The Architecture Section

authenticity

2012-02-03T16:30:00.001-06:00

au·then·tic

[aw-then-tik]

adjective

not false or copied; genuine; real: an authentic antique.

having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence; authenticated; verified: an authentic document of the MiddleAges; an authentic work of the old master.

entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience; reliable; trustworthy: anauthentic report on poverty in Africa.

Law . executed with all due formalities: an authentic deed.

Origin:
1300–50; < Late Latin authenticus < Greek authentikós original,primary, at first hand, equivalent to authént ( ēs ) one who doesthings himself ( aut- aut- + -hentēs doer) + -ikos -ic; replacingMiddle English autentik (< Anglo-French ) < Medieval Latinautenticus

Authenticity, brand and ‘do as I say, not as I do.’

Filtering Brandscapes through a St. Louis lens…

Anna Klingmann’s Brandscapescites a NAHB study, which shows “an apparent contradiction between the choicesindividual consumers make when buying a home and their recommendations forsmart growth policies.” (P287) She goes on to say “what most homebuyers want,in essence, is the biggest possible house in the least developed place.”

Survey citations includethat only 27% wish they lived closer to work, only 9% wished they were closerto public transportation, while only 1 in 20 wished they were closer to thecity. 64%, however, wished they had a larger house.

More from Klingmann’s book:“Overall a majority of consumers seek out single-family detached housing in acommunity of people of similar background and income, explicitly rejectinghousing with mixed-income residents, urban proximity and social variety –values generally propagated by planners and architects.” (P 288)

Traditional architecture iswhat most people want. Size and security (it seems to be that St. Louisansassociate security with location) seem to be trump cards, so most market-rate,developer driven projects respond to prevailing notions of what will sell. Thisis usually the opposite of what architects and designers would like to see – itis the continuation of sprawl.

Eventually though,’successful developments’ are repeated with such frequency that they becometired clichés and their run comes to an end. Klingmann sees branding as a wayto end this cycle by re-marrying the left brain of the developer and the rightbrain of the architect into a cohesive unit. (Nice work if you can get it!) Shealso indicates that ‘signature’ buildings by ‘starchitects’ based on visibilityand publicity are not enough – she concludes that the market value ofhousing…”must engage in a creative dialogue that connects to a broader segmentof the population. Instead of simply presenting a glittering surface,architecture must project a three dimensional personality, with inconsistenciesand imperfections…When the external appearance of a building aligns with itsinternal culture the brand resonates with authenticity.” (P 309)

Klingmann sees ‘branding’with positive connotations that I find difficult to endorse. In her residentialbranding section is a subsection titled: “The Brand Called ‘You.’” From aphilosophical perspective this seems to confuse ‘branding’ with ‘being.’ It isthe co-opting of Sartre’s maxim: l'existence précèdel'essence by those who want to use it toinspire people to buy things. This doesnot surprise me.

The rise of mid-centurymodern architecture enthusiasts in St. Louis is an indication that we havereached the end of another cycle. This is, in part, due to a need/desire for afeeling of authenticity and uniqueness that many homebuyers value, but cannotfind around the next cul-de-sac of mcmansions with options a, b, and c formaster bedroom layout.

The crash in the real estatemarket (about the time Klingmann’s book was published) and the slight move intofocus of sustainability initiatives might indicate a shift in zoning (St. LouisCounty’s initiative) and performance (the city and county adopting the 2009IECC). Alas, this does not represent a majority of potential homebuyers, but itdoes represent the governmental changes their elected officials haveintroduced.

St. Louis has an interestingsegment of its population ready for something different, some combination ofelements that work together in different ways and help their inhabitantsaccomplish goals not previously thought compatible. It is interesting towitness.

I started this post, as Ioften do, with a definition.

Given what we know aboutenergy efficiency, climate change and other factors related to sustainabilitycan anyone be in a position to make ‘authentic choices’ about their homeenvironment without considering environmental impact?

In a sense, none of us is ina position to question the authenticity of the decisions made by those aroundus, but more importantly, none of us is in a position NOT to question theauthenticity of the decisions we make.

regional sustainability plan

2012-01-08T22:05:00.000-06:00

Check out this piece in the Beacon about the partners creating our regional plan:

Building a sustainable region, a community at a time

http://www.stlbeacon.org/region/115176-building-a-sustainable-region-a-community-at-a-time

Guild Hosts Sustainability Discussion

2011-11-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

Sustainability Panel Discussion

When: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Admission: Free and Open to the Public

The St. Louis Artists' Guild will host a panel discussion, moderated by Jean Ponzi (host of Earthworms on KDHX 88.1), further exploring the themes of the Aggregate Exhibition Series.

Panelists include:

Tom Bradford, Culver Way Eco village

John Wagner, FOCUS St. Louis

Dr. Tim Keane, St. Louis University Sustainability Department

Bob Hansman, Washington University Architecture Department

Charlie Vinz; ReBuild Foundation

Marc Lopata, MicroGrid Energy

Tony Sirna, Dancing Rabbit Eco Village

Intro Video to 11/11/11 Opening

2011-10-30T20:59:00.001-05:00

Top 10 Myths About Historic Preservation

2011-10-25T18:56:00.002-05:00

http://www.laconservancy.org/preservation/top_ten_myths.pdf Thanks to Michael Allen for posting this link elsewhere!

11/11/11 Opening

2011-10-13T15:18:00.003-05:00

click on image to enlarge

September Meeting - Tour Bevo Mill - Sept. 30

2011-09-07T16:24:00.005-05:00

For our September meeting, the Architecture Section will join the Landmarks Association for a happy hour on Friday, September 30, at the South City Landmark, Bevo Mill. The happy hour will begin at 5PM with one free complimentary beer from Bevo Mill. The tour will begin at 6PM and consist of a viewing of the mill machinery, the upstairs living quarters, the dinning room and a view of the sunset from the second floor balcony encirling the mill. Once the tour is complete, feel free to stick around for the Bevo Mill Friday Night Patio Dinner Series. Tour tickets are $5 for members and $7 for non-members of the Landmarks Association.

In August of 2009 L & M Catering (Gourmet Food Works Corporate Catering and Gourmet Food Works Deli in Clayton) took control of the building from the city of St. Louis. After months of trial and tribulation the Bevo Mill was to reopen. Almost $500,000 has been spent on restoring the historic building as well as bringing many elements up to code. We thank the new owners, Milan Manjencich and Louie Lausevich, for preserving this St. Louis landmark and opening their doors for the tour.

Reservations required. Call 314-421-6474 to reserve a spot today.

Top 50 'Must See' Arts Programming Events

2011-08-26T15:38:00.001-05:00

St. Louis Magazine's Fall Arts Preview includes our exhibit. Click on the image above to enlarge and put it on your calender.

2011-08-23T18:55:00.003-05:00

The August meeting for the Architecture Section of the St. Louis Artists Guild has been cancelled. Enjoy a night off.

Please continue to spread the word on our upcoming exhibition Sustainability of the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region . Encourage everyone you know with an appropriate project to submit an entry. The submission deadline has been extended to September 16^th.

We have had questions regarding works in-progress. The work doesn't have to be completed upon submission or acceptance. Often times in-progress architectural/design projects are interesting and applicable in the process state.

Last, if you have a suggestion for a discussion topic or speaker for an upcoming meeting, please advise Richard or I. We welcome your suggestions.

We're Invited

2011-08-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

From David B:

I would like to extend an invitation to the members of the Artist Guild to the monthly Second Sunday Concert Series indicated below. Please note that these are all local professional jazz musicians who volunteer their time to perform.

This Sunday at the Garden Chapel / Church of the Open Word we will be featuring guest artists:

David Shieh and the Long Way Home

A wonderfully robust mix of guitar, bass, mandolin, violin, dobro, percussion and creative original lyrics and music will make this

one of the most entertaining evenings you've had in a long time.

We will be joined by the lovely jazz singer Heather Matthews and pianist Tim Garcia for our opening act.

Join us at 7 pm at 1040 Dautel Lane just off of Olive (look for the Walgreens west of Lindbergh on Olive).

The performance ends at 8:30 and refreshments will be available.

Directions available on openwordchurch.org

I have mentioned the Garden Chapel to several of you over the pass few months. It is listed on Modern STL "Buildings worthy of preservation". You will be able to see the facility both in daylight and at night. If you are interested in a brief tour before the concert let me know and and I will come early to show you the building.

Hope to see you this Sunday at 6:30 or 7:00 P.M.

Deadline Extended

2011-08-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/images/Sustainability_Prospectus_Web_8-3-11.pdf links to the revised prospectus.

The new deadline is 9/16/2011. Now gather up your work and take a chance! I am.

Larger, in progress projects may be submitted. The work doesn't have to be completed upon submission or acceptance especially if it is a big, long, involved project. Often times in progress architectural/design projects are interesting and applicable in the process state. We have had some questions and concerns regarding this matter.

Thanks!

Michael Anderson on Urban Sketching

2011-08-02T22:10:00.000-05:00

Urban Sketching from Joel Anderson on Vimeo.

Michael is a friend of our section and a local talent/treasure. He has been involved in the Guild for a few years and he is a great guy to know!

July 28th Section Meeting at the Botanical Garden

2011-07-23T22:27:00.001-05:00

You're invited:

A special 'off-site' meeting of the Architecture Section of the St. Louis Artists' Guild on Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 7:00PM at the Ridgway Center:

The Missouri Botanical Garden presents a photographic exhibition documenting many of St. Louis’s most architecturally impressive structures. View “American City: St. Louis Architecture” on display Friday, June 10 through Sunday, Aug. 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in the Garden’s Ridgway Visitor Center. The exhibit is included with Garden admission.

“American City: St. Louis Architecture” features over 70 large-scale color images by award-winner architectural photographer William Zbaren, including the iconic Linnean House conservatory and Museum Building at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The images are from the new architectural monograph, “American City: St. Louis Architecture: Three Centuries of Classic Design,” by Zbaren and architectural writer Robert Sharoff.

More info and image preview here: http://www.archdaily.com/142771/exhibition-american-city-st-louis-architecture/

Passive House

2011-07-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

USGBC PROGRAM - CLICK HERE

Passive Home Building
Wednesday July 20, 3:00-5:00pm
Passive Home Building is cutting edge in the US, proven in Europe, and a necessary innovation in home construction as we look to a future without reliance on fossil fuels. In this presentation, attendees will be introduced to the Passive House Building Standard, covering the key topics below.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the history of Passive Home Building which began in Germany in the 90's

Explain the Passive House Standards, which included all aspects of the building construction

Explore important insights, including the building science behind the standards

Examine Cases Studies of Passive Homes already in use in Europe and the US

CONTINUING EDUCATION Submitted for approval of 2 GBCI CE Hours, 2 AIA LU/HSW/SD

SPEAKER: Gary Steps, Founder and President, Butterfly Energy Works Gary founded Butterfly Energy Works in 2004. Over the last six years, he has become recognized as a green leader in the St. Louis area, both as consultant to green building projects and as a test pilot for emerging green technologies. He has completed the intensive Passive House Consultant Training and attended the National Passive House in Portland. He is a member the Passive House Alliance and is the founder of the Heartland Passive House Alliance Chapter.
WHEN:
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
3:00 - 5:00 pm
WHERE:
Missouri Botanical Garden's Commerce Bank Center for Science Education, 4651 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110, Room 129. Map Park and enter from the WEST side of the building.

QUESTIONS? Contact USGBC-Missouri Gateway staff by email, usgbc-mogateway@mobot.org, or phone (314) 577-0225.

Envisioning Hyde Park

2011-06-22T13:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/raimist/envisioning-hyde-park links to new project by Andrew Raimist. Please check it out and see if you can find a way to help.

About the project:

North St. Louis students in 5th through 8th grade will be working to improve their Hyde Park neighborhood and documenting the progress using photography. Students will learn the basics of digital photography from image capture through editing, printing and publishing.
This effort will be lead by teaching artist Andrew Raimist with the generous support of other photographers, artists and educators. ReBuild Foundation is the major sponsor of this workshop as part of their Urban Expressions outreach mission.
This program takes place in collaboration with artist Theaster Gates' CityStudioSTL's rehabilitation of a vacant Hyde Park home to create a community gathering place.
A full-color book of the students' photographs, drawings and writings will be professionally published. Each student will get their own copy to have in hand when school begins in the fall. This experience will enhance their educational achievement and self-confidence.
As your "Backer Reward", you'll get your own book documenting their artistic growth and the neighborhood's revitalization.
Additional books will be available for purchase to raise funds for future Rebuild Foundation efforts.
The project's culmination will be a full-scale exhibition at the nearby Old North Saint Louis Restoration Group's gallery.
Grassroots support for this program will provide immeasurable benefits to the students, their families and their neighborhood. Your backing demonstrates widespread commitment to the underserved children of North St. Louis.
The children will be energized by your support. Thank you!

Spiral Jetty 2011

2011-06-19T17:39:00.000-05:00

Special Meeting at the Guild at 7PM on June 23

2011-06-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Public Housing in St. Louis: Vanishing Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Architectural historians Michael Allen and Lynn Josse will provide an overview of the history and design of public housing in St. Louis city, from low-rise Carr Square Village in 1941 through the high-rise Arthur Blumeyer Homes in 1968. The talk will cover the contributions to local public housing architecture by major designers like Minoru Yamasaki, Gyo Obata, Joseph Murphy and others. With St. Louis' two public towers both slated for demolition in the next two years, the talk will devote special attention to the development of high-rise housing forms and features at the Cochran Gardens and Pruitt-Igoe projects. Remaining public housing buildings at Carr Square and Clinton-Peabody have been heavily altered, meaning that the last intact buildings soon will fade to memory.

Sustainability Award Added to Exhibit Program

2011-06-04T08:13:00.000-05:00

The Missouri Gateway Chapter of the United States Green Building Council is a co-sponsor of the opening of our November exhibit: Sustainability and the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region. They are also announcing and creating the following:

The “Sustainability 2011 Award”

by the U.S Green Building Council - Missouri Gateway Chapter

The Missouri Gateway Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, celebrating its 10-Year Anniversary in 2011, is honored to participate with the St. Louis Artists’ Guild in the 2011 exhibition “Sustainability and the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region.”

The “Sustainability 2011 Award,” conceived by USGBC-Missouri Gateway for this premier exhibition, recognizes architecture as art and artists as champions of sustainability. Three participating artists will be honored with the “Sustainability 2011 Award,” based on their expression of sustainability in the following categories:

 Sustainable Sites

 Water Efficiency

 Energy & Atmosphere

 Materials & Resources

 Indoor Environmental Quality

 Innovation & Design

 Regional Priority

 Awareness & Education

These award criteria have been adapted from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification system developed in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council (http://www.usgbc.org).

The “Sustainability 2011 Award” is not a commentary on the artistic or purely aesthetic value of the artwork. The focus, instead, is on the artwork as an expression of sustainability efforts and opportunities.

An Eclectic Greek Revival

2011-06-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Walter Benjamin & Facebook

2011-05-30T10:04:00.002-05:00

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is a landmark essay by Walter Benjamin from 1935. It concerns changes in technology and their effects on culture. I highly recommend reading it - it's only 15 pages. Read this with an eye on today.

Benjamin's work, along with that of Susan Sontag and a some reading from the the NY Times led to this little collection of thoughts from me:

The internet, a personality type, a life: What are you and how do you do it?

Susan Sontag wrote an essay about the personality of Walter Benjamin called, Under the Sign of Saturn. It is about the saturnine or melancholic type. It is a fine description of attributes and traits and maybe it is quite accurate of Benjamin, I don't know, but it sure has a few parts that resonate with me.

Underlying Sontag’s understanding of the saturnine personality is the basic world view inherent in the piece that "l'existence precede l'essence" or existence before essence. That is to say, we are an act of creation - of our own will and of our own environment. We exist and we are active participants in the development of our essence, of what will become essential about us and to us.

That there are several forces at work here is key. We have a say; there is an aspect of self-determination in our lives, but we are also heavily conditioned by our environment. Beware of this construction - choose - find a place for depth and breadth that is different from mere quantity.

Maps, labyrinths, cities, arcades, vistas, as Sontag writes of Benjamin, become metaphors of self construction and journey. Diagrams of being and discovery. So many paths and possibilities becomes an indecisive blundering about - a stasis of becoming, of almost, of contemplating commitment or action. She also considers the idea of the self as a text to be deciphered or a project to be built.

The self can also be seen as a collection, an acquisition of experiences, a kind of library in the making. Learning is a form of collecting, of acquisition as well. The desire to learn is an admission of the inadequacy of the self: 'I am not enough to thrive.'

Sontag saw Benjamin (as I occasionally see myself) as one who is 'multi-positioning.' This is living at the cross roads - available to see and defend many positions from a single stance. This is, of course, something with positive and negative aspects. It is an acknowledgement of our epistemological limits, though it can also be seen as a kind of vacillation or a big 'maybe' about what comes next, about what to do.

I read a couple of things in the New York Times this weekend that got me thinking about these kinds of things in the 21st Century. The first was a piece on a new book by Eli Pariser called The Filter Bubble. This is about the concept of the internet as an echo chamber, as something that gives back what we give.

"Personalization [of the internet via filters] he [Pariser] argues, channels people into feedback loops or 'filter bubbles' of their own predilections." 'Filter bubble' is a good term and it reminds me of Thomas Kuhn's concept of the Paradigm Shift. It's as if the internet, with all its cookies and algorithms has arranged for each of us to become our own little paradigm. We become, in cyberspace, an example of us - we become a set of forms and the particular element that is the thing in common. There is no crossover or shift or the chance to create or become our own Venn diagram of overlapping interests and struggle with our own complexity and contradiction.

If this is coupled with what I would call (and what I think I observe) a diminishing level of self discovery via primary experience - by actually doing things, reading difficult texts and going places instead of some kind of secondary experience in which we watch, search and we're fed back some semblance of our own expectations and desires as perceived by the web then we may be in serious trouble.

We need hard work. We need to struggle with opposing ideas, conflicting ideas and take this work seriously in order to come close to this thing called our 'potential.' To think through difficult, nuanced arguments and concepts takes time and effort. If we are kept from conflict, from difficulty by a technology that wants us to be 'happy' with the results of our interactions with it, then the cart is before the horse and the servant has become the master.

There is this thing called 'self-awareness' and it exists on many levels. Going back to the intro of this essay I called for mindfulness of depth and breadth and not just of quantity when we contemplate the perspective with/from which we interact in the world. It is not the number of ‘friends’ we have that makes a life. A filtered interface diminishes this opportunity for depth.

Another op ed piece in this weekend's Times by Jonathan Franzen posits, "the ultimate goal of technology, the telos of techne, is to replace the natural world that's indifferent to our wishes - a world of hurricanes and hardships and breakable hearts, a world of resistance - with a world so responsive to our wishes as to be, effectively, a mere extension of the self." This is another writer finding the filter, the echo of technology, of the internet as a means of distraction. This is a temptation away from the hard work.

Franzen writes of being 'likable' - something so essential for Facebook, as "incompatible with loving relationships." More hard work. Long term, loving relationships with a friend or a partner don't come with filters. There are times when we are not likable; we get each other, warts and all.

Now who/what is creator and created?

Architecture Section Meeting 5/26, 7 pm

2011-05-24T16:24:00.002-05:00

All are welcome to attend the monthly meetings of the Architecture Section. This month, we will meet Thursday, May 26, 7 pm, at The Royale Food & Spirits, located at 3132 S. Kingshighway. We will discuss details and progress of our upcoming exhibition, "Sustainability of the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region".

Habitat for Humanity St. Louis and LEED Platinum Homes

2011-05-06T11:09:00.002-05:00

A Man, A Tree, A House - Part I

2011-04-27T19:51:00.001-05:00

Manzo Architects is leading a team on an installation project at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

From the press release:

A Treed Place of Play, located beneath a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and designed by

Manzo Architects. The structure recreates the impromptu hideouts found and explored by
children. Two canted L-shaped structures surround the tree, producing an enclosed play space
equipped with eye-slits and hidey-holes at all heights. Relax after play by laying back to enjoy the
framed view of the dappled canopy and sky above.

http://www.mobot.org/events/Assets/11025ExtremeTreeHouses.pdf links to more info about this project and other events at the Garden this summer.

The installations open on April 30th. More images will be forthcoming and this process/project will be featured in a future Architecture Section meeting. Congrats to Chris and his team on their winning entry in a juried competition.

Environmentalism & the Arts at Washington University

2011-04-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

Building with Bernoudy - April 23rd

2011-04-10T20:10:00.000-05:00

The story of working with and adding to a William Bernoudy-designed house becomes a lesson of “complexity and contradiction in architecture” on a very local and personal level. Builder and designer Richard Reilly will share the story of renovating and updating the 1953 Simms House (located at #3 Sumac Lane in Ladue) with his drawings and photos of the project.

We had originally hoped for a tour of 3 Sumac Lane. The good fortune for the owner is our tough luck; they sold the house after quite a long time on the market. It is an amazing place, but not for everyone.

Isadore Shank House Tour 5/1/11

2011-03-30T00:09:00.001-05:00

The Sheldon Art Galleries presents the Isadore Shank House Tour, Sunday, May 1, 2011, from 2–5 p.m.

Proceeds benefit the exhibitions and educational programs of the Sheldon Art Galleries.

The second annual Sheldon Art Galleries house tour features four significant homes designed by the architect Isadore Shank (1902-1992) in Creve Coeur, Frontenac and Ladue. These homes represent some of the best examples of modernist and mid-century design in St. Louis.

Free parking available at Plaza Frontenac. Free shuttle busses will run approximately every 20 minutes starting at 2 p.m. Last bus leaves the parking lot at 4 p.m.

Tour tickets are $25 in advance / $40 at the door.
Student tickets are $15 with I.D.

Cornerstone Tickets are $250. Cornerstone tickets include exclusive
after party, a tax deduction and special gift. Tickets are limited!

For reservations, call The Sheldon's Development Department at 314-533-9900 or e-mail Lauren Wilhite atlwilhite@thesheldon.org.

Event Chair: Missy Hill.
Committee: Ellen Curlee; Alison Ferring; John C. Guenther, FAIA, LEED AP; Esley Hamilton; Sally Nikolajevich; Barbara McDonnell; Jarmaine Migala; Jacqueline M. Millstone; and Peggy Walter Symes.

The event is sponsored in part by Greg and Missy Hill, Peggy Walter Symes and Bryan Young Catering Plus.

Euclid Revisited

2011-03-24T20:14:00.000-05:00

I picked up a facsimile of a mid-19th Century book of geometry. Just amazing stuff. The colors replace lettering the various sides.

Definition I. should end most any argument.

Did the Telephone Make the Skyscraper Possible?

2011-03-14T19:36:00.000-05:00

Did the telephone shape the New York skyline as much as advances in steel production and reinforced concrete? Here is the case as presented in James Gleick's The Information:

In 1908 JJ Carty, who became the first head of the Bell Laboratories, offered an information-based analysis to show that the telephone - as much as the elevator made skyscrapers possible.

Carty wrote, " It may sound ridiculous to say that Bell and his successors were the fathers of modern commercial architecture - of the skyscraper. But wait a minute. Take the Singer Building, the Flat Iron Building, the Broad Exchange, the Trinity, or any of the giant office buildings. How many messages do you suppose go in and out of those buildings everyday? Suppose there was no telephone and every message had to be carried by a personal messenger? How much room do you think the necessary elevators would leave for offices? Such structure would be an economic impossibility." (P192)

When we think of sustainability and the benefits of appropriate density we must also know that contemporary technology necessarily plays an important part in making it feasible from many perspectives. Communication, life safety, energy efficiency, and labor efficiency among them.

Krannert Art Museum at U of I in Champaign

2011-03-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

More mid-century modernism and images of transformation that raise questions.

I spent yesterday in Champaign and made a point of going to their art museum (which has an impressive and diverse collection). The museum, at first glance, appeared as a tired and uninspired attempt at modernism. While walking through the museum I saw a book from the museum's opening in 1962 with a picture of the front elevation on the cover. It made an impression on me and I did a little more research and found a few more photos which I present below:

I took the photos above yesterday. I remember walking from the car to the museum entrance and trying to make sense of the marble border of the lawn area. I found the images below on line and present them to show the marked contrast of the intended structure in its completeness and its dialogue with the environment.

In my estimation this is a very dramatic difference and it gets to the root of many preservation issues. What is partial preservation and how is it recognized? The Krannert, as far as I know, has never been in danger of demolition, but the experience of it has been long undermined because the reflecting pool was filled in because it leaked.
I know times are tough, but at some point the restoration of the reflecting pond in service of it effects on one's visual experience of the building and as a sustainable contribution to stormwater management and rainwater harvesting would be an act of preservation/restoration with value on many levels.

April Event

2011-03-08T14:21:00.000-06:00

Tropicanniversary

2011-03-06T18:01:00.000-06:00

We are supporting Modern STL:

TUESDAY March 15 from 6 – 9 pm

Tropicana Lanes, 7960 Clayton Road
All are welcome!
• The Tropicana owner, Tino DiFranco, is turning over 26 lanes to Modern STL fans and lowering the price!
• Half price drink specials on White Russians!
• Atomic-centric raffle items!
• Tino and our President, Michael Allen, will present a program on the history of the Tropicana and bowling culture in St. Louis!
• Modern STL swag will make its debut (and if you’re already a member, it’s deeply discounted)!

We hope to see you at the Tropicanna!

Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts

2011-02-24T13:59:00.000-06:00

the baroque, preservation(?) an english mansion and st. louis

2011-02-19T22:26:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure I can tie all this together - and we're not talking deep scholarship - but I think I can. It started while reaching the end of Bill Bryson's book, At Home. He concludes the work, which is primarily a presentation of secondary research for a general audience, with a look at the heart-wrenching (from a preservation perspective) decline and demolition of grand country houses in England. By the 1970s the number demolished was over 1,000!

One of these homes was called Wingerworth Hall. The family fell into hard times, sold most of their valuable possession and when they could not find a buyer for the house it was sold room by room and piece by piece.

One of the rooms landed in the St. Louis Art Museum. I found the image of the wood-panelled room below on the web where it is identified as owned by our museum and from Wingerworth Hall. Can anyone verify this? The other images are the front and the great hall.

I took the pictures below at the Art Museum last week. The room is identified as English and acquired by the museum in the 20s. These dates match up with what I've read, but no one at the museum was able to confirm that this room is from Wingerworth.

Wingerworth Hall has been described as a fine example of ' English Baroque.' In the room at the art museum you can see the columns engaged in the wall at either side of the fireplace. This reminded me of one of the earliest examples of baroque architecture I've had the pleasure to visit: The Laurentian Library by Michelangelo in the San Lorenzo complex in Florence. (see images below)

The engaged columns "emphasize visual effect rather than structural logic" and thus begins the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque.

So, casual reading, fortunate travel, the serendipity of my home town and the journey of a room across the Atlantic illustrate a connection of synapses as much as anything. But it makes me want to ask a question or two...

Are the period rooms at the museum acts of preservation or destruction? Could such a thing happen again? What are 'best practices' of preservation regarding buildings slated for demolition?

on the Poplar Street Bridge

2011-02-16T15:03:00.000-06:00

I caught this today, while clicking away in slow traffic, west bound on the bridge

Coming Attractions

2011-02-07T12:52:00.001-06:00

Among other events for 2011 we have a house tour planned for a Bernoudy Home in April. In this home the only right angles occur where the walls meet the floor. Mid-Century Modern at its best. Stay tuned as details and schedule are finalized.

East - West Gateway and Any Other Way

2011-01-28T17:55:00.000-06:00

to get the word out about this upcoming show... help spread the word, too and let's make this a great event...

Architecture Section Meeting Tonight/Gimme Shelter

2011-01-20T10:31:00.000-06:00

Section members John Wimmer and Richard Reilly are part of the team that delivered the "Shade Shack" to the Space Architecture office for the Gimme Shelter fundraiser tonight. Sure, it snowed a little, but by 5 the roads will be fine. We hope to see you there because we are combining the Architecture Section meeting with this event,

Blog Awards Finalist

2011-01-17T17:37:00.000-06:00

The Riverfront Times has listed the blogs of the St. Louis Artists' Guild as a finalist for 'Best Arts Blog' in the area. We are pleased for the Guild and our Section for the recognition. More importantly, we hope to continue to be a source for interesting info in the years ahead.

New Year, New Section

2011-01-03T16:57:00.004-06:00

Our first meeting of the year will take place at the Gimme Shelter event at SPACE Architects on 1/20/2011. It is a Thursday and the time is 5:30PM. Here are a few more details:

Herb’n Maid is excited to announce the third in our series of Herb’n Giving events, GIMME SHELTER Architects’ Eco-Challenge.

Presented by Herb’n Maid and SPACE Architecture + Design, GIMME SHELTER will benefit Animal House Fund, a new pet adoption shelter in midtown St. Louis.
For our January 20th event, we’ll shine the spotlight on sustainable building and showcase local architects, designers and fabricators who do innovative, groundbreaking work while treading lightly on the planet. It is our hope that those who attend the event will go home and look for ways large and small to incorporate some of the learning into projects in their own homes and gardens.
THE CHALLENGE

The GIMME SHELTER Architects’ Eco-Challenge is to design and fabricate a functional dog house or cat condo using sustainable materials and practices. Contestants must use at least 65% used, salvaged or reclaimed materials and cannot spend more than $250. (Architects, email us at gimmeshelter@herbnmaid.com to request complete rules and guidelines.)
THE CHARITY

Animal House is a private, non-profit shelter for City cats, providing housing, nourishment, medical attention, socialization and loving attention to cats with a primary focus on their general well-being and on preparing them for adoption into a forever home. Part of creating the best environment for the care of animals as to be as toxin- and waste-free as possible. To that end, Animal House is repurposing a former warehouse at 2801 Clark Avenue in midtown and developing as many sustainable principles and practices as possible.
THE EVENT

You're invited to come out to see the modern, creative work of select local architects on Thursday, January 20th, and to vote for the grand prize winning entry. All entries will be up for auction, with 100% of proceeds going directly to Animal House. Advance tickets will be available for $9 and a few tickets will be held at the door for $15. RSVP here and receive an announcement when tickets go on sale. In the spirit of sustainability, complimentary local and organic hors d'oeuvres will be served. Raffle prize drawings and other surprises await.
SAVE THE DATE

Thursday 1/20/2011 5:30 PM At SPACE Architecture + Design in the Grove neighborhood
THE SPONSORS

GIMME SHELTER Architects' Eco-Challenge is presented by Herb'n Maid (http://herbnmaid.com/) and SPACE Architecture + Design (http://spacestl.com/).
Ameren's Pure Power will offset the electricity used at this event with REC's from Missouri wind farms.
Promotional support provided by Darren Brune Design and Sprout Ideation (http://sproutideation.com/).
To sponsor this event or donate products, services or funds to the cause, email us at richelle@herbnmaid.com. Subject line: GIMME SHELTER.

Call for Entries - Gimme Shelter

2010-12-29T15:48:00.002-06:00

Gimme Shelter is an Eco-Challenge to support Animal House (a no-kill cat shelter that took over for The City Pound). This is a design/construction competition to support and demonstrate creative sustainable practices in the form of a cat or dog shelter.

Details on the competition can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100495683357017

Entries are due mid January of 2011, however, the event organizers would love to hear about commitments to participate the first week of January.

On Thursday, January 20th, the public is invited to to see the modern, creative work of select local designers and architects. The audience will vote for the grand prize winning entry. All entries will be up for auction, with 100% of proceeds going directly to Animal House. In the spirit of sustainability, complimentary local and organic hors d'oeuvres will be served. Silent auction prize packages and other surprises await.

Call for Submissions!

2010-12-06T20:28:00.000-06:00

Verge: Sustainability and the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region

Sustainability and the Built Environment of the St. Louis Region is an examination of where we stand, as a culture of consumption, and where we may be headed in the future. Focus on sustainability efforts and opportunities of the St. Louis regional built environment. Seek examples of work illustrating the biggest consumers and the best conservationists. The artist’s or designer‘s statement should explain the societal impact of the submission’s subject matter.

Artists, designers, architects, creators and design firms are invited to submit work in various media (including photography, three dimensional design, slides, video/film/digital, drawings, etc.) and are encouraged to consider many aspects of the theme.

Prospectus

Chris Jordan will be the juror and the show will open on 11/11/11

Check it out and bring the arts and sustainability communities together to raise awareness of the good and the bad of sustainability in our region.

Come on out on December 15th!

2010-12-06T20:19:00.000-06:00

Congrats to Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis!

2010-10-27T11:39:00.000-05:00

Habitat for Humanity St. Louis now has 52 LEED Certified Homes. 51 are platinum and 1 gold. There are almost 30 under construction now and these are tracking platinum certification as well.

Next Meeting: 10/28/2010 @ 7:00PM @ SLAG

2010-10-13T14:19:00.001-05:00

Prepare a final announcement for the 11/11/11 show and coordinate/set up some good meetings for the winter.

The image above is by Chris Jordan, who will be the juror of our show. More on him later - and a special thanks to Dana Gray for making this happen.
Chris Jordan: This links to his web site and it will be easy to see that he is wide awake and fully engaged in what is going on around us.

Important Meeting on 9/29

2010-09-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

We will begin the serious work of planning our 2011 exhibit from logistics and marketing forward. Come on by and learn all about the program and the many ways in which you can participate.

Back to Work!

2010-09-06T14:43:00.000-05:00

Having taken it easy for a month or so it is time for our section to get serious once again. The main focus of our work in the coming year will be the preparation for a large, mulit-faceted exhibit in 2011. We also plan to host meetings that will bring the art and architecture of our region more closely into focus.

2010-07-18T10:16:00.000-05:00

In late 2008 AFH and some Washington University Architecture students got a chance to do some studies on a building in Old North that would be converted into a grocery coop. By September of 2009 the students work had helped pave the way to funding and yesterday was the grand opening of the store. The idea that a little bit of work by a lot of people and, I imagine, a lot of work by a few and quite a bit of patience could lead from idea to reality is really key to understanding progress in urban renewal. Here is a bit of the history and a few pix from yesterday.

From: Karen Heet

Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2009 12:36 PM

To: Richard Reilly

Subject: ONSL Grocery Co-op has been funded!

Richard,

I also wanted to share with you that the food co-op we’re developing in 2718 N 13th Street has been funded by the Missouri Foundation for Health! It’s a three year grant for operational expenses, so we still need to find funding for the building renovations, but your work with the WU architectural students helped MFH understand the concept. You’ll see in our attached newsletter a rendering done by the students. This was instrumental in conveying our vision.
Karen

I took the pictures below yesterday and it was great to see the enthusiastic crowd understanding the value of having quality, locally grown food available close to home. Think of what this means for convenience and reduced transportation effort for putting a meal together!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

Architecture for Humanity - St. Louis

2010-06-16T09:07:00.002-05:00

Here is a rough-in of a cover piece and site plan on a project in East St. Louis. At AFH we can often help young not-for-profit organizations get some preliminary planning work done and better prepared for fundraising efforts.

June 24th Meeting: SLAG 7:00PM

2010-06-14T19:40:00.000-05:00

Seth Teel, one of the Business Journal's 30 under 30, will present on the adaptive reuse of existing structures into music and entertainment venues in our fair city. The meeting will begin at 7:00PM and we will adjourn until August after reviewing 10 minutes or so of official business. More details to come but pleas mark your calendars and help spread the word.

The Arch at Sunrise

2010-06-06T10:30:00.002-05:00

May 27th Meeting

2010-05-23T19:08:00.005-05:00

http://www.treehuggerproject.com/

Agnieszka Gradzik will provide a brief presentation of the Tree Hugger Project at our meeting on Thursday 5/27 at 7:00PM in the members gallersy at the St. Louis Artists' Guild in Oak Knoll Park.

The TreeHugger Project is an ongoing work of Environmental Art designed to help us rediscover
our relationship with nature at a very personal and intimate level. Made from
twigs, branches, sticks, vines, and other natural materials, these playful sculptures remind us
that we humans are still very much part of our natural surroundings. The work pictured above is installed at the corner of Shaw and Vandenter.

Agnieszka Gradzik and Wiktor Szostalo are internationally-recognized artists with installations
in several cities in the U.S. and abroad, including Austria, Poland and Denmark. They
were commissioned for the 2008 and 2009 U.N. Climate Change Conferences, in Poznan,
Poland and Copenhagen, Denmark, where a 14 figure installation titled “Lonely Tree -
Lonely People” is still on display at the historic City Hall in the center of Copenhagen.

Art & Land

2010-05-10T09:58:00.002-05:00

Ecology of Absence: A New Flounder House in Old North

2010-05-08T19:57:00.001-05:00

Ecology of Absence: A New Flounder House in Old North

Check this out about Habitat in Old North. Great images and a bit of history worth noting.

from the NY Times on Architecture

2010-05-03T21:11:00.001-05:00

May 3, 2010
By the Architects, for the People: A Trend for the 2010s
By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF
NEWARK — Last week, when the city planning board here voted to approve construction of a four-block-long mixed-use development, the decision was barely noticed outside a small circle of civic boosters. But it was a turning point in the career of the project’s architect, Richard Meier.
For decades Mr. Meier, with his trademark dark suits and leonine white hair, has been a fixture on the New York social scene, where he often rubs elbows with his moneyed clients. And his designs, from second homes in the Hamptons to international art museums, have become known for an almost unbearable, and expensive, refinement. He is the Martha Stewart of the Modernists.
But the Newark development, a complex for middle- and lower-income tenants to be known as Teachers Village, takes Mr. Meier, 75, back to his roots, to a time more than 40 years ago when he devoted as much energy to subsidized housing as to beach houses. Despite the project’s modest budget of $120 million, its tautly composed and thoughtfully laid out forms reflect the same intelligence and care found in most of Mr. Meier’s work. City officials are hoping its design — along with its location, a dilapidated neighborhood between City Hall and a cluster of college campuses — will help contribute to a much wider urban revival.
Teachers Village is not only the most impressive of several new initiatives in Newark, but also the most dramatic example yet of what is shaping up to be a significant and hopeful trend in architecture. After a long period in which America’s greatest talents seemed to work almost exclusively at the service of the wealthy, there are signs that their efforts are trickling down to other segments of society. In New York, for example, Annabelle Selldorf, best known for the exacting precision of her gallery designs and loft renovations — and for revamping the Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel — is about to break ground on a recycling plant on the Brooklyn waterfront; she may soon start work on another in the Bronx. Michael Maltzan, the architect behind the Museum of Modern Art’s temporary home in Queens during its last renovation, as well as homes for major art collectors, recently completed his second housing project for the homeless in six years, and is now working on his third.
If things continue this way, it may actually mean a renewal of architecture’s onetime commitment to elevating the lives of ordinary people. Such a renewal is not likely to be as ambitious — some would say naïve — in its social aims as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and the Modernist architecture that was dominant at the time. But it could lead to a fresh engagement with some of the challenges those movements took on, an engagement informed by the lessons of their failings.
Mr. Meier’s career in particular neatly reflects the historical ups and downs of the past half century. In the late 1960s, he was approached by the newly created Urban Development Corporation of New York State to design a 523-unit project in the Bronx. As an alternative to the conventional tower-in-the-park model, he created three midrise buildings that were lifted up on columns to invite the neighborhood into their central courtyard.
Photos of that project, called Twin Parks, were published in Architectural Forum and The New York Times, and the state went on to hire Mr. Meier to design a vast developmental center for the mentally handicapped in the Bronx.
But by then the backlash against large-scale Modernist housing — and the government programs that paid for it — was in full swing, as even progressive projects like Mr. Meier’s failed to deliver on their promises. Modernism of every stripe was condemned, sometimes unfairly, for a tabula rasa approach to planning and insensitivity to local contexts. By the Reagan era, “inner-city” housing projects had given way, as the dominant symbols of urban design, to festival marketplaces and corporate towers.
“It’s always about the clients,” the architect Steven Holl said in a recent interview. “Without good clients you can’t have good architecture.” When he first came to New York in 1977, he said, the Urban Development Corporation was working with some of the profession’s most adventurous thinkers. José Luis Sert, a former dean of Harvard’s graduate school of architecture, had just designed a high-density housing development for Roosevelt Island, and Peter Eisenman, a radical thinker, had recently completed a housing project in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
The building surge of the ’80s produced little serious architecture, and when it began to return in the 1990s and 2000s, it was generally in the form of cultural institutions and corporate towers. Any trickling that occurred, in terms of architectural talent, tended to be up, as mainstream developers discovered that a recognizable design name could be a valuable tool in marketing luxury high-rises.
When Nicolas Berggruen, a co-developer of the Newark project and one of its main investors, first approached Mr. Meier in 2006, it was to design a luxury tower for some property he owned in Tel Aviv. The Newark project, which was begun a year later, began as a mix of condos and low- and middle-income housing anchored at one end by twin 77-story condo and office towers. But the towers, especially, turned out to be impossible to finance, and Ron Beit, Mr. Berggruen’s local partner and the principal developer, began casting around for new ideas to develop the site.
“When we started to look at the area again, we realized that the middle-income had really been left out,” Mr. Beit said, and teachers in particular. “There were already 1,000 charter schoolteachers here, and another 5,000 in public school,” he said. “They’re highly educated and urban, so they were a natural fit.”
The final version of the proposal is organized around two new charter-school buildings (one housing two schools) that are to be set on either side of Halsey Street, a strip of decaying and abandoned buildings. The apartment buildings, which will serve teachers working throughout the city and range in size from 17 to 66 units, will extend from each end of this central group, like limbs reaching out into the neighborhood.
Mr. Meier has gone to greater lengths than in the past to merge his design with its context, not just by breaking it down into several buildings, but also by using strategies like a pedestrian passageway cut between two of the charter schools. In an effort to diminish the monumentality of a building that houses two schools, part of it will be clad in white metal panels, part in brick. And the few existing buildings worth preserving, including an old red-brick factory and a two-story stucco building that houses Je’s Restaurant, a local landmark, will be restored.
The design incorporates some of the sensibilities that can be found in Mr. Meier’s higher-end projects. The apartment buildings include small, open courtyards and outdoor terraces, bringing light deep into their interiors. In each building a ground-floor retail level is conceived as a glass band, imbuing the floors above with an air of weightlessness. This effect is reinforced by the irregular pattern of the apartment windows, which gives the facades a cubist feeling.
Mr. Meier has already completed a preliminary design for a second phase of development, with 15 additional apartment buildings that Mr. Beit said could go into construction as early as 2011. It would extend the project several blocks to the north and west, giving it the kind of critical mass that could begin to turn the area around.
If the project succeeds in revitalizing Newark’s bleak downtown — or even if it simply manages not to be swallowed up by the decay around it — its most important impact may be to help open eyes again to architecture’s potential role in addressing complex urban challenges.
Mr. Meier, as much as anyone, is aware of how tenuous that role can be. Recently, I drove out to the Newark site with him, and we took a short detour to the Bronx, to visit Twin Parks. The complex, once so open to the neighborhood around it, is now walled off behind chain-link fencing, giving it the air of a minimum-security prison. A steel gate, flanked by a security booth, blocks off a street that used to run through it. In an attempt to make the place feel more homey, someone has decorated the entry to the manager’s office with a white picket fence.
When we left, Mr. Meier was uncharacteristically silent. “You always hope what you build has arms, that they reach out and affect others,” he finally said, with obvious pain in his voice. “You want to feel you’ve done something that allows other positive things to happen.”

Stoddard County

2010-05-02T14:40:00.004-05:00

Detail from a 170 year old house that survived 16 changes of control between the North and South during the Civil War. Can we save it? See

http://riles-files.blogspot.com/2010/05/can-oldest-building-in-stoddard-county.html for more pix.

The Green Building Envelope

2010-04-29T10:39:00.003-05:00

City+Arch+River 2015: Meet the Design Teams This Wednesday

2010-04-26T10:18:00.003-05:00

This Wednesday (4/28/10) Joe Buck will host, City+Arch+River 2015 Meet the Design Teams at the Robert's Orpheum Theatre. "Design teams leaders will describe their teams, share prior relevant works, and discuss how they will approach the competition’s design goals as they being designing their entries." The event starts and 6:30pm and you must RSVP to attend. You can RVSP here.

For more information about the City+Arch+River 2015 Design Competition check out the official website: www.cityarchrivercompetition.org

Event Details:
April 28th, 2010
Doors @ 6:30pm
Roberts Orpheum Theater
416 North 9th Street
St. Louis, MO 63102
*** RSVP Here ***

Regional Housing Conference

2010-04-25T19:39:00.003-05:00

http://stlregionalhousingconference.ning.com/ is the website for the conference I spoke at on Friday. This is an interactive web site you can join and work with as a resource and a place to make a contribution.
The conference was sponsored by UMSL, The St. Louis Federal Reserve, and East-West Gateway. The site will eventually have the powerpoints of all the presenters and there were some very good presentations covering many issues with some incredible stats about the state of housing in our region.
Please check it out and join the conversation.

TreeHugger Celebration

2010-04-21T21:10:00.002-05:00

The Southwest Garden Neighborhood has commissioned artists Agnieszka Gradzik and Wiktor Szostalo to create two TreeHugger figures with bicycles by their sides. The TreeHuggers will be installed Friday, April 23, 6 pm, at the corner of Shaw and Vandeventer. For the neighborhood it will be a symbol for their sustainability initiatives. Their celebrating the TreeHuggers arrival with music and a bike parade.

For the artists, this project is an ongoing effort, having produced TreeHugger installations at the 2008 and 2009 U.N. International Climate Change conferences, and other locations. www.treehuggerproject.com

near Crown Candy

2010-04-16T20:31:00.001-05:00

uHome uCity

2010-04-08T09:40:00.001-05:00

http://samfoxschool.wustl.edu/news/3427
Check out this story on LEED homes in the design phase for University City.

The Future of Haiti?

2010-03-30T21:45:00.003-05:00

March 31, 2010
Architecture
A Plan to Spur Growth Away From Haiti’s Capital
By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF
Even as outsiders feel sympathy for Haiti’s suffering, they tend to look upon it as a country beyond saving.
Now there is a plan to do just that, and it is surprisingly convincing. The lucid, far-reaching reconstruction guidelines that the Haitian government is scheduled to unveil on Wednesday at a donors’ conference at the United Nations should give all who care about Haiti’s future cause for hope.
Prepared by a group of urban planners from the Haitian government agency responsible for the country’s development, the plan is built around a bold central idea: to redistribute large parts of the population of Port-au-Prince to smaller Haitian cities, many of them at a safe distance from areas most vulnerable to natural disaster. In the process the plan would completely transform Haiti from a country dominated by a single metropolis to what the planners call a network of smaller urban “growth poles.”
The guidelines are still in a nascent stage, and Haiti’s fate will ultimately have a lot to do with economic and political developments beyond the scope of planners. But the guidelines already surpass any of the early reconstruction plans for post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans or for the parts of Asia affected by the tsunami in 2004. The guidelines’ well-reasoned thinking about environmental threats and the history of urban development in Haiti suggests that they could become a reliable blueprint not just for reconstruction, but also for solving many of the urban ills that have plagued the country for decades.
The causes of those troubles can be traced back a century. Haiti was once primarily rural, with its major economic activity distributed among several ports along the northern, western and southern coasts. But after the United States invaded in 1915, the Americans began to concentrate most trade operations in Port-au-Prince, the site of their military headquarters. The port was dredged to make room for big new steamships; other major ports, to the north and west, began to lose their importance. By the middle of the 1960s, François Duvalier had shut down the other ports entirely as part of an effort to concentrate his power base in the capital.
The growth of Port-au-Prince accelerated in the political turmoil after Duvalier’s son and heir, Jean-Claude, fled the country in 1986. Over the next 20 years, the city’s population nearly doubled, to close to three million people, according to some estimates.
The effect of this shift was an urban disaster — one that has put more and more pressure on the capital while draining the provinces of economic opportunity.
“You need to restore a balance,” said Leslie Voltaire, an urban planner and a special envoy to the United Nations, in an interview on Tuesday. “If we don’t do anything, Port-au-Prince is expected to grow to 6,000,000 in the next 15 years. It will become an incubator for further crime and violence. Our economic advantage is in agriculture and tourism, and these are by nature decentralized.”
The notion of shrinking the capital and reviving provincial cities dates back to 1987. It was enshrined as a goal in the post-Duvalier constitution by a government seeking to redistribute political power and has been brought up periodically by urban planners ever since, to little effect.
The environmental and geological concerns raised by the earthquake have made this approach seem all the more critical. Geologists point out that the dangers posed by the fault line running across Port-au-Prince are compounded by others, like landslides and flooding.
In essence, the guidelines treat the recent disaster as an opportunity. Thousands of public buildings in Port-au-Prince were destroyed by the earthquake, including schools, hospitals and markets. Around 600,000 survivors have since fled the capital for cities like Cap Haitien, in the north, and Hinche, in the central plateau. The population of Gonaïves, a port city on the west coast roughly midway between the country’s two major fault lines, has swollen to 300,000 from 200,000 in less than three months.
By relocating many schools and hospitals to smaller cities, planners hope to create an economic incentive to keep people from returning to Port-au-Prince once reconstruction begins. The new buildings could be organized around public squares and parks to provide civic centers to communities sorely lacking in them.
Planners have outlined a similar approach for rural villages, with farms encircling a communal core containing a market, a school and health-care facilities. The public structures would be built by the government; much of the housing could be put up privately by Haitians but under stricter building regulations. (Mr. Voltaire even imagines a prototype for basic shelter that could be transformed into a more permanent house over time.)
“This will only work if these poles become magnets of attraction — with agriculture, tourism, industry and especially jobs,” Mr. Voltaire said. “Otherwise, these people are going to come back.”
If they do return, it will be to a Port-au-Prince that was already stretched beyond capacity before the quake. International aid organizations invested heavily in the city’s infrastructure in the 1970s, building sewers and expanding the electrical network, but there has been almost no investment since. Sewage treatment facilities are more or less nonexistent. The city’s building code is barely two pages long.
The guidelines could lead to new zoning regulations that would at least begin to segregate residential from commercial activities in some of the densest downtown areas. A light rail system, running on a north-south axis through the city center, would help relieve traffic congestion. The millions of cubic tons of debris resulting from the earthquake would be used as landfill at the water’s edge, creating room for a waterfront park in a city in dire need of public space. Sites that were once occupied by schools and hospitals that have been moved out of town would be turned into other parks and public squares.
“The best thing that could happen is to insert public spaces — new parks, squares, exchange centers, markets — into these voids,” Mr. Voltaire said. “We should think in terms of the city’s urban evolution rather than large-scale development.”
More than a few of the renderings at this early stage suggest conventional planning formulas found in Southern California, suburban Boston or Beijing. But what matters is the underlying principles that inform the guidelines and that treat the reconstruction effort as an opportunity to build community.
What Haiti’s planners will need next is not just money, but also access to ideas. Mr. Voltaire and a group of Haitian planners spent several days last week refining their plan at the University of Miami, for example. The institution’s faculty and students provided much-needed logistical support, helping to produce maps and renderings. It was also an opportunity for the university, a stronghold of New Urbanism, to promote that movement’s small-town planning philosophy.
In New York the architect Steven Holl recently completed a proposal for urban reconstruction, though he has had no direct contact with the Haitian government. In contrast to the New Urbanist model, his proposal, though few have seen it, favors urban density over suburbanization.
I’ve had reservations about New Urbanist theory in the past. But the point is that those who are planning Haiti’s reconstruction should have access to the widest range of talent and ideas. International development authorities could set up such a framework. Haiti can then determine the best fit for itself.
This will not be an easy task. Americans may remember the good will that swirled around New Orleans in the months after Hurricane Katrina. Architects and planners, moved by what they saw, churned out plans for the city’s recovery. Some of these plans — environmentally sensitive, rooted in a knowledge of New Orleans and its racial and social tensions — could have formed the foundation for something of genuine value. But a connection between good urban planning ideas and political realities on the ground was never made. The best plans went nowhere. Let’s pray that doesn’t happen in Haiti.

Pritzker Prize

2010-03-28T19:23:00.003-05:00

2010 Pritzker Prize Winner Announced

Slide Show of The New Museum

Meeting on 3/25/2010

2010-03-23T22:03:00.002-05:00

The next meeting of our section is this Thursday at the Guild at 7:00PM. Feel free to come by and check us out. It will feature a presentation by Rob Wagstaff on the design and re-development of the 14th Street Mall in Old North.

from the NY Times

2010-03-17T16:16:00.001-05:00

March 10, 2010
How Green Is My Mansion?
By FRED A. BERNSTEIN
MITCH KAPOR, the software mogul and philanthropist, has given millions of dollars to environmental groups.
Now Mr. Kapor wants to build a 10,000-square-foot house, complete with a 10-car garage, in Berkeley, Calif.
When the house won planning approval earlier this year, many neighbors were surprised — not so much by the size of the house, or by its sleek design, but by the fact that, under Berkeley regulations, the house will qualify as “green.” In Berkeley, building proposals are evaluated on a “green point” scale, earning credit for such eco-conscious features as low-flow shower heads and insulation. A house with more than 60 points is labeled green, regardless of its size.
Gary Earl Parsons, a Berkeley architect and a member of that city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, called the designation of the Kapor house as green “absurd.”
“That the staff, the owners and the architects indulge in this kind of greenwashing only serves to make a joke out of Berkeley’s environmental aspirations,” Mr. Parsons wrote on the Berkeleyside blog.
Greg Powell, the city’s senior planner assigned to the project, defended the point system. “True, the greenest house is the house you don’t build,” he said. “But we assume people are going to build new homes, and we encourage them to make them better.”
But the system’s failure to account for size enrages some environmentalists, who note that a 10,000-square-foot house is likely to require four times the resources of the average new American house, which, according to the Census Bureau, is under 2,500 square feet.
In an appeal of the Kapor decision to the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board, a group of neighbors, including Susan and Chuck Fadley, who live about 200 yards from where the Kapors hope to build, wrote that “green building begins with using ‘just enough’ and preserving what already exists. Clearly the idea of ‘just enough’ is not part of the design concept.”
Donn Logan, Mr. Kapor’s architect, wrote in an e-mail message that he and Mr. Kapor, the founder of Lotus Development Corp., were too busy to respond to questions. But Mr. Logan, of the firm Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects, said it is unfair to describe the house as having 10,000 square feet; its living area is 6,500 square feet. (The garage accounts for 3,500 square feet.)
Mr. Logan said the Web site of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation, MKF.org, offered proof of Mr. Kapor’s commitment to environmental causes. The foundation has given grants to dozens of environmental programs in California.
But the controversy over whether a large house can be green has implications far beyond the wooded lot on Rose Street, where Mr. Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, the founder of the Level Playing Field Institute, a nonprofit that promotes fairness in educational and workplace settings, hope to live.
Nationally, some 10,000 buildings have been certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program of the United States Green Building Council.
Like Berkeley’s green designation, LEED certification relies on a point system. Buildings get credit for specific eco-friendly features, some of which can be rewarded with tax credits or abatements. The LEED for Homes system “reallocates” points if a house is much larger than average, according to Scot Horst, the green building council’s vice president for LEED. But that reallocation doesn’t prevent very large homes from achieving LEED designations, he said, so long as they include enough green features.
“In other parts of the world, there are government mandates for building performance,” Mr. Horst said. “But we don’t do that in the United States.”
William H. Harrison, an Atlanta architect with a stable of wealthy clients, said penalizing people for building large houses could slow the adoption of green building practices. “The people who can afford the green technologies are going to want large houses,” he said. And those innovations, he said, will trickle down to smaller houses.
Mr. Harrison said that one of his clients is planning to build a 25,000-square-foot house in Los Angeles. But he opted out of the LEED system, Mr. Harrison said, when he learned that it was virtually impossible to get the highest LEED rating, known as platinum.
“He’s a billionaire, and he drives a Prius, for God’s sake,” said Mr. Harrison of his client. “He wants to do the right thing, environmentally. And now he’s being told, ‘You’re not good enough, because your house is too big.’ ”That, Mr. Harrison said, “is about socialism, not sustainability.”
Mr. Harrison said he is working on a 50,000-square-foot house in Kiev, Ukraine. The project, he said, “is going to employ 5,000 people for three years. All those people will have jobs, and feed their families. Should I tell my client not to build it? Or should I participate — try to make it as green as possible? The answer is, I should do what I’m doing. I don’t feel guilty at all.”
Jim Nicolow, the director of sustainability at Lord, Aeck & Sargent, an architecture firm with offices in Atlanta; Ann Arbor, Mich., and Chapel Hill, N.C., credited LEED with making sustainability a part of the discussion between architects and clients. But, he said, “there are a lot of problems with the system.”
For architects, Mr. Nicolow said, there is a constant question of whether to take a bad project and try to make it better. “I don’t fault the architect for making a living,” he said. “If you get a project, you tend to take the project.”
Berkeley’s green point system was developed by a nonprofit group called Built It Green and adopted by the city government. Items on the checklist include: tightly seal the air barrier between the garage and living area; insulate hot water pipes; use Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood; use paint low in volatile organic compounds. About 70 local governments in California have ordinances based on the Build It Green checklist, according to Bruce Mast, an executive of the organization.
The plan for the Kapors’ house received 91 points, 31 more than required for a green designation in Berkeley. Before the couple can start building, they will have to demolish an existing 2,500-square-foot house on the site and cut down mature trees.
But the site of the Kapor house is so large, said Mr. Powell of Berkeley, that even with a very big house, the percentage of the lot that is covered will be low for the area. And, he said, they are proposing the 10-car garage not because they have a lot of cars, but because neighbors expressed concern about on-street parking. They’re addressing the issue “on their own nickel,” he said.
Because the decision to approve the house has been appealed, the city council will review the case in April, Mr. Powell said. The council, he said, could approve the application, set a hearing date or remand the case to the zoning board for reconsideration.
However the Kapor case is decided, it could lead to changes in the checklist approach used in Berkeley and elsewhere. In their appeal to the board, residents proposed a modification to the “green point” system.
Since the house is at least the size of three typical houses, they wrote, “the 91 green points earned should really be divided by three, yielding a score of 30.”
That is far below the number required for a green designation.

International Green Construction Code

2010-03-16T11:20:00.000-05:00

The American Institute of Architects - International Green Construction Code Nears Final First Draft, Practicing Architecture
Thanks to Pat Croghan for sharing this story.

2010-03-14T16:49:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Steve Patterson for tweeting about this upcoming film. Click on the image to go to the films website. Maybe we can help get the film to St. Louis for a screening this year.

by definition

2010-03-14T15:09:00.003-05:00

architecture: (Latin „architectura“, from the Greek „arkitekton“, ὰρχιτεκτονική – arkhitektonike, from ὰρχι chief or leader and Τεκτονική builder or carpenter) is the art and science of designing buildings and other physical structures.

ar·chi·tec·ture
/ˈɑrkɪˌtɛktʃər/[ahr-ki-tek-cher] –noun
1.
the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect. Architecture often includes design or selection of furnishings and decorations, supervision of construction work, and the examination, restoration, or remodeling of existing buildings.
2.
the character or style of building: the architecture of Paris; Romanesque architecture.
3.
the action or process of building; construction.
4.
the result or product of architectural work, as a building.
5.
buildings collectively.
6.
a fundamental underlying design of computer hardware, software, or both.
7.
the structure of anything: the architecture of a novel.
Origin: 1555–65

The phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from personal shelter to neighborhoods to the large-scale civic surroundings.
The term is widely used to describe the interdisciplinary field of study which addresses the design, construction, management and use of these man-made surroundings and their relationship to the human activities which take place within them over time. The field is generally not regarded as a traditional academic discipline in its own right, but as a "field of application" (or "interdiscipline") which draws upon the individual disciplines of economics, law, public policy, management, design, technology, and environmental sustainability.
In architecture and environmental psychology, the phrase is a useful acknowledgment that the majority of the urban environment already exists, that a small fraction of buildings constructed annually, even in the industrialized world, are designed by architects, and that users of the built environment encounter issues that cross the traditional professional boundaries between urban planners, traffic engineers, zoning authorities, architects, interior designers, industrial designers, etc.
In landscape architecture, the built environment is identified as man-made landscapes as opposed to the natural environment. For example, Central Park in New York City may have the look, feel and quality of natural surroundings, but is completely man-made and "built".
In urban planning, the phrase connotes the idea that a large percentage of the human environment is manmade, and these artificial surroundings are so extensive and cohesive that they function as organisms in the consumption of resources, disposal of wastes, and facilitation of productive enterprise within its bounds. Recently there has also been considerable dialogue and research into the impact of the built environment's impact on population health

AFH: 1st Walkthru in East St. Loiuis

2010-03-07T21:03:00.002-06:00

Old North is Coming Our Way

2010-03-05T12:37:00.004-06:00

Rob Wagstaff, AIA of Rosemann and Associates will be a guest at our next meeting. The date is March 25, the time 7:00PM at the Guild. More info to come.

Blast from the Past

2010-03-04T20:56:00.003-06:00

I was doing a little research and came across this piece in Architect magazine from 2007. What a difference a few years makes!

From: ARCHITECT
December 2007
Posted on: December 4, 2007
St. Louis, MO

The next chapter in the story of a great American city is taking shape.
By: Margot Carmichael Lester

Home to American icons the Gateway Arch and Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis is getting a new, edgier reputation thanks to a rise in biotechnology and medical research at Washington University. But this is just one reason biotech and pharmaceutical companies are setting up shop here; there are also the area's central location, good economy, and dual appeal as college town and Midwestern urban hub.

“We have some of the oldest housing stock in the country, with neighborhoods that predate streetcar-type urban neighborhoods,” explains Robert Wagstaff, a principal of local firm Rosemann & Associates. “As the urban lifestyle becomes increasingly more popular, this is a great strength. We have what people want—we just have to rehab it and make it accessible.”
That's driven about $4.5 billion in redevelopment of the city's core and renovations to surrounding residential areas. Projects include the redevelopment of the dying, 540,000-square-foot St. Louis Centre mall into a retail and residential complex. As a result, leaders are trying to balance St. Louis' rich architectural history with the needs of its promising future. “St. Louis' architecture is a rich reflection of the city's diverse French, Spanish, and German historical influences,” says Clark Davis, vice chairman of locally based megafirm HOK. “The city and region have also been fertile ground for modern design.”

How fertile? According to Eugene Mackey III of hometown firm Mackey Mitchell Associates, “We have 16 recipients of the National AIA Gold Medal in our region. That's more than New York.”

But the city's best-known landmark, Gateway Arch, could become a target for redevelopment. A recent study by the Danforth Foundation—a private enterprise that focuses solely on revitalizing the St. Louis region—suggested repurposing some of the parkland surrounding the arch to create a riverfront link to downtown, much like Chicago's Millennium Park.

Job/Population Growth:
The St. Louis metropolitan area is home to 2.8 million people and has experienced 37 consecutive months of net job growth.

Office Market:
Average asking rental rates for Class A space are $22.30 per square foot. For Class B space, landlords are asking an average of $17.21 per square foot.

Residential Market:
Year-to-date home sales declined 6.7 percent in September.

Market Strengths:
Central location
World-class institutions of higher education
Unique neighborhoods

Market Weaknesses:
Lack of clear regional leadership
Rapidly sprawling suburbs
High poverty rate

Forecast:
“There exists a new open and innovative spirit ... especially among its younger generation,” notes Fred Powers, principal at local firm Powers Bowersox Associates. “St. Louis is well positioned to be optimistic about its future for the next five to 10 years and beyond.”

Architecture for Humanity - St. Louis Meets at the Guild

2010-03-03T21:37:00.003-06:00

The St, Louis Chapter of AFH had its 1st meeting at the Artists' Guild tonight. In the top photo Frank and the team review our project list as we divvy up assignments. In the bottom photo we are introduced to the team from East St. Louis Community Arts Ensemble by Tara of AFH. We are going to help the group do some preliminary planning and master planning on an old school they acquired on 59th Street. Click on the images to enlarge. We will meet on the site, in East St. Louis this Saturday to do a site review at 1:30PM

Our work helps non-profits w/ little or no budget get started on projects for which they cannot afford professional services. It is our hope to provide materials that will help the group with securing the building, business planning and fund raising.

This group has a 30 year history of teaching music and dance in the community as they have moved from place to place with a nomadic existence and now they have a chance to settle down and expand their service offerings in the heart of the city as it seeks its own renaissance.

Architecture for Humanity - St. Louis

2010-03-02T19:49:00.000-06:00

Meeting at 7:00PM on Wednesday 3/3/2010 at the St. Louis Artists' Guild

Modular Construction

2010-03-01T22:18:00.004-06:00

The more I examine modular construction for single family residential work the less sense it seems to make on a small scale. The numbers don't make sense. The image above (click on it to enlarge) is of Moshe Safdie's Le Habitat in Montreal. Modular units w/ roof top gardens. What is you experience w/ modular construction?

one more reason to show up

2010-02-20T15:16:00.001-06:00

"Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around."
— Stephen King

Architecture for Humanity

2010-02-19T23:06:00.003-06:00

http://chapters.architectureforhumanity.org/st_louis/about is a link for our local chapter on the national site. You can register for free and keep up to date with local, national and international events.

from the NY Times on the Guggenheim

2010-02-14T18:03:00.003-06:00

I saw the Jenny Holzer exhibit at the Guggenheim in 89 or 90 and it was a mesmerizing use of the space. The stuff discussed below is not likely to be realized but it is a series of interesting thought experiments.

Link to Slide Show at NY Times

February 14, 2010

Thinking Outside the Void

By TED LOOS
THE dominant architectural exhibition of the past year was the Museum of Modern Art’s recent Bauhaus show, with its eminently utilitarian, practical ethos.
Now for something completely different: design concepts that are fanciful and sometimes half in jest, with little chance, in most cases, of ever being realized. “Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum,” which opened Friday, features 193 schemes for Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Fifth Avenue rotunda, that corkscrew structure that has delighted many (and also maddened quite a few) since it was built in 1959.

The exhibition is part of the museum’s continuing 50th anniversary celebration, and most of the designs will be auctioned off at an event in March, with proceeds going to future programming.
The Chinese artist Zhang Huan imagined sharks swimming around the space, while Peter Coffin turned it into an elaborate musical organ powered by ambient light. Several schemes filled the building with foliage, and more than one made it into a playground, emphasizing the potential for sliding down Wright’s famous ramp.
“We wanted to let people dream a little,” said Nancy Spector, the Guggenheim’s chief curator. “We downplayed the seriousness. In the letter we sent out asking for submissions, we called this show our ‘self-reflexive folly.’ ”
The plans are mostly two-dimensional computer renderings and digital prints, although some participants — who were about evenly divided between architects and artists — turned in hand-drawn renderings or collages.
And although some of the plans take a noticeably irreverent approach to Wright’s design, it clearly looms large in the imaginations of participants. Architects, in particular, were “so excited to engage the building,” said David van der Leer, the museum’s assistant curator for architecture. “Some of them were actually nervous about it.”

from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

2010-02-13T19:19:00.000-06:00

02.09.2010 9:00 pm
Designing citizens in hard times
By: Editorial Board

Many people in St. Louis have been hurt by the deep recession.
Some have had work hours cut or lost benefits. Others have been laid off or worked for businesses that closed their doors.
The architecture profession, national and locally, has been especially hard hit.
Roughly 30 percent of architects are unemployed. And it is not just new graduates or junior members of design firms who are jobless or underemployed, but mid-career professionals also are scrambling.
Public construction projects loom in the pipeline, many related to roads, bridges and other infrastructure funded through various federal economic stimulus initiatives. That might ease some pain. But nobody expects the design sector to rebound rapidly.
Holly Rudd is a young architect who helps to coordinate the local chapter of Architecture for Humanity, an international organization committed to bringing design and construction services to underserved communities. She and her colleagues — including design professionals between jobs — help people think through and organize a wide range of projects.
They recently have begun work with a community of women living in a city homeless shelter, figuring out together how the facility might be reconfigured to make it a more comfortable and functional living space.
John Wimmer is an architect and a principal organizer of “City Affair,” a growing group of preservationists, architects, urbanists and ordinary citizen activists that has held a series of public meetings on community planning — on the next “great streets” in St. Louis, on advocacy for public transit and more.
Individual architects throughout St. Louis have been using this period of economic turmoil as an exercise in citizenship that reminds us of the crucial role that designers play in forging our sense of community well being.
There’s irony in the timing of this professional crisis, at least locally. St. Louis is the focus of world attention in architectural circles. The city is the site of an international design contest called “Framing A Modern Masterpiece.” Architects from around the world are vying to develop the most compelling vision for better connecting Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch and the National Park in which it is situated to the local and world communities.
A short distance from the Arch grounds, off Martin Luther King Drive east of Kingshighway, a community group recently secured funding for a 40-unit historic rehab project involving 15 buildings. The project is situated in a once-racially exclusive enclave where St. Louis’ black middle and professional classes won early battles in integration. It, too, offers tangible proof of how design and architecture lie at the heart of civic triumphs.
Andrew J. Faulkner may be the archetype of the young designer starting a career in hard times. The recent Washington University graduate helps out at his alma mater, picks up a consulting gig where he can and volunteers time to community groups.
He believes the recession’s consolation is the chance for professional self-examination — that architects and designers will emerge from this recession with new strength and bursting with ideas for new projects.
Here’s to looking forward to that day.

Arch Grounds Move Forward?

2010-02-10T19:11:00.002-06:00

http://www.stlbeacon.org/content/view/100187/143/ is a link to an update on the Arch design competition.

Focus St. Louis

2010-02-10T09:44:00.002-06:00

The Focus St. Louis Environment Sustainability Roadmap and Tool Kit is out and about. Here is a link to the 12 page Executive Summary. Check it out and share it w/ your community.

The Guild Website

2010-02-06T10:33:00.001-06:00

http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/sections is a link to the sections page and here we are at the top of the list. It is a fine feeling to be moving forward.

from the St. Louis Beacon

2010-02-04T21:35:00.002-06:00

http://www.stlbeacon.org/content/view/99990/143/

This is a link to a project my wife did as an Art Teacher in the St. Louis Public System at Mason School in Clifton Heights.

and so it begins!

2010-01-27T21:21:00.001-06:00

Tonight the Board of Governors unanimously approved adding our section to the Guild. Stay tuned as we work to identify our regular meeting dates and begin to move forward.

Gordon Matta-Clark and 'Place'

2009-12-28T14:37:00.002-06:00

http://riles-files.blogspot.com/2009/12/gordon-matta-clark-and-place.html This a link to a post on my personal blog about 'place' words and prefixes. Intended as food for thought about language and 'place' in its many manifestations.

Inaugural Meeting

2009-12-14T22:51:00.003-06:00

14 people gathered at the St. Louis Artists' Guild tonight for the inaugural meeting of our section. Architects, artists, historians, analysts, business people, a landscape architect and others are joining together to fill a few gaps in the discourse regarding the built environment in our region. The next tasks include formulating the by laws, defining our mission and filling our leadership slots as we prepare to present to the Artists' Guild Board of Governors for approval in late January.