESE last month. Mid-century modern school sites which are slated for landbanking or demolition include the four recognized by Louisiana Landmarks Most Endangered list: Phillis Wheatley Elementary, Thomy Lafon Elementary, Avery Alexander Elementary and Carver High School.

Adapt old schools to new uses

Thomy Lafon Elementary School (THREATENED), 2601 Seventh Street, Curtis and Davis, architects, AIA Honor Award, 1954. Photo: Frank Lotz Miller. Copyright: Tulane Libraries, Special Collections, Southeastern Architectural Archive.

Today the Thomy Lafon School sits abandoned, high and dry, in the center of what was once the Magnolia / CJ Peete Housing Development. The School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish does not provide for its renovation and does not indicate future plans for any school facility on that site. The building itself could be adapted to other uses: a community resource center, an arts and cultural center, or a small business incubator. New Orleans has a history of this type of adaptive reuse of old school sites. The McDonogh No. 10 School in central city has been redeveloped into Lindy's Place, a residence for women in transition. If school facilities are no longer needed by the school district, they can still assist in the recovery and rebirth of their neighborhoods in other ways. Today's Times-Picayune features a letter to the editor from Wayne Troyer, Architect.

Re: "Building boom," Page 1, Aug. 17.

As we progress with the rebuilding of our public schools, we must consider not only the immediate needs of the Recovery School District and Orleans Parish School Board but the long-term goals of neighborhoods affected by the master plan.

With the extent of demolition and replacement proposed, it is imperative that as a community, we step back and evaluate the long-term loss of the culture, diversity and history that these structures represent before they are torn down and hauled to the landfill.

Complete replacement in lieu of renovations and adaptive reuse is simply reckless and immoral.

Land-banking (demolition of existing buildings, seeding the land, fencing it off and then waiting for development sometime in the future) is not a strategy for strengthening neighborhoods.

Renovation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of school buildings can become symbolic of the city's ability to recover and renew itself.

Demolition and replacement show that we have lost respect for our history.

The clean slate approach, at this time of scarcity and escalating cost of building materials, is simply wrong.

Wayne Troyer recently worked with Vincent James Associates Architects on the renovation of Tulane's University Center, also by Curtis Davis, into the new Lavin-Bernick Center.

the child is the monument

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

Dozens of public school buildings in Orleans Parish are threatened by demolition or "complete replacement" in the preliminary School Facilities Master Plan.

Tonight (Thursday 7.10) there is a Facilities Master Plan Community Update Meeting at the Dryades YMCA, 2000 Philips St. @ 6:30 PM.

My concern for the fate of our Modernist monuments does not supercede my concern for the fate of our children. In fact, they are entwined. Charles Colbert, architect was the original designer of the new school building program initiated in 1950. He encouraged his fellow architects to consider the "emotional and spiritual needs of children" in their design of school buildings. "The child is the monument," he wrote.

Two of unoccupied school facilities, Thomy Lafon Elementary and Phillis Wheatley Elementary, were built on raised piers which saved them from the flood. The initial design was driven by a desire to create ample play space protected from the elements on an urban site. They were designed in a period of sheer optimism and growth. The conservation of these structures can serve as symbols of the city's rebirth, as we recover the future from the past.

Award winning school design

The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School is by far one of the most compelling monuments of the era. It is the culmination of a series of design innovations produced by Charles R. Colbert, one of the primary instigators of change in the public school facilities.*

Colbert describes how the formal structure of the Phillis Wheatley School was informed by the desire to create additional play space for the children on a relatively compact urban site.

“The city building code was interpreted to allow Wheatley to be a one-floor structure. Because of this decision, the design could combine the advantages of an exposed steel structure, without fireproofing, while concentrating its reduced weight on pile supports. The entire classroom structure was raised above grade to allow the enlargement of a diminutive play area and to create a play yard. Conventional post-and-beam construction would have created a field of hazardous columns throughout the play area while the use of the full effective depth of the cantilevered steel trusses eliminated most of these obstructions. The entire classroom structure was housed within twelve shop fabricated trusses and the twenty-two classrooms were located within this simple floor-to-ceiling structural envelope. Secondary steel joists spanned from truss to truss and supported the horizontal roof membrane, while floors consisted of six inch deep double tongue and groove wood decking that spanned between trusses. The truss, better recognized in bridges, thus became more than the support for a roof system. This old and widely used structural assembly allowed efficient shop fabrication, simple assembly, and a reduced job site construction period. The raison d’etre, to free the play yard, developed into something more."**

The result was stunning. Airy, light-filled classrooms, elevated from the street, gave the effect of a modern tree-house, an appropriate and poetic setting for a child’s classroom. The elevation of the Phillis Wheatley School protected the classrooms from the post-Katrina inundation of the city. Sadly the building is a victim of decades of neglect. The facility does require some intervention. The steel trusses could certainly benefit from a coat of paint. Also, the clear glass was replaced long ago with cheaper opaque plexi-glass panels. Improvements in glass and automated HVAC make it possible to renovate Wheatley to perform better than originally.

Both Phillis Wheatley and Thomy Lafon Elementary Schools were built on raised piers that saved them from the floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina. The open space underneath the elevated structure helps cool the building in our climate. This structural conceit is borrowed from the French Colonial tradition. Breezes naturally cool an elevated structure. In the case of Wheatley and Lafon, the elevated structures also created a wealth of covered play space, protected from the elements. Both schools were built with a sensitivity to local environmental conditions. The exterior walls were glass in Wheatley, mostly glass in Lafon. This gave the children new perspectives, as well as an abundance of natural light and ventilation. It is tragic that so many of the later generation of school buildings were designed as nearly windowless detention cells.*** Colbert encouraged his fellow architects to consider the “emotional and spiritual needs of children” in their design of school buildings.****

The George Washington Carver Junior-Senior High School was praised as a model school for the nation. Integrating a junior and senior high school on the same campus as an elementary school allowed the schools to share some common facilities.***** The striking design of the auditorium with its concrete vault and hinged bridge-like buttresses helped establish Curtis and Davis as architects on the international stage. Progressive Architecture’s recognition of this school with its highest design award in 1958 is a tribute to the architectural quality of Carver High School as well as the design reforms set in place by Charles Colbert.******


_________________________________________________________________________________
* Colbert previously designed McDonogh 36 / Mahalia Jackson Elementary School (1954) and the Hoffman Elementary School (1954). Sol Rosenthal was the architect of record. Hoffman uses a truss structure to span the roof and McDonogh 36 uses a truss structure to span an elevated corridor.
** Idea: the Shaping Force, Charles R. Colbert, pp. 73-74.
*** See: Cohen High School
**** “Today’s Criteria of Design for School Buildings,” 18 Talks, Charles R. Colbert, pp. 117
***** Curtis and Davis also designed Helen Sylvania Edwards Elementary School on the site. Edwards Elementary was approved for demolition in Dember 2007. See: http://blog.nola.com/news_impact/2007/12/masterplan122007.gif
****** Colbert first articulated the idea of the “school village” in 1952. Idea: The Shaping Force, p. 48.

WHY ARE THESE PROPERTIES SIGNIFICANT?

In 1952, Charles R. Colbert was named the architect in charge of the new Office of Planning and Construction. He initiated a study of physical plant and invited local firms to submit designs for review in architectural competitions for the new schools.* Architecture firms involved in this mid-century modern renaissance include: August Perez and Associates; Burk, LeBreton and Lamantia; Charles R. Colbert; Curtis and Davis; Favrot, Reed, Mathes and Bergman; Freret and Wolf; Goldstein, Parham and Labouisse; and Ricciuti Associates.** Several mid-century school facilities were recognized by national architecture journals and organizations for their design merit. The Thomy Lafon School (1954, Curtis & Davis) received the AIA Honor Award.*** Progressive Architecture recognized the Phillis Wheatley School (1955, Charles R. Colbert). In 1957 Curtis & Davis earned Progressive Architecture’s highest honor, the First Design Award, in for the innovative George Washington Carver Junior and Senior High Schools. New Orleans mid-century modern architects were not just making headlines and history. They were creating models of a regional modernism, inventive designs which are of a place, by a place and for a place. While McDonogh no. 39 Elementary School in Gentilly did not receive any awards, it was nonetheless recognized as a model facility and was the first modern school built in New Orleans.****
_________________________________________________________________
satellite photo of George Washingon Carver Junior and Senior High Schools, Google Map

* The alliance between Charles Colbert of the Tulane School of Architecture, and Jacqueline Leonhard of the Orleans Parish School Board was profiled in Time Magazine in 1953. Through their efforts a plan was developed and embraced to create “ultra modern” schools in New Orleans. “Mrs. Four-to-One” Time, March 16, 1953.
** A Guide to the Architecture of New Orleans 1699-1959 by Samuel Wilson, Jr.
*** In the same year, Curtis & Davis received the AIA Merit Award for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Elementary School. This school and the St. Frances Cabrini Church (Curtis & Davis, 1959) were demolished in 2007.
**** New Orleans Public School Review, 1950