TOUR DAY: TWO JACKSONVILLE EVENTS ATTRACT NEARLY 200 ATTENDEES EACH

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

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 on the following image:

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DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA BOARD MEETING, OAKLAND PARK, FLORIDA, 4 DECEMBER 2010.

The DOCO-FLO Board of Directors met at the former studio and residence of noted South Florida architect Dan C. Duckham.

The board has decided to develop a conference on Modernism in Florida, with various themes, which may include links between Florida architecture and that of Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference is tentatively scheduled for early 2012. A call for papers is planned for January, 2011. More information will be available then.

The chapter's only Treasurer, Tony Abbate, is stepping down, citing his big workload organizing Sub-Tropical Cities 2011.

Architectural historian Kenneth Kalmis will be assuming Tony's duties as Treasurer. He also joings DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA's Board of Directors.

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October 3, 2010, was DOCOMOMO's annual tour day. DOCOMOMO US/Florida stepped up to the plate with three events in Ft. Lauderdale, Gainesville, and Jacksonville.

The Ft. Lauderdale event attracted 32 people to a symposium, walking tour, and boat tour featuring that city's Sailboat Bend Historic District.

Five tourgoers attended a tour which was quickly organized by the University of Florida's Historic Preservation Student and Alumni Organization. The tour featured mid-20th century buildings on the University's campus. DOCOMOMO US/Florida thanks the Organization for stepping up and contributing at the last minute.

Over 150 participants toured the Albert Kahn-designed former Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Jacksonville. The tour attracted the local Model A club, which showed up with a fleet of restored cars and trucks. A link to a news item and video clip appears here.

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DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA PAIRS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA DESIGN STUDENTS WITH BUILDING OWNERS TO HELP SAVE LANDMARK FORD MOTOR COMPANY ASSEMBLY PLANT

Board Members Richard Shieldhouse and Marty Hylton teamed up with owners of the 1926 Albert Kahn building to help stimulate awareness of the structure, while providing 16 students with a challenging design problem.

On April 9, 2010, the students presented their final designs to an audience of faculty, public officials, developers, cruise industry consultants, and others. More information is available here and here.

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200 ATTEND DOCOMOMO/AIA JACKSONVILLE SYMPOSIUM AND TOUR, MARCH 13, 2010

Two hundred interesting people appeared for our third annual event, jointly sponsored with the Jacksonville chapter of AIA.

The featured speaker and exclusive subject of the tour was Robert C. Broward. Other speakers included John Howey on the Sarasota School of Architecutre, David Laffitte on lighting, Dole Kelley on his career as a structural engineer and the Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ building, where the symposium was held, and Ann Baird and Kim Del Rance on St. Augustine's Davis Shores.

The tour visited three of Broward's most outstanding residential projects, the Mead House, Davidson House, and Westminster Woods retirement village. The latter project (originally Wesley Manor), has been threatened with demolition.

The tour began with a large one-man office and garage for luxury automobiles and finished with the Unitarian Universalist Church (1965), one of Broward's best-known projects.

All attendees received a full-color brochure which identified many of Broward's most profound works. To view PDFs of the brochure, click on the tiny image of its cover below.

Interior of Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ, site of the morning symposium.

Exterior of Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ, site of the 13 March symposium.

Exterior of Hall Office Building (1982).

Waterfront Mead residence, "Sunswept," built in 1981.

Bob Broward talks about the design, construction, and concept of Westminster Woods (formerly Wesley Manor), which was built in 1960.

106-year-old resident of Westminster Woods (formerly Wesley Manor Retirement Village) demonstrates the secret of her longevity.

Bob Broward and John Howey engage in discussion at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Jacksonville (1965).

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30 ATTEND JACKSONVILLE EVENT ON NATIONAL TOUR DAY

On a sweltering Saturday, 30 people attended the Jacksonville event on National Tour Day -- one of four DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA events.

The four-hour event began with an introductory presentation in the former private screening room of the Florida Theatre. Tour goers then headed out for a tour of that city's Police Memorial Building, which was designed by William N. Morgan and completed in 1975.

As originally designed, the building included extensive landscaped public areas on its multi-level rooftops. Security and maintenance concerns subsequently restricted access to these zones, but October 10th tourgoers got a rare opportunity to sense the original experience.

The group next headed to another Morgan structure, the former Daniel state office building, a 1979 edifice which is now part of the Hyatt Hotel.

From there, they headed north to the former Haydon Burns Library (designed by Taylor Hardwick and completed in 1965), which is now undergoing conversion into a mixed-use project.

DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA wishes to thank Joel McEachin of the Historic Preservation Section of Jacksonville's Planning and Development Department. Gary Dickinson with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arranged a super tour of an amazing building. Thanks also go out to Matt Graham of the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel.

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NILS M. SCHWEIZER FELLOWS JOIN DOCOMOMO

The Nils M. Schweizer Fellows, Central Florida's leading voice for preservation of the Modern Movement, voted to join DOCOMOMO. DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA welcomes NMS to the fold and looks forward to working with them to expand awareness all over the Sunshine State.

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SECOND JACKSONVILLE SYMPOSIUM AND TOUR HIGHLIGHTS BEACH MODERNISM

DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA and the Jacksonville chapter of the American Institute of Architects teamed up again on March 7, 2008, to highlight outstanding works of Modernism in Florida.

The focus of the day was on Modern architecture at coastal communities in Northeast Florida. DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA officials Enrique Madia, Jean-François Lejeune and Jan Hochstim provided interesting preservations on a range of topics. Architects Blake Ellis and Ted Pappas offered presentations on their work since the 1960s. The talks were held at Ellis's 1966 St. Paul's by the Sea Episcopal Church in Jacksonville Beach.

The tour included stops at the Milam House, the last Florida residence designed by Paul Rudolph, the Robert Ernest House in Atlantic Beach, and three different residences by noted Jacksonville architect William Morgan.

As in '08, the program was well-attended with 200 on hand for the presentations and 100 filling two tour buses.

L to R: John Howey, Enrique Madia & Jean-François Lejeune admire the Milam House.

100 visitors tour Milam House interior.

Robert Ernest's 1960 residence is one of three Duval County buildings completed by this genius before his untimely death.

William Morgan's Dickinson House, built in 1973, was inspired by the Governor's Palace at Uxmal, Yucatan.

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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA WORKSHOP TO DEFINE GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE RECENT PAST.

The three-day program of discussions, lectures and events also produced a document outlining the criteria for historic designation for these sites -- built and/or socially significant -- specific to the State of Florida. 

The workshop coincided with the exhibition of “Promises of Paradise: Staging Mid-Century Miami,” a show earlier exhibited at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Other partners of the workshop are DoCoMoMo/US Florida, the Alachua County School Board, and the Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Sarasota chapters of the AIA.

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GAINESVILLE FESTIVITIES HONOR 92ND BIRTHDAY OF ALFRED BROWNING PARKER.

A series of activities honored the birthday of Alfred Browning Parker, architect and professor emeritus at the University of Florida's College of Design, Construction & Planning. (For a biography of Alfred Browning Parker, click here.)

Events included a reception at the University of Florida's Smathers library, tours of Parker-designed houses in Gainesville, lectures by Monica Penick (Univ. of Texas) and Jan Hochstim (Univ. of Miami), and an exhibit at the University's Reitz Union.

The Smathers facility was chosen for the reception in part because it houses the University's newly developed Architecture Archives. More information on the archives and on the Alfred Browning Parker Architecture Archives Endowment is available here.

Gallery Talk at the Reitz Union Gallery (A.B. Parker, right-front).

Alfred Browning Parker entertains visitors during a tour stop at the Tench House in Gainesville.

Alfred Browning Parker breaks ground on his next home -- a self-designed house.

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March 1, 2008: "Exploring Mid-Century Architecture in Florida" -- Jacksonville.

DOCOMOMO/US-Florida and the Jacksonville chapter of the American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, staged a symposium on mid-century modern architecture in Florida.

215 people attend the morning event while another 250 disappointed people were turned away from the SRO event. Already there is talk of a follow-up event in 2009, which certainly will occur in a larger venue.

Presenters included Jan Hochstim, Gene Leedy and Alfred Browning Parker. Jacksonville architects Robert Broward, William Morgan and Taylor Hardwick participated in a panel discussion.

An afternoon convoy of two buses toured from Riverside to Woodstock, through downtown and to Arlington, before returning to the Cummer three and one-half hours later.

Alfred Browning Parker. (Photo courtesy by Wayne Wood.)

Gene Leedy. (Photo by Wayne Wood.)

Architect Taylor Hardwick points out aspects of his Haydon Burns Library design from 1965.

Architect William Morgan outside of his 1965 Rawls house. (Photo by Wayne Wood.)

Robert Broward at his Unitarian Universalist Church (1965). (Photo by Wayne Wood.)

The symposium and bus tour marked the 50th anniversary of the 1958 exhibit "Half Century of Significant Architecture in Jacksonville."

The July, 1958, issue of Florida Architect, included an article by Bob Broward about that exhibit. This article can be viewed by clicking on the image below (4.47 mb).

To see a full-size image of the poster below, click on the thumbnail.

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"Promises of Paradise: Modernism on Display" at the Harn Museum in Gainesville, Florida.

Following its smash run at Miami Beach's Bass Museum, this exhibit highlighting architecture, planning, and decorative arts of mid-century Miami moved to the Samuel P. Harn Museum on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida -- October 11, 2008 - January 25, 2009.

The exhibit (curated in part by DOCOMOMO/US-Florida board member Allan Shulman) was the first to highlight Miami's enormous mid-20th century contributions to the decorative arts.

For additional information, click here.

The exhibit's opening in Miami in 2007 corresponded with Miami's Art Basel extravaganza.

Architect Alfred Browning Parker's buildings and furnishings are well represented in the exhibit. He is depicted here at the show's opening on December 5, 2007.

DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA board members, Martha Kohen, Allan Shulman & Enrique Madia, apparently buoyed by enthusiasm for the exhibit.

Gene Leedy and The Sarasota School of Architecture

Prominent architect and DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA Advisory Board member Gene Leedy gave a lecture at the Miami-Dade College Kendall Campus on Monday, November 12, 2007.

The lecture was sponsored by DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA and by the Miami-Dade College School of Architecture, Earth Ethics Institute, Architecture Club AIA Miami, and Max Strang Architecture.

For more information on Gene Leedy, click here or here. To view a full-sized poster for the event, click on the tiny one below.

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The self-guided Leedy Lifetime Works Tour in Winter Haven is available online at www.geneleedy.com. A downloadable mp3 file containing an audio version of the tour is available here.

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DOCOMOMO Florida/Wolfsonian Ft. Lauderdale Modernism Tour

Saturday, September 29, 2007.

This tour was an unqualified success. Another one is planned for this winter. Stay tuned!

On June 6, 2007, the City of Hollywood, Florida awarded the renowned Florida architect Alfred Browning Parker with the Historic Preservation Award: Architect of the Year for his prolific career and for his role in the Modern Movement in Florida. Mr. Parker selected DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA Florida President Enrique Madia to receive the award on his behalf.

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DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA and Florida Atlantic University offered a presentation by Enrique Madia on Modern Architecture in South America at the Broward County Library in Ft. Lauderdale on February 22, 2007.

To view a full-size poster for the event, please click on the image below.

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DOCOMOMO US/FLORIDA and Florida Atlantic University were delighted to sponsor a talk, "Contemporary Architecture in Brasil," on February 6, 2007, at FAU.

To view a full-size poster for the event, please click on the image below.

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The fall, 2007, issue of the DOCOMOMO-US Newsletter contains more information on this and other threatened Rudolph buildings. To see it, please click here.