Thesis Exhibit at the Ogden

Thesis 2009, Auto-mated Bloom: Bio-farming in the Atchafalaya Bay, Greg Barton, Tulane School of Architecture, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Please join us for the opening of

PROVOCATIONS: Tulane School of Architecture Thesis Projects 2009
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
925 Camp Street, New orleans, LA 70130

Friday May 8, 2009

6pm - 7pm RECEPTION
5th floor, Stephen Goldring Hall at the Ogden Museum

7pm - 8pm IMPRESSIONS
Commentary by
Billie Tsien, Tod William Billie Tsien Architects, New York
Mack Scogin, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, Atlanta

Hosted by Kenneth Schwartz, FAIA, Dean
Tulane School of Architecture in collaboration with
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art

For information, call 504-314-2361
Exhibition is Wednesday May 6 - Sunday May 10

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.

Vision::Aerie School Threatened with Demolition

Vision::Aerie School Threatened with Demolition, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

The Phillis Wheatley Elementary School (1954) is the most significant school facility built in mid 20th century New Orleans. It is also among the most significant Modern buildings in the city today. We have already lost the Rivergate (1969-1997) and Cabrini Church (1961-2007) by Curtis and Davis. Architect Charles Colbert assessed Wheatley among the finest of his designs in his career. In Colbert's architecture form followed function, but even more than that, idea shaped design. The Wheatley School stands above the field of mid-20th century schools because of Colbert's bold concept, tested innovations and efficiency of structure. The result - an eloquent airy urban tree house for learning. It is an excellent example of regional modernism as it cleverly addresses the harshness of our local climate. The elevated structure created ample play space for the children, protecting them from the beating sun or rain. It was also saved from flooding. It is shocking that the School Facilities Plan calls for its demoltion. It is still possible to renew the Wheatley School and reuse it as a school or community center. It just requires vision.

Content in Context :: Place and Time :: Google Earth

ABOVE: modernism map mashup - A screenshot of Google Earth incorporating 1) data from the SEAA and NOPL 2) gathered by the Regional Modernism class in 2008 3) uploaded to GeoCommons and 4) layered over Norman's Chart of the Lower Mississippi by A. Persac, 1858 courtesy of David Rumsey Historical Maps.

Last week I was in Toronto participating in the Visual Resources Association annual meeting. I presented on NeoGeography and Pedagogy as part of the Engaging New Technologies Session. Hope to get the powerpoint edited with proper links and uploaded to slideshare soon. My presentation focused on some of the ways one can use Google Earth to explore architecture in context.

Recent content and functional additions to Google Earth enrich the exploration of place at different points in time. We can explore place through user-contributed photos (Panoramio) and panoramas (360Cities) as well as Google-created street level panoramas (Street View). The Panoramio / Street View mashup in Google Maps is gorgeous. It presents an index of thumbnails of Panoramio photos that are mapped to the same Street View location. Superb! One can explore contemporary perceptions of ancient Rome through the University of Virginia's Ancient Rome 3D gallery. If the cool reconstructions leave you longing for the romance of ruins, turn on the 360Cities layer and tour the interior of the Colosseum. Or take a trip to Venice and glide from one panorama to the next, a virtual tour reminding us that monuments do not exist in isolation. Engaging the Historical Imagery function allows one to select the satellite view from different dates according to available imagery. This is an invaluable tool for those of us involved in the mapping of the recovery of the city of New Orleans. Turn on the Rumsey Historical Maps layer and you can select a historic basemap. I would love to see more maps of New Orleans available as base layers, especially the Robinson Atlas of 1883.

I have a number of ideas of how I'd like to see the Google Earth developed in the future - but will save those thoughts for the next post.

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.

Loc.alize.us + Flickr

Loc.alize.us + Flickr, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Loc.alize.us is a "bookmarklet" that you can add to your bookmarks toolbar. Then, when you click on it when you are in one of your flickr photo windows.
Presto! map interface.
Click: search place
Enter: location
That's it. Your photo is geotagged and on your fickr map. It is also accessible in the loc.alize.us map which can be embedded in a website.

I found out about this cool tool in the GeoTagging Flickr group forum. go to:
loc.alize.us - All Our Flickr Photos on Google Maps!

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