Groovy New Year

originally seen on moderndesigninterior

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.

Old News :: Good News

Last month members of the board of Docomomo Louisiana presented a slideshow to the City Council Special Housing Committee at the request of Council Member Stacy Head. We were joined by Eliot Perkins, Executive Director of the Historic District Landmarks Commission. Head had requested this meeting to learn more about our mission and challenges. Ms. Head noted that seeing images of the buildings in better days helped her recognize their significance. She recommended we take our slide show on the road and present to neighborhood groups.

Update on Whitney Bank :: The City Council voted to uphold the HDLC designation as a historic landmark.


Update on Wheatley School :: The World Monuments Fund Watch listing has brought significant attention. Its possible we may have found the right fit for adaptive reuse. John Klingman was interviewed by Dave Egbert at Living Green Radio about sustainable reuse of Wheatley and other modernist structures. Listen here.

AIA Louisiana honors Albert Ledner with the Medal of Honor.

Whitney National Bank (threatened)

Whitney National Bank, Parham and Labouisse*, architects, 1964, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The Whitney National Bank building on Canal and Broad is threatened with imminent demolition. There is a temporary stop work order in effect and a hearing before the City Council on Thursday 11/5/09, scheduled to start at 11 am.

The new tenant?

Family Freaking Dollar.


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* note: architects Parham and Labouisse previously partnered with Moise Goldstein. Monroe F. Labouisse also designed the Petrolane Building on Jeff Highway.

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

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

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.

Hoffman Elementary (threatened)

Hoffman Elementary (threatened), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The New Orleans City Council will determine the fate of Hoffman elementary on Thursday 9/17. Email your comments to Stacy Head. shead@cityofno.com

Statement from the Board of the Louisiana chapter of docomomo*:

"The proposed demolition of Hoffman Elementary is the latest in a series of losses of significant institutional works of twentieth century architecture in New Orleans. The building is one of the few extant designed by Charles Colbert, one of Louisiana's finest mid century architects. It demonstrates a commitment to sustainable design through excellent attention to natural ventilation and daylighting in the classrooms. It was frugal in energy use, with covered outdoor circulation rather than air conditioned corridors. Colbert's commitment to progressive buildings to enhance public education was widely recognized in New Orleans and nationally. Given the large number of available school sites, demolishing this important work is unnecessary and anti-historic. If the RSD is not interested in renovating the building, a less costly alternative than new construction, it should sell the building so that this important artifact of New Orleans history is preserved."

* docomomo is the international committee for documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the modern movement

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.

Activism Alert :: Hoffman Elementary :: Last Chance

Hoffman Elementary, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.
Thursday September 3 at 10 am the City Council will hear four NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICT COMMITTEE APPEALS

including

LONA HANKINS, DIRECTOR OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, RECOVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT Requesting to appeal the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee’s decision of

"denial" of the demolition of property located at 2622 S. Prieur Street. (Hoffman Elementary)

This is the last chance. I will do my best to speak on behalf of Docomomo Louisiana. If anyone else can attend, I think it would really help the case. Please email me (fjudd(AT)tulane.edu) and let me know if you think you can make it. THANKS!

photos of Hoffman

In addition, I also found out that the RSD has been granted a demo permit for Bradley Elementary School (Ricciuti and Benson architects, 1953) which is outside the NCDC. I'm going to go photograph it today and will keep you posted.

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.

Form follows function

Hoffman Elementary (THREATENED), originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

This sectional diagram of the Hoffman Elementary School (Charles Colbert, 1948-1954) illustrates how the inverted steel truss spanning the roof provides both sun control and ventilation. The school is threatened with demolition and is on the NCDC agenda today June 1, 2009. Meeting is at City Hall Council Chambers, 1300 Perdido at 2 pm.

Hoffman Elementary (threatened)

Hoffman Elementary model, 2622 S. Prieur New Orleans, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Hoffman Elementary is on the NCDC Agenda on Monday June 1, 2009. It was the first school designed by Charles Colbert, who later designed McDonogh 36 and the iconic Wheatley Elementary. The following description is from Idea: the Shaping force by Charles Colbert.

'Hoffman Elementary (1948), first referred to by the School Board as "that cowshed," was designed before the general use of air conditioning and responded to such educational concerns of the day as variable classroom sizes, direct access to outdoor instructional area, sun and breeze control devices, and the reduction of visible distractions. A scale model of a typical classroom was used to determine the precise distribution of natural light; while entire walls of operating doors and windows allowed the passage of evaporative breezes over the students' bodies. Classrooms were isolated from corridor activities by a barrier wall as air movement was directed upward by a sloping ceiling above. An inverted truss created a sun protective overhang on the air entry side, while on the opposite side of the classroom, the sun was refiected from the flat corridor roof to the inclined interior ceiling, for diffusion to work surfaces below. The use of the inverted truss resulted from two functional necessities, air movement and the distribution of daylight. A study model was used to determine the most effective angle for the overhead ceiling at New Orleans' particular latitude. The use of the inverted roof truss merely accommodated these dictating needs. The profile of the roof truss is exposed on the exterior of each building wing by colorful enamel panels. The dictates of light, sound, air movement and the elimination of unnecessary visual distractions actually shaped the cross section of the building. The building's exterior shape was merely the result of interior requirements.'

Farnsworth House Flooded

farnsworth house 2, originally uploaded by 33 and a Third.

Unreal. So absorbed in our local natural and political disasters, I almost missed this story. Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House was inundated with floodwater from the Fox River due to Hurricanes Ike and Lowell. See: Preservation Nation and http://www.farnsworthhouse.org for more details.