Historic Preservation | selophane.blog

Building (mostly) Big Easy

This week the New Orleans Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced the recipients of the 2009 Design Awards. Out of 70 entries, 12 were chosen for awards, 3 of which were awards of Honor and the other 9 were awards of Merit.

The theme for this year’s awards was “Responsive, Responsible, Timeless,” which was chosen to emphasis the importance of classical architecture and design. The awards were chosen by a Jury featuring Jim Evans, AIA; Andrew Vrana, AIA; and Kimberly Hickson, AIA and were presented in a ceremony presided over by Jeffrey Smith, AIA 2009 President of the AIA New Orleans Chapter and Design Awards Chair Michael Piazza, AIA.

Of the 12 winners there are only 6 firms represented; I have to wonder why this is. Is there a lack of architects doing good work in New Orleans, or is this phenomenon the result of the 70 project pool that was judged? If the former, then there seems to be an opportunity waiting for a young rising star to make their name, if its the latter I wonder why so few offices are entering work to be judged. I would hate to think that the results of the awards show a bias on the part of the judges towards these 6 firms, considering that 3 of which – Wayne Troyer Architects, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, and Bild Design – happen to be the top four winners from last year (see this article I posted last April). Of course, not knowing the rest of the applicant pool these could simply be the best entries who fit with the theme, and no one wants a jury choosing projects to give awards to based on a desire to show variety. In addition, I have to wonder how fast and loose the jury played with the stated theme. Many of these projects, with the exception of the historic preservation awards, do not seem to emphasis classical architecture or classical design proportions. While I would not disagree that they are good examples of contemporary or modern design, I have to wonder how the jury would defend the classification of them as “timeless.”

Listed below are the winners and their respective categories:

Award of Honor – Architecture
Project Name: Bozeman Fish Technology Center
Location: Bozeman, MT
Architect(s) of Record: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple and Guidry Beazley Architects

Award of Honor – Historic Preservation Adaptive Reuse Rehabilitation
Project Name: United States Courthouse
Location: Natchez, MS
Architect(s) of Record: Waggonner & Ball Architects

Award of Merit – Architecture
Project Name: Brother Martin High School – Roland H. and Macy Patton Meyer; Science and Mathematics Building
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: Waggonner & Ball Architects

Award of Merit – Architecture
Project Name: Bienville State Office Building
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Architect(s) of Record: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple and Washer Hill Lipscomb

Award of Merit – Interiors
Project Name: Arthur Roger Gallery
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: Wayne Troyer Architects

Award of Merit – Interiors
Project Name: Kenneth’s Hair with Style
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: bildDESIGN, Byron Mouton, AIA

Award of Merit – Residential
Project Name: Private Residence
Location: Metairie, LA
Architect(s) of Record: Trapolin Architects, Peter Trapolin

Award of Merit – Residential
Project Name: URBANbuild.designBUILD, Prototype #3
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: Byron Mouton, AIA representing Tulane University’s URBANbuildprogram

Award of Merit – Divine Detail
Project Name: The Orange Couch Coffee Shop
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: AEDS, Ammar Eloueini

Award of Merit – Historic Preservation Adaptive Reuse Rehabilitation
Project Name: Swan Street Residence
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: bild DESIGN, Byron Mouton, AIA

Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, Sanctuary Roof and Steeple Repair

Award of Merit – Historic Preservation Adaptive Reuse Rehabilitation
Project Name: Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, Sanctuary Roof and Steeple Repair
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: Waggonner & Ball Architects

Award of Merit – Project Category
Project Name: J-House
Location: New Orleans, LA
Architect(s) of Record: AEDS, Ammar Eloueini

[All images courtesy of AIA New Orleans via Erica Normand via Trumpet.]

Preservation Matters: A Video

Above is the keynote address from the Tulane School of Architecture sponsored symposium: Preservation Matters by Tulane Alum and Editor of Architectural Record magazine, Robert Ivy, FAIA. The speech is a long overdue acknowledgement of the work of the Preservation Studies / Historic Preservation Program headed by my past professor, Eugene Cizek, FAIA and a discussion of the historic preservation movement within the city of New Orleans and Tulane’s role through the twentieth century. I have to laud the efforts of the new Dean of the Architecture School, Kenneth Schwartz, who introduces the conference and Mr. Ivy. Regional Modernism has a more detailed synopsis of the presentation.

Throughout my years at the school, I always felt that the historical importance of place and the efforts of the preservation program to bring this idea to the student body was too often bulldozed by a blind passion for high modernism and other international styles. Issues of climate and green design were handled in the structural technology classes, but too often they did not play a part in the critically explored design studio work.

As an aside, I spent a number of minutes trying to figure out where they held this symposium. This lecture hall does not remind me of any space within the building while I was there. The main lecture hall is sloped, while this is obviously flat. Eventually after much head scratching I reread the symposium invitation and realized that this was held in the new University Student Center. Now I’m glad to see that this building (which was under repair for most of my years at Tulane) is in use, but I have to wonder if this type of event shouldn’t have been held at Richardson Memorial Hall (the Architecture School) where it could have had a greater influence on the student body and faculty.

Preservation, not just for berries anymore!

[Image via Tulane School of Architecture .]

Tulane School of Architecture is hosting a one day symposium at the end of January focusing on Historic Preservation. The keynote speaker will be Robert Ivy, FAIA and one of my favorite professors, Eugene Cizek, FAIA, will be providing commentary. This symposium is free and open to the public. If I was able to be in New Orleans, I would love to attend.

In light of the natural and governmental disasters in the past few years and the public policy debates currently raging within New Orleans, this symposium seems slightly overdue. I am glad to see that the new Dean of the Architecture School, Kenneth Schwartz, FAIA, is doing something that should have been done years ago. The historic preservation program is one of the few distinguishing elements of the Tulane School of Architecture, it helps ground architectural education at TSA to “the place” as well as “the time.” In the time I was at school, it felt as if the program did not get as much attention and funding as some of the more esoteric modernist pursuits. At times we felt like the red-headed step children of the school.

I may not personally agree with all the philosophical and ideological teachings I was taught during my historic preservation classes, but i do credit this program for helping me make the shift from design student to practicing professional. It was the only area of my education where material interactions with environmental factors as a function of building life were ever considered critical, or even discussed; it is also the only time we were able to, never mind required to, design an adaptive reuse project. This program helped introduce students to public planning officials and organizations and better inform our understanding of the political and legal process of building and protecting structures. It also broke the design bubble fostered in many of the other studios by merging design students with masters of preservation students (MPS) who were rarely design professionals.

Preservation’s Choice

The New York Times has a brief article about a church that could not afford to expand on their historic structure, and so instead worked a deal with a developer to get space under a new highrise. In addition, neighborhood improvements were also carried out. The article poses the most poignant question that preservationists must face: is the historic architectural fabric more important than the quality of life of those who inhabit the spaces?

This question is really the crux of modern preservation. With modern laws and sensibilities homes and structures relating to famous people will be saved and preserved, it is the fabric and architectural experiments of the nameless faceless crowd that really make up our architecturally history and too often they are pushed aside for progress. In the case of this article it IS sad to see such an interesting structure fade into the past, but then again is it worse to see a community die around a building like this? The issue here comes down to a matter of means, if it was possible the church should have found a developed willing to build a building that would create architectural interest and install a plaque/display about the old building. That way, even though some of the history would be lost, it would not be forgotten, and the new building would have the potential of filling the same architectural niche that the old one did.

Farnsworth House makes Lemonade out of Lemons

Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, which I blogged about suffering flood damages, has re-opened to special guided tours on a limited basis. These special tours will raise money for restoration and repairs and will focus on the extent of the damages caused by the flooding and the process of historic restoration. More information can be found in this press release from the National Trust for Historic Preservation or at their blog, PreservationNation.

Charity Hospital: Don’t hold your breath.

A good friend of mine from architecture school who is involved in the process of building the new Charity Hospital sent me an update on the old building’s situation. Selections from her response below:

[A]s I work at the firm that did the storm damage and the new packages to get the work done to fix the MYRIAD of problems just from the storm itself with FEMA I can pretty much tell you this: that building will never again be a hospital. According to the codes necessary for health care there is no way for that building to reach code for less than a couple more million than they’re going to spend on the new one. In addition the amount of asbestos and mold inherent in the HVAC and wall systems, due to the materials used last time they renovated that building, stack another couple to 30 mil on. It’s not a cheap building to fix for anything, especially for something as specific as a hospital. Which is why they are pouring 10.2 billion dollars (most likely plus) into the new LSU/Charity Hospital …

[P]eople can make noise as much as they want about it being done faster with a [renovation] to the old buildings, but it took a team of over 100 people 3 years just to get the contracts out to bid to get the roofing fixed …

[N]o matter how much we may want them to save the old hospital don’t count on anyone ever having enough money to fix that building, count on the new one getting built…

It looks like the building might have more of a chance being bought by a developer and turned into condos than being brought back to life as a hospital. I have to wonder if it would be possible to turn this building into a museum focusing on health care and hurricanes – maybe house a couple of different museums? I hope that whatever happens, this building remains a part of the urban landscape. It is one of the few Art Deco Buildings in the city, and unless it gets some federal backing and protection as a historic property it may go the way of the Rivergate.

Charity Hospital: Back from the dead?

This is a bit of really good news! Over at PreservationNation it seems that there is some discussion by RMJM Hillier about rehabilitating Charity Hospital in New Orleans. This 1938 Art Deco building always reminded me of a little bit of Gotham City in the heart of the Crescent. Besides its architectural good looks, I knew many a service industry worker without health care who were able to be treated here without having to worry about repayment, and quite a few LSU medical school students who trained here. In addition, I had a number of friends in the Tulane EMS squad, and they always told me that if I got shot, to ask the ambulance driver to bring me to charity, because they had the best gunshot trauma ward in town.

It remains to be seen if this will ever see the light of day, and in addition, if it does how preservation sensitive the rehabilitation will be.

Farnsworth House 1 Global Warming 1

[Image courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation via PreservationNation.]

Today I received an e-mail from The National Trust for Historic Preservation giving me an update on the condition of the Farnsworth House, a piece of seminal modern architecture by Mies van der Rohe. The flood waters have receded, but as you can see in the above photo, there is as expected water and mud damage. The glass windows/walls are intact, as are the travertine floors; the primavera wood panels from the living room were rescued, but much of the built in wood has suffered water damage. The extent of the restoration process is yet to be determined, but because of the large scale damage clean up operations in the area the process will be slow. The full story can be found at PreservationNation.

Donations are welcomed and greatly appreciated. If you want to help, visit Landmarks Illinois and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Farnsworth House is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is managed by Landmarks Illinois.

Farnsworth House 0 Global Warming 1

[Image via 33 and a Third.]

Due to unusually heavy rains and flooding caused by the remnants of Ike and Lowell, Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House has 1 foot of standing water in it, according to the National Trust’s Blog PreservationNation. The house is built 5′ off of the ground, so that means there 6′ of flood water. Hopefully, when the water subsides, the damage will be able to be repaired. Donations can be sent here.

This should serve as a reminder to everyone that even though increased hurricane and tropical storm activity mainly affects the coasts, once these storms make in inland, they still drop a lot of water. As storms get stronger and more common there will be more flooding in the nation’s rivers and streams. We are all effected by global climate change.

An open letter to the Municipal Government of New Orleans

As a former resident of New Orleans, Tulane School of Architecture alumni, a preservationist, and as a future architect I implore you to stop the destruction of modernist buildings in New Orleans.

Ever since the Vieux Carré Commission stood up to Robert Moses and the original planned route for I-10, there has been an understanding in New Orleans that its buildings are the presents physical link with the city’s history, and that history and tourists desire to explore it and embrace it has been the economic engine that has allowed rebuilding to be a possibility. If there has been one place that preservation has failed in New Orleans, it is in regards to Modernist architecture. The city was done a historical and architectural disservice with the destruction of the Rivergate, a building that was unique in New Orleans’s architectural landscape.

We now stand on a precipice, the bulk of the schools scheduled to be closed and demolished are some of the few examples of southern regional Modernism in New Orleans. With their destruction we stand to lose a huge part of our architectural and cultural history. In addition, by demolishing the schools we are only contributing more waste to the environment, and ever since Katrina New Orleans has contributed more than its fair share of construction and demolition waste. Instead these buildings should be preserved, even if their former purpose is lost. Let them be redeveloped into apartments and condos, civic centers and community centers, or supermarkets and office parks; all of which have been done with former warehouse and mill buildings within the city, why not schools?

It has been 5 years since I last set foot in my city, and I know the economic and cultural landscape have changed since I’ve left. But I cannot imagine driving down Claiborne and not passing Eleanor McMain High School nor will Carollton-Riverbend ever be the same without the voices of school children echoing from the Audubon Charter School (formerly Lusher Upper School). I know that I was not born and raised in New Orleans, but it is more my home than anywhere else I have lived. I may just be another Yankee who lost his heart to New Orleans, but I found my voice and my soul there. I hope that when my life brings me back to the only city I call mine, it will be to a place with a full sense of its past and present and a hope for its future.