DOCOMOMO-US News Brief

JUNE 2011 DOCOMOMO US is the working party of Docomomo in the United States. It is a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization, a union of regional chapters that shares its members' knowledge of and enthusiasm for the Modern Movement, promotes public interest in it through lectures and walking tours, and organizes advocacy efforts to protect endangered sites and buildings. Join the national community of architects, historians, preservationists, students and modern movement enthusiasts dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of modern architecture and landscapes in the United States. Membership is available online atwww.docomomo-us.org or by downloading our membership form. Go Modern! at www.docomomo-us.org, and follow DOCOMOMO US on Facebook and Twitter IN THIS EDITION: - New Orleans: Phillis Wheatley Elementary School Demolished - Prentice Hospital Update - National Tour Day 2011 - The Cottages of Horace Gifford - DOCOMOMO US Annual Board Meeting: John Lautner Tours - Chapter Update: NOLA Announces iPhone App - Film Announcement: The Pruitt-Igoe Myth - Book Announcement: Luigi Moretti - Docomomo International Journal 43 - Save the Date: Tour Day 2011, John Lautner Turns 100, and more - Photo Contest LOST: PHILLIS WHEATLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DEMOLISHED DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana reports that less than 24 hours after receiving notice from RSD Superintendent John White, demolition of the historic Phillis Wheatley Elementary School(Charles Colbert, 1954) in the Treme-Lafitte neighborhood of New Orleans began late Friday afternoon, June 17. Photo: Times-Picayune/NOLA.com READ MORE > PRENTICE HOSPITAL UPDATE DOCOMOMO US/Chicago-Midwest details the recent events organized to raise public awareness about the importance of Bertrand Goldberg's threatened iconic cloverleaf-shaped building, including last week's "SAVE PRENTICE" rally outside the building in Chicago. READ MORE > NATIONAL TOUR DAY 2011: OCTOBER 8 - 10 DOCOMOMO US is excited to announce the fifth annual National Tour Day! Join us Columbus Day weekend, October 8-10, for a variety of exciting tours and exclusive access to sites of the Modern Movement. Events are scheduled all weekend long with tours hosted by DOCOMOMO US regional Chapters, Affiliates and Friend Organizations. Also announced: a special partnership with theSociety of Architectural Historians and the Philip Johnson Glass House, a National Trust Historic Site. READ MORE > THE COTTAGES OF HORACE GIFFORD Horace Gifford designed more than a hundred modern homes, primarily on Fire Island, just off of the Long Island Sound. Late last month DOCOMOMO US/New York/Tri-State hosted an evening with New York-based architect Christopher Rawlins on his upcoming publication entitled Sketches in the Sand: The Beach Houses of Horace Gifford. READ MORE > DOCOMOMO US ANNUAL BOARD MEETING: JOHN LAUTNER FOUNDATION TOUR For two days in early April 2011 the DOCOMOMO US Board convened in Los Angeles to both investigate and promote the organization’s national growth. To conclude the weekend the group visited three John Lautner-designed homes, led by Lautner archivist and author Frank Escher. Photo: DOCOMOMO US is welcomed at the Walstrom House READ MORE > DOCOMOMO US/LOUISIANA ANNOUNCES IPHONE APP DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana announces the release of their new mobile application New Orleans Regional Modernism. A project of the chapter and Tulane University, the free location-based app allows users to browse modern buildings in New Orleans by architect, neighborhood, category and status. READ MORE > FILM ANNOUNCEMENT: THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: An Urban History Documentary, 83min. Directed by Chad Friedricks Mid-century architecture, particularly when associated with Le Corbusier’s architectural concepts for urbanity, is today too often viewed as a colossal failure to be remedied only by demolition of all vestiges of that period.Pruitt-Igoe, the infamous 32 building high-rise public housing project on the north side of St. Louis, first occupied in 1954 and demolished between 1972 and 1976, continues to be the poster child for such a myopic bias. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth presents a new perspective on the project. READ MORE > BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: LUIGI MORETTI Luigi Moretti: Le ville disegni e modelli Carmen L. Guererro, Salvatore Santuccio, Nicolo Sardo, Authors. Published by Palombi Editori, 2009. This book, published in Italian alongside an English translation, shows in its 159 pages through many small photographs of models and thumbnail floor plans the houses and villas in the oeuvre of the Italian architect Luigi Moretti (1907-1973). In the Americas his name is best known as the architect of the Watergate Complex in Washington DC (completed 1971) and, with Pier Luigi Nervi, the Stock Exchange Tower in Montreal (completed 1965). DOCOMOMO INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL 43 We are pleased to announce Docomomo International Journal 43 Brasilia has been distributed to our international members. Journal 43 includes essays and articles discussing the monumental project that architecturally reshaped Brazil and influenced planning and urban design around the world. READ MORE > SAVE THE DATE! DOCOMOMO US TOUR DAY 2011 5th Annual National Event! October 8-10 Various locations READ MORE > Glass House: Conversations In Context through November 17, 2011 New Canaan, CT READ MORE > Knoll Textiles NEW! through July 18, 2011 New York, NY READ MORE > John Lautner Turns 100 NEW! July 16 - November 13, 2011 Los Angeles, CA and Marquette, MI READ MORE > Campus Heritage Symposium November 3 - 4, 2011 Washington, DC READ MORE > Second Wave of Modernism II NEW! November 18, 2011 New York, NY READ MORE > CONTEST: MEMBER TRIVIA Congratulations to our May trivia contest winner! Kai Gutschow of Pittsburg, PA correctly identified the exterior passageway of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, designed by Philip Johnson and dedicated in 1958. The winning entry was selected at random from all correct entries and will receive a prize from the DOCOMOMO archives. JUNE PHOTO Name this building and architect for a chance to win a prize from the DOCOMOMO archives. Email your responses to info@docomomo-us.org by June 30th. TALK TO US! The ongoing strength of DOCOMOMO US lies in the action and communication of our members. Please keep us apprised of your local work, advocacy and other current issues by e-mailing us at info@docomomo-us.org. This email was sent by DOCOMOMO US P.O. Box 230977 New York, NY 10023 United States To unsubscribe: http://docomomo-us.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=167&qid=32123&h=2dc81bd5c1339a06

Wheatley Demolition Accelerated

Dear Friends of DOCOMOMO-US/LA,

We regret to convey that Charles Colbert's lauded Phillis Wheatley Elementary began to be demolished on Friday 17 June 2011. Hannah Miet has covered the story for the Times Picayune. The structure is still standing, although battered by neglect and preliminary demolition work.

In this video clip from nola.com, former Phillis Wheatley Elementary student Phyllis Montana-LeBlanc, an actor and preservationist, witnessed the bulldozing. She has been a powerful advocate for saving the building. As we reported earlier this week, The Roots of Music envisioned renovating Phillis Wheatley School as the new headquarters for its nationally acclaimed youth program. DOCOMOMO-US/LA supported this proposal, canvassing Mayor Mitch Landrieu and new RSD Superintendent John White with pleas to preserve the innovative structure -- the site of historically significant music education programs -- for adaptive reuse. Despite such efforts, on 16 June, DOCOMOMO-US/LA supporters received letters advocating demolition from Mr. White, and bulldozers circled the next day.

While we are greatly saddened by this news, we want to convey our sincere thanks to all of you who lent your support!

DOCOMOMO Tour Day 2011

For this year's DOCOMOMO-US Tour Day Event, DOCOMOMO-US/LA is planning a special tour of modernist buildings on St. Charles Avenue. For a quick preview of some of the tour sites, check out Regional Modernism on flickr. For other cities' tour destinations, see the DOCOMOMO-US "Tour Day" page here.

A Modern Proposal :: The Roots of Music Center at Phillis Wheatley

A University of Virginia Proposal for the Renovation and Adaptive Reuse of the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School.

DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana is proud to stand with The Roots of Music and support their vision of the renovation and adaptive re-use of the Phillis Wheatley School as the new headquarters for their nationally acclaimed youth music program.  This proposal for the Roots of Music Center at Phillis Wheatley honors the continued legacies of educational innovation and preservation in New Orleans. Join us in supporting this synthesis of visionary architecture and musical education in the heart of the Treme.

Please email your support for this proposal to Recovery School District Superintendent John White and Mayor Mitchell Landrieu. This is our last chance to dance!

john.white@rsdla.net

mayor@nola.gov

Phillis Wheatley and The Roots of Music

a little background on a big idea...more coming soon ... stay tuned!

For the Roots of Music from Jack Cochran on Vimeo.

from Filmmaker Jack Cochran, University of Virginia, School of Architecture:

The film documents my studio’s trip to New Orleans this past September, where we met with The Roots of Music, a non-profit music education program in need of a larger facility to accommodate the high number of students currently on their waiting list.

Victor Bruno (1921-2011)

New Orleans modernist Victor Bruno passed away on Sunday 5 June after a prolonged illness. A graduate of Alcée Fortier High School as well as Tulane University (BA Science & Engineering 1943; MA Architecture 1947), Mr. Bruno was especially noted for his residential buildings.

The child of Tunisian immigrants, Bruno apprenticed in his father's cabinet-making shop before pursuing studies in architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright's work proved such a significant inspiration to Bruno that he followed the Prairie School architect's advice that one needed to build to really be an architect. Bruno's earliest post-graduate professional work was as a contractor-builder rather than as architect per se. After working for Blue Plates Foods contractor Lionel J. Favret, Bruno established his own architectural practice. Projects such as the Gallery Apartments (2511 St. Charles Avenue; 1962) garnered regional acclaim.

Recently, DOCOMOMO-US/LA President Francine Stock visited the architect in his Fontainebleau Drive home, where he posed with a series of holiday cards he designed over a sixty-year period [detail shown above]. To see more photographs, consult her Regional Modernism flickr set here; to read John Pope's Times Picayune obituary, click here.

Please email your support NOW!

The petition to

SAVE PHILLIS WHEATLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN NEW ORLEANS! SAY "NO!" TO DEMOLITION

has over 1900 signatures. I encourage you to sign the petition AND email a letter of support for preservation of Phillis Wheatley Elementary School to the following.

John White, Superintendent of the Recovery School District  john.white@rsdla.net
Mayor Mitchell Landrieu  mayor@nola.gov
Scott Hutcheson, advisor to the Mayor on the cultural economy  cshutcheson@nola.gov

THANK YOU!

And stay posted for an update soon!

Francine Stock

president

DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana