• Saint Petersburg Pier Design Winner To Be Announced

    Saint Petersburg Pier Design Winner To Be Announced

    Destined to become an iconic landmark for St. Pete, a panel of judges including three architects and two city officials will select the winning pier design today. After it was determined that the current pier needed replacement, the city announced that an international design competition would commence. Three architectural firms participated in the competition: Bjarke [...]

    Jan 20, 2012 | Have your say »

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Saint Petersburg Pier Design Winner To Be Announced

Destined to become an iconic landmark for St. Pete, a panel of judges including three architects and two city officials will select the winning pier design today.

After it was determined that the current pier needed replacement, the city announced that an international design competition would commence.

Three architectural firms participated in the competition: Bjarke Ingels Group, Michael Maltzan Architecture, and West 8 Urban Design and Landscape Architecture.

The three designs were offered to the public for feedback, and this feedback has been provided to the panel to aid in selection.  Once the panel selects a winner, the St. Pete City Council will need to approve the design.

The three designs include:

The Wave

Designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group, the Wave is a looped design that will allow space for a restaurant or museum.

The Lens

From above, the Lens appears to be looking under the water and back towards the city.  Designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture, the Lens will feature an underwater reef and boat rentals.

The Eye

Designed by West 8 and also dubbed the “people’s pier,” the eye would provide for a public beach.

The process can be seen live on St. Pete’s City Channel beginning at 8:30 am today: broadcast channel 35, Bright House Networks channel 615, Knology channel 15, and Verizon FiOS channel 20.

If the city council approves the winning design, construction completion is projected for 2016.

 

Read more HERE

Jan 20, 2012 | Categories: News | Tags: | Leave A Comment »

DOCOMOMO Florida Tour Day 2011

Two Jacksonville Events Attract Nearly 200 Attendees Each!!

Chalk one up for the Modernists!

DOCOMOMO US/Florida teamed with the Jacksonville Chapter of AIA and Old Arlington, Inc., a neighborhood preservation group, to produce two well-attended tours on October 8th, 2011.

The morning tour was launched at 9:00 a.m. with background presentations the National Trust’s Christine Madrid French, University of Florida Assistant Professor Marty Hylton, chapter President Richard Shieldhouse, and Bill Bishop, an architect who also serves as Vice-President of Jacksonville’s City Council.

 

The 180-seat sanctuary of Robert Broward’s 1965 Unitarian Universalist Church was standing room only for the one-hour series.  Tourgoers were then set free to explore six examples of houses from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the church, a fine example of organic architecture.

The houses — all in Jacksonville’s Arlington neighborhood — included a range of styles and remodelings — some clearly more successful than others.  One of the sites visited was a pristine example of a Cemesto, redwood, and glass structure which is still occupied by its original owner.

 

Another is a nearly complete renovation of a 1967 waterfront residence by William N. Morgan.  This house was on the verge of collapse two years ago.  Its new owners saved the structure from certain demolition and are sensitively providing it with new life.

 

In the afternoon a second tour offered visitors a chance to visit the former Ford Motor Company assembly plant on the other side of the St. Johns River.  This 1924 Albert Kahn design, though structurally sound, is in generally dreadful physical condition.

It is presently in use as a repair facility for wooden pallets and for trailer storage.  A variety of marine and other clients make use of adjacent property.  Its owners aspire to an adaptive reuse for the building, although there has been little traction with that regard.  The threat of demolition remains, especially in light of recent expansion of bulk-material facilities along the St. Johns River waterfront.

 

A copy of the booklet distributed to attendees is available by clicking HERE

 

Jan 20, 2012 | Categories: News, Organizational News | Tags: , , | Leave A Comment »

LINCOLN ROAD MALL ADDED TO THE NATIONAL REGISTER

 

Lincoln Road is arguably one of America’s most unique urban areas.  Its combination of space-age design, setting, and high-end stores and cafes, make it the place to see and be seen in South Beach.  It’s past is that of a boulevard that saw radical swings in popularity and retail patronage since its construction in 1914.  Today’s Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall tells the story of an urban design concept that saved the commercial main street – a story DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA believes is worth preserving.

Completed in December of 1960, only seven  blocks of the original concept were configured to Lapidus’s fantastic vision—a modernistic pedestrian mall with thin-shell concrete shelters, fountains, pools, tropical landscaping, and its signature black-and-white striped pavement.  Lincoln Road pedestrian mall was at the forefront in urban design and it remains the second-oldest and most intact pedestrian mall in the United States.  (A slightly older iteration in Kalamazoo, Michigan has been substantially altered and abbreviated since its 1959 inception.)  A 1990s redevelopment, done in consultation with Lapidus, brought new vitality to the district, while respecting the original concept and design.

The board of directors of DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA wanted to celebrate and honor the Lincoln Road Mall on its 50th birthday.  It also wanted to do something consistent with its mission of documenting and conserving the Modern movement. With an immediate need for someone or some entity to prepare the Lincoln Road’s nomination to the National Register, DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA’s board and members stepped in to fill the void.  The DOCOMOMO team, led by preservation planner Laura Lavernia; landscape architect Patricia Watkins; Sean McCaughan; and Richard Shieldhouse, completed Lincoln Road’s nomination proposal in late 2010.

 

DOCOMOMO’s nomination proposal was approved by the State of Florida’s National Register Review Board. It was listed on the National Register on May 16, 2011.

Jan 14, 2012 | Categories: National Register | Leave A Comment »