KCMODERN

Wow! Super News!

2011-11-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

We heard this afternoon that the Johnson County Commissioners approved a plan to purchase the old King Louie West site on Metcalf to provide for the first museum in the USA dedicated to Suburbia. Johnson County KS is a perfect example of housing and commerce growth after WWII, especially the glory days of the 1950's and 1960's. We salute the Commission's vision and throw our support to the Johnson County Museum, their great staff and the future of the past...
For images of King Louie West check out Manuel Morris on the right hand tabs.

Carl Stenstrom- Architect A Private Residence

2011-11-11T17:00:00.001-06:00

Located near Lake Quivira, this house sitting on twenty acres with a fabulous private lake has been under construction since 1985. Designed by our friend Carl and built by essentially one person it remains unfinished. With a gated entrance and a long winding drive to the house it is a special environment of organic architecture and nature. Unfortunately you can not see the beautiful pond which would be to the right and below the house.

Above is the car-court and front door to the left of the tree. These pics were taken some time ago. Below: is the perspective rendering by Carl of the rear of the house.

Carl was an avid Wrightian architect as revealed by the "rubblestone" walls, corner windows and use of a difficult site...

Below: Unfinished soffits cap the low-slung earth hugging design. Note the clean, well laid stone walls with the horizontal band eching Wright's Taliesin West Complex. This is a seating nook outside just beyond the entrance.

The metal scuppers add roofline drama to the deck off the kitchen and living room.

A treasure in the making and a ton of work for one man, it's a testament for the book "The Natural House" by Wright in the 1950's that advocated buying acreage or land and building one's own house, preferably designed by Wright himself.

For more info on Carl Stenstrom click on the label...

WOW! TIME FLIES!

2011-11-11T16:15:00.002-06:00

Hello KCModernists! Time definitely flies. We haven't posted for some time but we hope to get back in the groove with more regular postings that I hope you will find fun and interesting. Ever since the Country Club Plaza preservation challege this past year, it's be difficult to find time to Git-R-Done. We had a good year this year though alittle more quiet due to no house tour. Our plans for the next few months going into 2012 are exciting. We have numerous events lining up nicely, in addition to house tours, Martini Moderns, etc. So keep an eye out for notices and/or invitations to some happenings.

On the local news last night was a very optimistic piece about King Louie West potentially converting to a "Suburban" Museum if the "deal" can be worked out. This would be the first in the nation to present the social discourse of suburbia. Salute and support goes out to the Johnson County Museum for this challenge. (For more info check out the label Manuel Morris, architect of King Louie West)

My family moved this year from our wonderful Bob Wendt designed house in Prairie Village, KS to a new MCM house by Milburn Country Club. I'll get a post out with some pictures as soon as we get the scanner up and going!

Kansas City Design Week - February 4-11 2011

2011-01-24T21:18:00.006-06:00

Please join KCMODERN in supporting Kansas City Design Week, February 4-11, 2011. KCMODERN will be planning and executing four great tours featuring Kansas City Design on Saturday, February 5, 2011. But don't just participate in the tours. There are a whole week of events and we are sure that you find a at least a few that will appeal to you!

www.kcdesignweek.org

BRUCE GOFF- "A Creative Mind"- Road Trip Part One

2010-12-04T21:50:00.003-06:00

I was heading to Norman, Oklahoma to see the Bruce Goff- A Creative Mind Exhibition, more about that later, and was running about an hour early for the Friends of Kebyar (see http://www.friendsofkebyar.com/) reception at an exquisite Bruce Goff designed home in Oklahoma City. I decided to go west to Edmond, OK , about 12-15 miles and check out the Hopewell Baptist Church...built in 1948 with help from experienced welders from nearby oil fields. I had heard a non-profit group had formed to save and protect the church and I wanted to see what condition it was in...

As you can see the "Oil-Rig" architecture has seen better days.
A recent hail storm (up to softball sized) left its mark as it did throughout the area.

I know it doesn't look like much now , but it has great possibilities and represents Goff's work utilizing found items. The sanctuary had lighting made by Goff from tin pie pans.
Below: Classic Bruce Goff detailing in the spire and skylight...

From Edmond, I proceeded to Oklahoma City and the Pollack-Warriner House (1957 & 1980). The owners have owned the house for many years and definately are at one with the house...

Shelter from harsh Oklahoma sun, the skylights are minimal but provide important light to the interior. Above: As seen from the street.

View toward entry through gate...I love the interplay of smooth against rough, solid and void, light and shadow and on and on...this house is a metaphor for creativity...the house is a square plan with the dramatic hip roofs defining the space within. The fiberglass roof on the upper deck over the garage/studio is a visual delight and a local landmark. Typically, water plays a role in Goff's design... I can't help but think of the Fred Jones Art Museum where the Bruce Goff Exhibition is, designed by Hugh Newell Jacobson, his "villages"...similarities in concept...?

Below: Entry to the left

The dark green and off-white marble tile looks great in person and reflects the square plan and diamond elements...

Above: The kitchen is sizeable and extremely functional with beautiful hardwood cabinets stained ebony...

Below: My good friend David Milstead, Architect and Director on the Board of Friends of Kebyar, sporting one his great t-shirt designs. He was elated from spending the night in the Bavinger House the night before. You'll see the Bavinger House up close in a future post.

Above: Gate design is very cool and used for tables and benches in the yard.

Below: Early dusk effort to photograph indirect lighting and uplights in the blue glass cullets.

The evening reception was held at the Warriner's "No Name"Art Gallery in downtown Oklahoma City with great food, wine and company...it was great seeing old friends Tony Thompson, Eddie Jones and David Milstead among others and meeting/making new aquaintences. Below, Herb Greene listens and watches an internet presentation from India on preserving Nari Gandhi's work. He was an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright and took his influence back to India to realize some fantastic organic residences and buildings.

Tonight- Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

2010-11-04T10:56:00.007-05:00

This is your last chance to join us for this one time special presentation of Infinite Space. Infinite Space, a new documentary feature film, traces the lifelong quest of visionary genius John Lautner to create “architecture that has no beginning and no end.” It is the story of brilliance and of a complicated life – and the most sensual architecture of the 20th century.

Date:
November 4, 2010 (Movie Start 7:00pm)
Location:
Tivoli Theater
4050 Pennsylvania Ave
Kansas City, MO 64111
Fee:
$10, At door $12(cash only)

Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner Trailer

Register for Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

Marcel Breuer House Tour and Martini Modern Party at Wendt Designed and Built House

2010-10-29T17:30:00.002-05:00

I'm late in getting this post up! I thought I would show some random photos of the Marcel Breuer designed house we had on tour recently. Built in 1954 and still owned by the original owner this is a fantastic time capsule of a house featuring original Breuer designed furniture as well as other iconic pieces. The photos below show a seldom seen rear angle of the house and deck. Lucky to get these shots before approximately 100 attended the tour.

The photo below is a perspective study of a house being built down the street, inspired by the Breuer house.

The house featured below is the Bob Wendt designed and built house in Town and Country Estates in Prairie Village, KS. Constructed in 1961, this lavish and large 2 bedroom house was a wedding gift. It has incredible hardwood paneling and custom built cabinetry.

Walls of glass everywhere... below the new addition connects nicely with the original house.

Friends enjoying a great day for a Martini Modern House Tour and Party! Below, one of the owners talks about his experience in the house and construction of the addition. This was a great event with great people, great food, great martinis and great architecture!!

To see more Bob Wendt houses check him out on the right...

Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner - REEL Design Film Series

2010-10-18T18:24:00.014-05:00

It is time to purchase your tickets for part 2 of the REEL Design Film Series.

KCMODERN has teamed up with the AIA Kansas City, AIGA – Kansas City, Kansas City APA as part of the Kansas City Design Alliance to bring this great film that will be of interest to all lovers of Mid-Century Architecture and Design!

Join us for a special presentation of Infinite Space. Infinite Space, a new documentary feature film, traces the lifelong quest of visionary genius John Lautner to create “architecture that has no beginning and no end.” It is the story of brilliance and of a complicated life – and the most sensual architecture of the 20th century.

Date:
November 4, 2010 (Movie Start 7:00pm)
Location:
Tivoli Theater
4050 Pennsylvania Ave
Kansas City, MO 64111
Fee:
$10, At door $12(cash only)

Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner Trailer

Register for Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

Last Call for Typeface the Movie - REEL Design Film Series

2010-10-06T10:00:00.002-05:00

Click here to register for October 7, 2010 - Typeface

Mark your Calendars for the REEL Design Film Series Schedule

2010-10-05T10:45:00.003-05:00

KCMODERN has teamed up with the AIA Kansas City, AIGA – Kansas City, Kansas City APA as part of the Kansas City Design Alliance to plan a great series of films.

October 7, 2010 - Typeface

Typeface Trailer
Register for Typeface

November 4, 2010 - Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner
Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner Trailer
Register for Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

November 11, 2010 - The September Issue
The September Issue Trailer
Register for The September Issue

REEL DESIGN Film Series presents Typeface - October 7, 2010

2010-10-04T17:00:00.006-05:00

Typeface focuses on a rural Midwestern museum and print shop where international artists meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique.

Typeface, Kartemquin's latest documentary in progress, will bring this fascinating junction of historical and contemporary, as well as rural and urban America together for enjoyment and contemplation. This film will be of interest to art and graphic design enthusiasts, to teachers as an educational resource, and to anyone looking for a film about perseverance and preservation in the heart of America.

Click here to watch the trailer for Typeface

Typeface is currently nominated for a 2010 Emmy for Best Documentary - Current Significance by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Date:
October 7, 2010 (Movie Start 7:00pm)

Location:
Tivoli Theater
4050 Pennsylvania Ave
Kansas City, MO 64111

Tickets:
$10 in advace online purchases or $12 at the door (cash only).

The REEL DESIGN Film Series is sponsored through the Kansas City Design Alliance with AIA Kansas City, AIGA - Kansas City, Kansas City APA and KCMODERN.

Click here to register for October 7, 2010 - Typeface

Join us for the other two films in the REEL Design Film Series.

Click here to register for November 4, 2010 - Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner

Click here to register for November 11, 2010 - The September Issue

Tour the Breuer House and attend a reception at a stellar Bob Wendt designed MCM

2010-09-19T20:44:00.005-05:00

Bob Wendt-House Designer/Builder-Part 2

2010-09-06T20:29:00.002-05:00

This home was designed by Roger Wilken, Architect and with certain adjustments suggested, built by Bob Wendt. This pin-wheel plan featured great indoor/outdoor views and multiple patios, with "japanese" steps down to them as he did in the Graves and Morgan houses, which are nearby. Around this time Bob complained about getting skilled craftsmen that could complete his plans with quality workmanship, often doing the work himself.

Below- Detail of chimney. Bob liked stone masonry and used it in most of his designs.

The house below is in Mission Hills, KS near 63rd and Aberdeen. Bob "loved a good gable" and this house is the ultimate example of that...a double gabled roof on the large public space and a gallery, low and private are for the bedrooms, walkout basement on the north side, with loads of light and a beautiful pool area with cabana. The "Barefoot Contessa" recently did a fundraiser/cooking show at this house ...

Below is Bob's own home built in the late fifties. In many ways it was an experimental house due to its unusual building components. We will be featuring some of these houses individually to show that Bob's work has merit and should be appreciated for his perfectionism in construction and design ability. A number of years ago I talked with Eugene Young, Architect and he told me a story about going to see Bob at his office behind the Westwood shops in the mid-sixties. He quoted Bob as saying "Architects don't like me because I'm not an Architect and Builders don't like me because I can design a good house and insure the quality of construction for an owner.

Photography by Bob Greenspan and Scott Lane

Bob Wendt-House Designer/Builder-Part 1

2010-08-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

Robert Edward Wendt was born in Herington, Ks, 1924. After graduating high school he enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1941 after bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served mostly on the island of Guam as the crew chief of a B-29 Bomber. When he returned from service he obtained his Architectural Engineering degree while working as Don Drummond's first foreman. While working with Don, Bob met Lloyd Roark, a prominent local architect. Roarke offered Bob the job of contractor and builder for a home he had on the drawing board. They worked on several jobs until Bob decided he wanted to design, draft and build from his own plans. His reputation and career evolved at that point. His brother Don a master carpenter came to work for him and did beautiful custom cabinet work. The house seen above and below was built for Dan Tyler in 1961.

Behind the stone walls that flank the entrance (below) are patios accessed from the bedrooms.

Long and low the house screams shelter and privacy...originally the large sliding glass doors opened to a large semi-circular aggregate patio.

Bob was never interested in building tract or speculative homes, only "Custom Built Homes for Owners" was what his signs and cards said. Most of Bob's homes were located in Prairie Village and Mission Hills, KS. These Homes (above and below) were built in Town and Country Estates.

This was the former home of Ray and Betty Pitman. The boomerang shaped home stretched across the corner lot. The clerestory addition on the left roofline came later. The pictures speak for themselves, this is a cool house...

The only homes Bob ever constructed for sale were also his last he ever designed and built. These two contemporay homes are located on a private cul-de-sac in Prairie Village, Ks near 67th and Nall. Plans and photos were featured in various magazines and publications, Both houses sold before they were built. The one shown below was the home of Dean Graves, FAIA. The other house was purchased by Myra and Jim Morgan, former owners of the Morgan Gallery. You might recall the large "yard-art" sculptures on the lot in front of these homes.

Photography by Bob Greenspan and Scott Lane

Some details provided by Maudell Wendt

Kansas City Homes and Gardens September/October Issue-1991 Drummond Stroll

2010-08-01T19:00:00.002-05:00

Speaking of magazines, I found this one in a pile of stuff I saved. It featured a neighborhood tour and get together we had in 1991...it was the first effort to tour and promote the houses of Ninety-Eighth Place. It couldn't have been better when in 2005 we had a KCModern Tour of the neighborhood (the houses never looked better) and hosted our special guest, Don Drummond. I talked to him the other day and he said to tell everyone hello...he'll be 95 this October and still seems spunky on the phone. I apologize for the quality, the pages have seen a few storms...Click to enlarge the pages.

Perfect Home- Real Estate Brochures from the 1960's

2010-08-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

A friend gave me some "magazines" he found while cleaning out his wife's grandmother's house, as it turned out it was a small stack of promotional real estate magazines called The Perfect Home Magazine, published and presented by Jackson and Scherer, Real Estate-Insurance-Building. Apparently the publication was paid for by numerous sponsors. Averaging about ten to twelve pages per issue, I guess I should call them brochures. The color cover featured houses that were in the KC area but most of them were not, as seen below...

I love the photo below, the issue features exterior skylights, I'm not sure this small circular one has much impact other than visually.

About the fifth magazine down in the pile, I found this one featuring the Marcel Breuer designed house on Belinder in Mission Hills, KS. The home was 8 years old when this issue came out in May, 1962. It was never for sale and and is still owned by the original clients. Inside there are no stories, features or more photos of the house.

They do have great little stories and features covering a wide variety of topics, all in black and white. The magazine has nice photography with very little attribution.

Below: There's even a quiz to see how up to date you are...

I have never heard of this company. They have a Kansas City, KS address on the cover. If anyone has any info, please send in your remarks...A BIG salute to Jackson and Scherer!

Season 4 of Mad Men Starts this Week

2010-07-25T12:48:00.005-05:00

KCMODERN's favorite one hour drama series starts their fourth season this Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 9:00 PM central time. Be sure to watch and if you miss the first episode check the AMC Website for when they rebroadcast it. See you at the water cooler on Monday to discuss all the details.

Kansas City Modern Icon ranks #18 Worldwide

2010-07-10T18:00:00.003-05:00

Steven Holl's Bloch Addition to Kansas City's Nelson-Atkins Art Museum just made Vanity Fair's list of of the 21 best structures built in the last 30 years!

Vanity Fair asked 52 "experts" to choose the five most important buildings since 1980. The team named 132 different structures. Kansas City's relative new Modern Icon ranked number 18 in the world with 3 votes!

Slide Show

Who voted and for what buildings
(and see who voted for themselves)

Read the entire article

So long White Haven Motor Lodge - Modernism at Risk on Metcalf

2010-06-27T13:00:00.002-05:00

I am ashamed to say that I have had a series of posts planned about the Metcalf strip that included the White Haven Motor Lodge for over a year. Time and energy have worked against me lately on getting these posts adequately researched and photographed.

Unfortunately it is now time to say goodbye to the White Haven Motor Lodge. The sign and all of the contents of the motel will be sold this week at auction. Demolition of the motel is probably inevitable at this point. Sad to think that in this economy demolition will happen so that a vacant lot can sit there for another five years or more.

I wonder if any traction can be gained to purchase this sign and keep it in the area where it belongs!

Katz Hall Preview - 1965 Building by Architects, Kivett and Myers

2010-06-13T15:42:00.007-05:00

Join KCMODERN in celebrating a successful Mid-Century Modern adaptive reuse.

Tuesday June 15, 2010, 5:30 to 7:00 PM at UMKC Campus
Katz Hall-UMKC Grand Re-Opening

5005 Rockhill Road KCMO
Tour Katz Hall, formerly Katz School of Pharmacy, built in 1965 by architects Kivett and Myers. The Mid-Century Modern building has been renovated to house the UMKC Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design.

MODERNISM 1.1: Modern Interior Design that Endures Sponsored by Knoll Studio, Knoll Textiles and Hudson Home

2010-05-20T12:33:00.016-05:00

Please Join us for

MODERNISM 1.1: Modern Interior Design that Endures
Sponsored by KnollStudio, KnollTextiles and Hudson Home

Presentations on the history of Classic KnollStudio Furniture and KnollTextiles.

See and experience Twentieth Century Modern Masterpieces.

Learn about designs by Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Warren Platner and Jens Risom.

Touch and hear about KnollTextiles designed in the 1940's and 1950's that are still in production today.

See Twenty-First Century design pieces that will be the classics of tomorrow.

Free Admission, Door Prizes, Food and Drink to be provided by Knoll Studio, Knoll Textiles and Hudson Home.

Sunday, June 6, 2010, 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Hudson Home
1500 Grand Boulevard
(2nd Floor above Retro Inferno)
Kansas City, MO 64108-1404
(816) 421-3629

We request that you please RSVP by clicking on the link below.

RSVP HERE

CHARLES PHOENIX SLIDE SHOW IN KANSAS! - June 4, 2010

2010-05-20T12:30:00.002-05:00

CHARLES PHOENIX SLIDE SHOW IN KANSAS!

KCMODERN regulars will be making the trek down to Newton, Kansas for the Show.

Charles Phoenix’s Retro Slide Show will be the keynote address at this year’s Preservation at the Crossroads of America Conference in Newton, Kansas.

Check out Charles as he super-charges the classic living room slide show into a live, laugh-out-loud celebration of mid-century American life and style … car culture, space age suburbia, fast food stands, drive-ins, theme parks, local landmarks and legends and much more! Festive dress is always encouraged but not expected!

Friday, June 4, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.
Preservation at the Crossroads of America Conference
Lindley Hall in Newton, Kansas

Price $50, includes social hour, banquet and Charles’ slide show performance

For tickets call Billi Jo Wilson, The Newton Chamber of Commerce, 316-283-2560

Save the Date for KCMODERN June Events

2010-05-18T10:17:00.028-05:00

June is proving to be a big month for KCMODERN. We have partnered on a couple great events and we are planning a wonderful roadtrip. Please join us for:

Friday June 4, 2010, 10:00 AM in Wichita, Kansas
In-Depth Tour of the Allen-Lambe House by Frank Lloyd Wright

Tour to be given to KCMODERN enthusiasts by Howard Ellington, Executive Director of the Allen-Lambe House Foundation and Architect of the Allen-Lambe House Restoration.

Friday June 4, 2010, 6:30 PM in Newton, Kansas
Charles Phoenix Slide Show in Kansas
Roadtrip with us to see this great show.

Sunday, June 6, 2010, 2:00 to 4:00 PM at Hudson Home

Modernism 1.1: Modern Interior Design that Endures
Sponsored by Knoll Studio, Knoll Textiles and Hudson Home

Tuesday June 15, 2010, 5:30 to 7:00 PM at UMKC Campus
Katz Hall-UMKC Grand Re-Opening

Kansas City Star Magazine does feature on 60's Modern Architecture

2010-05-17T11:20:00.004-05:00

photo by shane keyser | the star

Kansas City Star Magazine Editor, Cindy Hoedel has written a great cover story article about 1960's architecture in this past Sunday's newspaper. Two of the three KCMODERN founders, Scott Lane and Robert McLaughlin were quoted in the article, Saving the '60s: Modern buildings become eligible for historic preservation.

Ms. Hoedel outlines some of the difficult issues in preserving these "hard-to-love," buildings from the 1960's with her astute observations. "The problem is, the simple geometry and unadorned surfaces of modern buildings show neglect more readily than brick or stone buildings that have lots of ornamentation to distract the eye. So mid-century buildings that have fallen on rough times are more likely to be viewed as eyesores."

If you love Modernism you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Read the entire article here

Visit photo gallery here

KU Studio 804 Open House Presscott Passive House

2010-05-14T14:37:00.003-05:00

KU Studio 804 Open House

Presscott Passive House

Saturday May 15, 2010 10 AM-3 PM

32 South 16th Street Kansas City KS 66102

Do You Remember...?

2010-05-14T13:29:00.000-05:00

Do you remember this unique home? Loved it or hated it, it became a modern landmark for over twenty years...while driving on Hwy I-35 just west of downtown, you could see this modern house that for many years stood sentinal over the city's westside. I met the owner back in 1980-81, but cannot remember his name. I recall it being said that he was the designer/builder...does anyone know the name of the architect, designer, etc? I would love to hear from you...
The ground floor was a garage, support plinth was storage on different levels with a staircase and elevator for more convenient access to the living spaces. The roof top deck was breathtaking to me probably because of the "open" feeling, especially prior to the railing installation...I'm weird about heights and though I loved the interiors and could imagine a winter evening inside looking at the distant traffic and Christmas lights, I found it unsettling on the rooftop deck, like being on a heliopad on top of a building.

These photos were taken when the property had changed hands to developers and they were using the house to market the views and intending on demolishing the house. It was torn down a couple of years ago to make way for a five house development of "historic styled" city homes. I may be wrong about the details but for years not many developers would invest in this area. In the last 10 years the area has had renewed interest with many people seeking an urban lifestyle. The Westside area has some very unique architecture, from century old small brick homes, looming shingle style mansions to "Dwell" style houses. This house as a landmark has been replaced with a large, less dramatic modern house just to the south.

Below: Looking south, Crown Center on the left, the World War I Memorial and Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed BMA Tower (now One Park Place Condiminiums) and so much more were easily seen from what was truly a viewing platform.

Here's to people with an idea and the guts (and money) to get it realized!

Bob Wendt- House Designer/Builder "What's the Story on That House"

2010-05-06T16:45:00.004-05:00

Located near 67th and Nall in Prairie Village, KS a fine group of three mid-century modern houses was planned for construction at this site, a former apple orchard. The planner,designer and builder was Bob Wendt. To connect some dots, Bob was Don Drummond's first foreman. Educated as an engineer, Bob was fond of post and beam construction., precision was his hallmark. In 1967 he was building this house when Dean Graves, architect FAIA approached and inquired about buying the home and incorporating some of his ideas. To the west of this house on a small culdesac, Jim and Myra Morgan, art collector/gallery owner, bought the mirror image of this house. The homes sit far from the street down a long driveway and many people will remember the monumental sculptures the Morgans displayed in the vacant lot on 67th St. The third house planned for that lot never got built. The lot and Morgan's house were sold after her death a few years ago.
Dean and Ginny Graves house. This photo shows the car court featuring stainless steel art.

The stone wall on the right hid the side entry carport, now repurposed as an office, an adjoining garage was constructed. Note the unusual sidewalk aggregate/brick design.

Below you see the door to the office and the garage addition. The original siding is hardwood board and batt, with the batts on end instead their slab sides, very distinctive with great shadow lines.

Rear of house...

Living Room with danish fireplace and semi-circular stone wall...Lots of floor to ceiling windows
provide natural light and sweeping views of the parklike rear yards.

Bob often used stone aggregate slabs as a dramatic visual effect. This house served the family well for over 40 years and the Graves have recently decided to move. Bob Wendt's work is worth further study and I plan to feature him in an upcoming post...he designed and built some great modern houses during his career. These houses in this post represent the last homes he ever built...

Robert Harvey Oshatz- Architect Part Three

2010-05-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

Some random photos of Bob and guests enjoying the architecture...some interesting detail pics...

This series of images does not compare to the images found on Bob's website. He opened his architectural firm in 1971 and has done some distinctive work...

Check out his website to see green sustainable/organic architecture:

http://www.oshatz.com/

To learn more about organic architecture go to:

http://www.friendsofkebyar.com/

Robert Harvey Oshatz-Architect Part Two

2010-05-01T17:04:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in Part One that my friend David had sent photos of Bob Oshatz's work he photographed while in Oregon...I thought you would enjoy these pics of "floating houses"...In Part Three, I'll be posting some photos of houses by Oshatz. Enjoy!

Robert Harvey Oshatz- Architect Part One

2010-04-30T18:18:00.012-05:00

A good friend of mine David Milstead, architect and Director on the Board of Friends of Kebyar, recently went to Oregon to work with Bob Oshatz on some models for projects in the works. He sent me these photos. I don't know the various projects but I do know Oshatz's work is provocative, exuberant and just downright eyecatching...Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff, he has assimilated ideas to create his own unique brand of Organic Architecture. His work is never dull and always cool.

Eric Lloyd Wright to lecture about his grandfather, Frank Lloyd Wright in Wichita

2010-04-20T13:44:00.011-05:00

Architect, Eric Lloyd Wright, The grandson of Architect, Frank Lloyd Wright and son of Los Angeles Architect, Lloyd Wright will be presenting a lecture at Wichita State University on May 8, 2010. An Open House Reception will follow at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Allen Lambe House.

Two special events:

Saturday, May 8, 2010 1:00 pm

Lecture: Eric Lloyd Wright

“Thoughts on My Grandfather”

Campus Activities Center Theater,

Wichita State University Campus

Admission to lecture is free.

Saturday, May 8, 2010 2:30 – 5:00 pm

Open House and Reception

with Eric Lloyd Wright

The Allen-Lambe House Museum

255 N. Roosevelt, Wichita, KS 67208
Refreshments on the terrace and

self-guided tours.

$25 general public and $20 admission for Allen-Lambe House and Ulrich Museum members.

Ticket price is a birthday gift for the 20th Anniversary and benefit for restoration of The Allen-Lambe House.

Advance reservations required by calling 316-706-9286;

Reservation deadline is Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

KC Film Fest - Louis Sullivan: The Struggle for American Architecture

2010-04-13T14:46:00.016-05:00

Join KCMODERN in supporting the Kansas City FilmFest by attending a new film about one of America's best Architects, Louis Sullivan. Frank Lloyd Wright, who worked in Sullivan's office, referred to Louis Sullivan as "Leiber Meister" or "My Master." A small group of KCMODERN folks will be be gathering in the lobby before the movie. Be sure to buy tickets in advance.

Louis Sullivan: The Struggle for American Architecture
a film by Mark Richard Smith

“In the Gilded Age, one architect’s vision of freedom and the American landscape brought him success, failure, and an unforgettable place in history”For anyone interested in historic architecture, don’t miss this opportunity to see the new feature-length documentary on one of America’s greatest builders, Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) at the Kansas City Film Festival April 15 and 18. This tribute to architect Louis Sullivan tells a sweeping story with a wealth of visual detail. The rise and fall of Sullivan’s career originates with the 1871 Chicago fire, which made the city a blank slate for ambitious architects. In the late 1800s, Sullivan, who had made his way west after a rigorous École des Beaux-Arts education, created an authentically American architecture at a time when most buildings aspired only to knock off European styles. His commitment to originality led him first to the pinnacle of success with notable early skyscrapers and later to a swift decline due to changing customer tastes and an economic depression. Though his late-career “jewel box” banks were a triumph, Sullivan died penniless. Sullivan’s extraordinary ornamental designs set him apart as an artist. According to Frank Lloyd Wright, who was Sullivan’s chief draftsman for seven years, Sullivan “could draw as beautifully as he could think.

The film will be offered at two screenings:
Thursday, April 15 at 4:30 pm
Sunday, April 18 at 3:00 pm

Where: 2010 Kansas City FilmFest AMC Main Street (1400 Main St., Downtown Kansas City)

Tickets to Sunday's Showing:
https://www.movietickets.com/purchase.asp?perf_id=606510549
KC FilmFest:
http://www.kcfilmfest.org/
Information about the film:
http://www.louissullivanfilm.com/
Trailer:
http://louissullivanfilm.com/clips/windows.html

Modern Photo of the Week - Kauffman Stadium by Kivett and Myers in honor of Royals Opening Day

2010-04-05T09:43:00.011-05:00

In honor of opening day for the Royals I thought I would post this image of an early design phase model of Kauffman Stadium. Notice that the ground level bowl wraps the entire field and that the signature fountains are not yet thought of. The spiral ramps are only one level high and the backwards cantilever of the upper deck is minimal compared to the final dramatic cantilever built. Also missing is the sexy upper deck canopy and lighting standards. The iconic crown scoreboard has not taken shape yet because this model was built at about the time the Kansas City A's left for Oakland. To the left one can see the first version of the infamous rolling roof, designed to cover either Arrowhead or Kauffman. What is most apparent in this model is the dramatic sculptural form of Kansas City's unique stadium beginning to take shape.

Consider this image a teaser for many more great Kivett and Myers images that will be appearing soon thanks to KCMODERN reader Chris Fein.

Name: Model of Kauffman Stadium
Opened as Royals Stadium
Part of the Truman Sports Complex
Architect: Kivett and Myers
Year Designed: circa 1968
Builder: Unknown
Year Completed: Spring 1973
Size: N/A
Location: Kansas City, MO
Type: Outdoor Baseball Stadium
Style: Brutalist Modern
Status: Altered
Photographer: Unknown

1955 Brochure for 'The House that HOME Built'

2010-03-30T06:00:00.008-05:00

KCMODERN friend, Scott Butterfield did some serious scan work of 'The House that HOME Built' brochure to let us share it with our readers. The promotional brochure was designed and printed by NBC for participating builders to use in their marketing of 'The House that HOME Built.' Kansas City Modern Builder, Don Drummond gave the brochure to Scott's parents in 1955, when they were thinking about having Don build them a house. Don Drummond signed the back cover for Scott at a soiree during the Drummond Weekend in 2006.

Also note the math notation on the last image from 1955 to Scott's parents, "1680 square feet x $15 per square foot = $25,200." That is not a bad price for a Jones and Emmons designed home that was also built by Joseph Eichler. That would be $200,000 to $275,00o in today's dollars depending on what conversion you use. I would hate to have to try to build it today for $275k!

As I have mentioned before Jones and Emmons Architects went on to design the X-100 and Case Study House #24 for Joe Eichler.

Enjoy 'The House that HOME Built' in all its Mid-Century Modern goodness!

If you have not read it yet be sure to check out this article on 'The House that HOME Built.'

'The House that HOME Built'

2010-03-26T11:00:00.023-05:00

In 1955 a popular TV show convinced builders across the country, including Kansas City’s own Don Drummond, to try their own Eichler homes
By Robert McLaughlin - originally written for the Eichler Network Newsletter

Arlene Francis displays a scale model of 'The House that HOME Built' on NBC-TV network show, 'HOME.' Image courtesy of NAHB Archive, NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

In Northern California, Eichler homes became as much a part of the landscape as chaparral and live oak trees. Except for a handful in upstate New York, and about 750 Eichler look-alikes in Oregon, Eichler homes never made much impact on the country as a whole. But for a brief time in the mid-1950s, it looked like they might when builders like Kansas City’s, Don Drummond began building their own authorized version of the Eichler home.

In 1955, thanks to a popular NBC television show ‘HOME,’ a design that California architects, Jones & Emmons originally created for builder, Joseph Eichler began popping up in 20 or more cities throughout the United States. Jones and Emmons Architects went on to design the X-100 and Case Study House #24 for Joe Eichler. Each house was built by local merchant builders attracted to the program by the free publicity provided by the popular show, sort of a mid-‘50s HGTV.

One builder who enthusiastically got behind the program was Donald Drummond, the nearest thing Kansas City had to a Joe Eichler.

‘HOME,’ hosted by Arlene Francis and correspondent Hugh Downs, aired weekdays following NBC’s Today show. It had 2 million viewers, mostly women. ‘The House That HOME Built’ segment, which ran regularly, tried to persuade America that glass-walled, low-gabled, modern homes would work anywhere in the country, not just sunny California.

NBC 'HOME' Logo, 1955. Image from HTHB Brochure courtesy of Scott Butterfield.

The ‘House That HOME Built’ was co-sponsored by NBC and the National Association of Home Builders. Housing expertise was supplied by C.W. Smith, director of the Southwest Research Institute’s Housing Research Foundation.

“We recognize that regional preferences exist,” Smith told House and Home magazine in an April 1955 story, “but we want to show people that steep roofs, small windows and basements in the northeastern part of the country are due entirely to prejudice and habit and are entirely unnecessary technically as well as undesirable from a performance standpoint.”

Rendered image of the 'HTHB' from Pacific Architect and Builder Magazine, April 1955. Courtesy of the A. Quincy Jones Archive and Elaine Jones.

Each builder paid $200 for the plans and agreed to build one model to be open to the public. A June 4, 1955 deadline was set to coincide with ‘HOME’s national publicity.

The program was likely the brainchild of Eichler, who hoped the buzz generated by the show would promote his own houses. According to the April 1955 article in House and Home, Eichler and Smith persuaded Quincy Jones and Frederick Emmons to design the house. In truth, Eichler had been building early versions of the Jones and Emmons design since 1953.

The producers mandate to Jones and Emmons was to design a house appropriate for any climate that could be constructed by builders anywhere in the United States. The program’s goal was to show “that an attractive, up-to date house, embodying principles of good design, can be built at a moderate cost.”

Promotion began when a model of Jones and Emmons’ design appeared on the show, which was broadcast from New York, on Feb. 28, 1955.

On the of the NBC set presenting a model of 'The House that HOME Built' with R.J. Caravan of the National Association of Home Builders; Arlene Francis, star of 'HOME'; C.W. Smith housing authority on 'HOME' and director of the Housing Research Foundation of the Southwest Research Institute; and A. Quincy Jones, architect of 'The House that HOME Built'. Image from Pacific Architect and Builder Magazine, April 1955. Courtesy of the A. Quincy Jones Archive and Elaine Jones.

Jones realized that what worked for buyers in California might face resistance elsewhere. “We are going to be criticized that it is extreme, but it’s not,” he said. “Almost everything that’s in here we’ve been doing for 10 years.”

Eichler appeared on the show with Illinois builder Bruce Blietz two days later, and Drummond appeared March 25. Commercial television was less than a decade old, but both builders understood its power. “I figured I had about five minutes to sell a thousand houses,” Drummond recalled in a recent interview.

NBC 'HOME' Studio in New York City, 1955. Image from HTHB Brochure courtesy of Scott Butterfield.

‘The House that HOME Built’ was a typical Jones H-plan, with two terraces defined by exterior walls. Kansas City Drummond owners call them “side atriums.”

One terrace is adjacent to the public entrance. The other is a private outdoor living area. An open kitchen-living area forms the center of the house, connecting the two legs of the H. Bedrooms fill the rear leg, while a carport and “all-purpose room” fill the front leg, which faces the street. The bi-nuclear plan successfully separates living and sleeping areas.

The roots of the home can be found in some of Jones & Emmons earlier plans for Eichler, including the JE- 15, JE-35, JE-51 and the JE-85.

'The House that HOME Built' Plan Courtesy of the A. Quincy Jones Archive and Elaine Jones.

A JE-85 clone appears in House and Home magazine in July 1955, and seems to be the immediate predecessor to ‘The House That HOME Built,’ Ernie Braun’s photos for the article were dated April 1955, establishing it as finishing just as the NBC program was starting. Jones and Emmons had designed more than 200 plans for Eichler by 1955 and ‘The House That HOME Built’ seems to be the pinnacle of this particular plan type. Soon Eichler’s focus would shift to the atrium plan.

Joseph Eichler's JE-85 on the cover of the House+Home Magazine, July 1955.

Unlike earlier Eichlers the post and beam frame and fascia of ‘The House That HOME Built’ extended past the roof eaves to form a trellis-like overhead structure on the side terraces.

Image announcing 'The House that HOME Built' program from House+Home Magazine, April 1955.

Two things Jones thought unusual were the location of the laundry between bedrooms, and a built-in dining table with two built-in burners and an oven at the end. Jones had recently designed a similar prototype kitchen for Frigidaire. A table cooktop was also included in Jones’ own steel house and the X-100 prototype steel house that he did for Eichler a year later.

Rendering of 'The House that HOME Built' kitchen. Image from HTHB Brochure courtesy of Scott Butterfield.

The most notable refinement to the new plan was a sliding glass door between the kitchen and terrace. “This blew the whole center of the house open,” says Scott Lane, a Kansas City real estate broker and Drummond enthusiast. Other changes included the substitution of a carport for a garage and revised bathroom locations. Many builders went ahead and included a garage in this house that was already rather luxurious for the time.

Eichler and Drummond were masters of merchandising. It is no coincidence that the kitchen, baths and laundry were the focus of changes to the plan. This reflects the power women were gaining over such major decisions as buying a house.

Not relying solely on NBC’s ‘HOME’ to reach would-be buyers, Drummond had a local cooking show broadcast from the kitchen of his model home. The show promoted appliances that could be purchased with the home.

“There was a nice little profit to be made from the sale of these appliances with the house,” Drummond says.

Some of the builders who took on ‘The House that HOME Built’ challenge may have been nervous about the home’s modern touches. But not Drummond. Unlike most of the builders, who constructed only one home, Drummond was soon building several.

Bruce Blietz of Illinois had clocked nearly 10,000 visitors to his "HTHB" and garnered new prestige for his firm. Image courtesy of NAHB Archive, NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

Drummond was unsure about one aspect of the house – the master bedroom’s sliding glass door. But he was overruled by his wife and business partner, Frances Drummond, who was responsible for Drummond’s career-making decision to hire a real architect to design his homes. “Francie thought it was a good idea, so we kept it. She thought it would appeal to the women.”

Don Drummond expected to net about forty sales from his showing of the house on Canterbury Street in Prairie Village, Kansas. Image courtesy of NAHB Archive, NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

Cleveland builder, Peter Krutschnitt modified the plan, probably to deal with harsh winters. As seen in a 1955 advertisement for Fenestra Windows, the house was rotated so its entry faced the street, something Drummond did as well. The carport was replaced by a garage, and the roof overhangs were extended to provide protection for rafter ends. It appears that many builders placed the home on corner lots to allow the homes side entry to face the street.

Peter Krutschnitt 'HTHB' in a Fenestra Window Advertising Image from House+Home Magazine, September 1955.

By late spring the publicity for the homes was beginning to crescendo. The June 1 episode of ‘HOME’ featured a segment showing Thomas Church, one of the founders of modern landscape architecture, preparing planting designs for Eichler. And across the country, builders were hustling.

“My father had workmen working day and night the last two weeks of the project,” says Henry Schwier Jr., the son of New Jersey builder Henry Schwier.

Henry Schwier of Sea Girt, New Jersey set his model on a 1/4 acre waterfront lot and kept it open for several months. Image courtesy of NAHB Archive, NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

On June 3, the day before the homes’ public opening, the entire show was devoted to ‘The House that HOME Built,’ beginning with a race between movers in San Francisco, Chicago, Kansas City, and Denver to outfit the homes with model furnishings. Afterwards, the builders were interviewed about their models.

In Flint, Michigan, Robert Gerholtz drew record crowds and wanted to participate again in 1956. Image courtesy of NAHB Archive, NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

Not every builder, however, crossed the finish line by June 4. Some builders blamed the delays on a late spring. Others had trouble getting FHA approval for loans. Eichler and Drummond finished their houses on time along with at least seven other participants.

Eleven builders were given a second deadline, Sept. 10, during National Home Week. All of the latecomers who finished for this deadline were from Northern States.

C.B. Rogers tallied 4500 visitors on opening day alone. Image courtesy of NAHB Archive , NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

Most of the builders did well thanks to the program.

“Eleven sales consummated, $242,000 volume,” Drummond telegraphed ‘HOME’ in late June. “Thirty sales in process of being signed, at $720,000. Three weeks after ‘HOME’ promotion, sales response becoming stronger daily. Public thinks house is wonderful. It is affecting the desire to buy… Combined promotional effort is now snowballing. Market appears unlimited here. Will appreciate the opportunity to cooperate with ‘HOME’ in any way.”

Eichler Homes had similar news to report. “Sixteen houses sold in four locations,” a telegram from D.L. Stoffe read. “Total of 61 various houses sold within the four developments. Attendance in first twelve days approximately 10,000. Public response excellent. Sizable coverage of story in all San Francisco newspapers and many others in Northern California.”

M.C. (Marcus) Bogue of Denver, Colorado greeted a few of the 22,000 people who turned out for his opening of the "HTHB". Image courtesy of NAHB Archive, NAHB Correlator, October 1955.

As it turns out, ‘The House that HOME Built” was unable to ignite a nationwide desire to live in Eichler-style homes.

By October 1955, ‘HOME’ was planning new programming for 1956 with New York architect, Eldridge Snyder, designing three less modern models for builders to choose from, including ranch and split level homes. Drummond built one of the single level designs at 98th Place, but it is assumed that Eichler did not participate in the second program.

Architect, Eldridge Snyder's Celebrity 1956 HTHB Model had 1325 sq.ft. with two bedrooms, three baths and fit on a 60' lot. This model was built by Don Drummond at 98th Place in Overland Park. Image from House+Home Magazine, October 1955.

New York Architect, Eldridge Snyder's 1956 "HTHB" Spacesetter split-level model had five bedrooms, three baths and a laundry.

By the late ‘50s, romantic styles trickled into shelter magazines, crowding out the modern. For some builders, ‘HOME’ was their first and only foray into modern design. For Drummond, however, the program was just one step in a career largely devoted to modern home construction.

Today, although “Drummonds” have not achieved the mythical status of Eichler homes, they have a dedicated, cult-like following of artists, designers, realtors and architects who appreciate their open plans, post-and-beam structure, and expansive glass.

Spring Modern Martini Event- Gould Residence

2010-03-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

The Spring Martini Modern Event was a wonderful Sunday afternoon party...the weather was fair, the food was good with smooth martinis and most of all, wonderful hosts and great people in attendance. Over 50 people came to enjoy touring this unique house on a gray day just after a snowstorm, quite a testimonial for the interest people have in modern design and lifestyles.

Below: Bob and Karen Gould explaining some of the many ideas and concepts used in the house.

Once we acknowledged our hosts and the crowd moved toward the dining area to hear Bob and Karen speak, I couldn't get very good photos of them.

Everyone had a lot of fun meeting new people and seeing old friends, I know I did! Please make sure we have your email address by going to www.KCModern.com and contacting us so we can notify you of future events. We plan on another Martini Modern in the next few months and look forward to seeing you there.

Spring Martini Modern - Bob Gould Residence - Now on March 21, 2010

2010-03-18T09:35:00.000-05:00

Our Winter Martini Modern has officially become a Spring Martini Modern. As most of you know, we had to postpone our tour of Architect, Bob Gould's home due to the wintry weather back in February. Well, the rescheduled event is quickly approaching and it has become a party to celebrate the first full day of Spring. So join us on March 21, 2010, 4:00-6:00 PM.

Celebrate the end of Winter, the beginning of Spring and the Equinox with Modern Friends and tour this amazing Mission Hills home designed and owned by prominent, local architect Bob Gould. The clean lines, spectacular arched and vaulted ceilings will delight you. This 1950's home has been transformed!

If you registered for the cancelled Winter Martini Modern, you do not have to register again. We have reserved your registration for this event.
A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Historic Kansas City Foundation.
Register Now!

Elpidio Rocha- Environmental Designer/ Urban Planner

2010-03-15T22:15:00.002-05:00

Elpidio Rocha, an architectural theorist designer, educator and a pioneer in the development of of interdisciplinary art/design process. That's a mouthful, that's what they say on ADOBE L.A. regarding his teaching and design background. I can say this, Elpidio is passionate about the influence of Chicano art, design and architecture. I spoke with him last year and he had fond memories of his work here in Kansas City. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, he worked for various departments in Kansas City and Jackson County government, designing parks and recreational facilities, he would say "social" facilities.
The above and below photo are from the AIA Guidebook for Kansas City Architecture. They show a boathouse shelter at Lake Jacomo...with a stone foundation elevating a viewing platform, and a cool shade canopy...the support struts are reminiscient of Bruce Goff and Albert Yanda. I've been wanting to, but haven't been to photograph this and see if it is still there.

The current photos below show Rocha's design for a park sheltor that was asthetically pleasing, functional and could be built for a consistant/uniform cost. I think this is a great design for a sheltor...clean "view" line, thin roof line, stone structural support with cooking area integrated and large (at least 20X20). Designed and built at a time when "thin-shell" construction was in the vogue. (see Manuel Morris) It was apparantly successful as a sheltor design, you can see these structures in many KC and Jackson County parks...these photos were taken at the Water Tower Park located at 75th and Holmes in KCMO.

For a look at Elpidio Rocha's and Dale Eldred's award winning 1962 "Imaginery"park design for 27th and Madison, KCMO go to http://www.westsidecan.org/

Elpidio Rocha-Environmental Designer/Urban Planner- The Center City Urban Renewal Project in Kansas City, Kansas

2010-03-13T12:45:00.003-06:00

This was the 1960s' urban renewal project that altered the way urban planners/designers and cities looked at change in their urban core. This wintertime birds-eye view of reflective columns set in a water feature shows the concept in downtown Kansas City, Ks on Minnesota Ave. The columns were the work of Dale Eldred, noted artist and educator, who enjoyed working with light and monumental objects...the layout is all Elpidio Rocha. This was a controversial project...the store owners were extremely concerned with losing parking in front of the shops and stores. The concept was almost like trying to change and beautify a main street in a western town where it's always been done like that...tie your horses up on the rail outside the store.
Can you imagine selling this idea to the decision makers... It was an extensive project that bottlenecked and slowed automobile traffic and welcomed pedestrians with water courses, seating areas and places of repose in a main street environment.

In 2003, our friend Dr. Jacob A. Wagner, Professor in the UMKC-Architecture and Urban Planning Department (who worked with Rocha and who provided these photos) wrote, "The Politics of Urban Design: In contrast to other urban renewal projects that erased the presence of minority and workingclass residents, the design of the Center City Plaza in downtown Kansas City, Kansas was an attempt to provide a democratic space for a diverse citizenry. Initiated by local officials, the project was intended to alter the "image" of the downtown. Environmental planner Elpidio Rocha was hired to design a pedestrian mall that included abstract sculptural forms. In the context of deindustrialization and suburbanization, however, urban renewal did not halt downtown decline and local political interests dismantled the pedestrian mall, setting the stage for a new round of redevelopment."

Harzfeld's- A Brief History by Joe and Michele Boekholt

2010-02-25T09:40:00.002-06:00

Our KC Modern friends Joe and Michele, have written a book detailing the story of Harzfeld's Department Stores. Today, February 25 at 6:00 will be a Reception and at 6:30 a presentation on the history of the beloved Harzfeld stores...In 1891, Siegmund Harzfeld and the Parisian Cloak Company introduced fashion to Kansas City residents by opening Harzfeld's specialty store. Joe and Michelle detail this story through photographs and memorabilia, personal narratives and interviews, and historical knowledge in their book "Harzfeld's: A Brief History. The Boeckholts are graphic designers in Kansas City. They can be found enjoying local history, popular culture and visual arts or exploring antique shops, flea markets and other collectible outlets.
The event is at the National Archives at Kansas City, 400 Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO.
RSVP at kansascity.educate@nara.gov or 816-268-8010.

Winter Martini Modern- POSTPONED

2010-02-21T10:50:00.002-06:00

Due to the inclement weather and the difficulties it will create for parking and access to the wonderful Willow Lake home, we have postponed the event until Sunday, March 21. We are looking forward to sharing this great gem of a house and hope you can schedule to attend...

Winter Martini Modern - Bob Gould Residence

2010-02-17T15:49:00.009-06:00

Well we are little late getting this posted up on the blog. Our blogging staff has been overloaded with distractions like real work lately. Please join us if you can. This home is a sleeper. It has a traditional Mission Hills front with a surprise Modern interior and back facade.

JOIN your KCMODERN Friends and tour this amazing Mission Hills home designed and owned by prominent, local architect Bob Gould. The clean lines, spectacular arched and vaulted ceilings, a curved wall separating the dining and kitchen area, and the "Cube" in the family room set the tone of amazement throughout this 1950's home.
RSVP HERE

Manuel Morris- Architect - King Louie West

2010-02-15T19:00:00.005-06:00

The other day I drove by the old King Louie West, now called the AMF West Lanes, and saw that it was for sale...it reminded me of when I met the architect, Manny Morris. He was considering selling his home in Prairie Village, Ks. and a later meeting when we sat down to discuss his work...interesting man that did some cool work in Kansas City, but in his later years very cold to your interest in it. He lent me these architectural aerial renderings to copy.
King Louie was built in two phases; the original building was designed by Manuel Morris and Associates in 1948. There was a lot of green space in the area at the time! Overland Park didn't become a city until 1961. The 32 lane bowling alley was a rectangular white masonry building with a hovering red "thin-shell" canopy facing east. The block structure is still visible at the rear of the building. The original sign remains in this place today.

Thin shell canopies were a hallmark of the architect's early work. My friend(fellow blogger) and architect, Robert from MCLAUGHLINDESIGN said, "The tilted arch canopy formed an entry scoop towards the parking lot facing Metcalf Avenue and was the only thing that articulated this low windowless box. This was a unique biomorphic touch, which gave a nod to parabolic structures that were popular at that time." A modern sculpture and entry fountain further marked the entry area, but these features were obscured by the later ice skating rink addition.

In the mid-sixties, the owners, the Lerner brothers, contacted the original architect, Morris and his associate, Robert E. Sixta, to design an addition, with a billiards room, locker room and an ice skating rink.

Morris said regarding the addition, "we tried to stay away from the commercial building look, and tried to find warmth and a casual feel for a fun-time place." As you can see from the rendering below the entry has been moved to the south of the building and ample parking has been added, it appears that the current parking lot is larger than the footprint of the building, a testament to the days before home video games...we all went to King Louie!
The distinctive folded plate roof was designed to "hide the mass of what was under it," Morris added. You can see this same approach in the architect's work on the Jewish Community Center, at 94th and Wornall, KCMO. By sinking the large ice skating rink below grade, the architect was further able to disguise the mass of the addition relative to the low original building...you might recall, when it was built, the roof on the ice rink was covered with volcanic stone aggregate. The interior of the newer ice rink is highlighted by a dramatic free spanning wood strucure that frames the buildings folded roof. This structure prompted the rinks nickname "The Ice Chalet"...the skating rink floor, etc. was removed a few years ago.
This buiding is a rare remaining example of Googie architecture in Johnson County, Kansas. When asked about the style of the building the architect added, "there was definately a Frank Lloyd Wright influence in shapes, materials and the metal and stone spire at the entrance." The informed observer can see the influences of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and the spire of Wright's Marin County Civic Center. The building in it's present form was completed in 1965. Let's hope it has a great future and survives the proposed "remaking" of the Metcalf corridor!

More Casa Ricardo by Architect, Louis S. Curtiss

2010-02-14T17:00:00.000-06:00

Some people may say I am obsessed, but I cannot get enough of the Casa Ricardo Hotel in Kingsville Texas by Kansas City Architect, Louis S. Curtiss. I dug a little deeper online and found some very old photos of the building.
View from the top of a train looking back at the Casa Ricardo entry gates and the courtyard of the hotel.

View from the Casa Ricardo Hotel balcony back towards the in-hotel, Harvey House Restaurant. You have to love the quintessential Louis Curtiss detailing of the ironwork in this photo.

View from the Casa Ricardo back to the hotel entry gate and the waiting train with the Kings Inn Theatre in the distance. The hipped roof train station, built in 1904 by the Saint Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railroad is visible to the right just beyond the train. This is the present location of the Louis S. Curtiss Mystery Urns.

Casa Ricardo Hotel with soldiers circa World War I.

Casa Ricardo Hotel in the 1910's or 1920's judging from the Model T Ford.

Casa Ricardo Hotel by Architect, Louis S. Curtiss in Kingsville, Texas

2010-02-11T18:00:00.003-06:00

I was able to find a few additional postcard images of various vintages of the Casa Ricardo Hotel by Louis S. Curtiss on the internet. I also found this online mention by KCMODERN friend, Cydney E. Millstein of the Hotel in this application to the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, applying for the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1911-1912, Curtiss undertook a number of projects for the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad in the new town of Kingsville, Texas. One of these was for a tourist hotel called the Casa Ricardo, to be operated under Fred Harvey management. An L-shaped structure with broad eaves and continuous balconies along the interior of the L, the design was one of Curtiss' finest and set the pattern for the Bernard Corrigan residence on Ward Parkway in Kansas City, built the following year.

Cydney E. Millstein. "The Norman Tromanhauser House," National Register of Historic Places Nomination. August 18, 2000.

I think Cydney is right on target with the parallels between the 1912, Casa Ricardo and the 1913, Corrigan Mansion. I also see some resemblance of the Casa Ricardo end elevations to the work of the Greene brothers of Pasadena and their 1909, Gamble Residence.

This image appears to be from the early 1930's judging from the Model A Fords in the parking lot.

Judging from the cars this one is from the 1940's.

Louis S. Curtiss Mystery Planters at Casa Ricardo Hotel - Kingsville, Texas

2010-02-10T18:00:00.002-06:00

Armed with some new search words I began Googling for some images of Casa Ricardo in Kingsville, Texas by Architect, Louis Curtiss. After filtering my results to remove Ricardo Montalban and Ricki Ricardo, I was able to find another Kingsville postcard. This postcard depicted Casa Ricardo fully landscaped in subtropical slendor and embellished with some beautiful planters near the entrance gate. I had finally found the source of the Louis Curtiss Mystery Urns. I bet that they were even more beautiful in person and in there original setting!

More on Louis S. Curtiss in Kingsville, Texas

2010-02-09T18:00:00.005-06:00

So... Upon returning from our stay on South Padre Island, Texas, I wanted to look in my book, Stalking Louis Curtiss by Wilda Sandy and Larry K Hanks. I had to see if the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad General Offices in Kingsville, Texas were included in the locally published monograph. Turns out that the St.L.B.&M General Offices project was a Louis Curtiss design and it was not some long lost or forgotten project. There it was on page 59 and it was a black and white image cropped from the exact same photograph that was used in the post card, minus the color tinting. By the way, the building was built in 1911 and if you blow the photo up large enough you can make out FRISCO on the front of the building. Frisco was the railroad that purchased the St.L.B.&M. line.

But the biggest surprise was on page 58, which depicted another Curtiss project in Kingsville, a rendering of a hotel for Fred Harvey of Harvey House fame, called Casa Gertrudis and a construction photograph of the same project renamed, Casa Ricardo.
I was disappointed to read that both the Hotel and the railroad offices were demolished sometime around 1970.

Still, there were no Louis Curtiss mystery urns visible in either image.

More to come....

Cliff May-Architect...She Said...Part One

2010-02-03T19:06:00.004-06:00

Mrs. C, an elderly friend living near 66th Terrace and Nall, Prairie Village KS kept saying her and her husband, Bob, had built a "Cliff May" house. It has redwood siding, heavy cedar shake roof and nice bones with lots of southside windows and a beautiful backyard. Though I am quite familiar with May's work, she convinced me enough to think they had a "Sunset" magazine house design. She showed me pictures in vintage magazines with Cabot's Ranch House Stains featuring May houses. I became very curious annd delved in deeper. As it turned out and after many attempts to see her house plans, I discovered the house was designed in 1954 by Linscott and Haylett, built by Wm. V. Powell Construction, who Mrs. C quoted as saying, "you don't want to live in a barn", and with that talked them out of vaulted ceilings. The house plans couldn't be found but a preliminary plan was found showing the house reversed with a front entry instead of a side entry garage. This is a great mid-century ranch, with private and public areas seperated nicely, both giving onto the wonderful rear terrace designed by Hare and Hare in 1959. The Hare and Hare landscape design firm did an extensive design for the terrace, pergola room and landscaping. I'll feature that in a future post...

Design Week is Here

2010-02-01T14:42:00.005-06:00

The Kansas City Design Alliance has planned design related events every day this week so check the schedule here:

http://www.kcdesignweek.org/

Carl Stenstrom-Architect His Opus-Part Two

2010-01-29T23:45:00.001-06:00

The following studies depicts Carl's efforts to reconcile size and shape along with exterior walls, balconies and windows. Interesting to see "Wrightian" design elements such as planters, water features and spires. In the early 1950's, Carl applied for the apprentice program at Taliesin. Upon hearing that Carl had two young chidren, Frank Lloyd Wright told him they didn't have accommodations at the time...disappointed, Carl soon was in Bartlesville, OK working on the Price Tower. I believe that is where he developed his love affair with concrete...though the geometry of this building is different from the Price Tower, there are similar characteristics.

The image below is a revision for an enclosed top floor. I don't know why but this sketch reminds me of drawings by Mendolsohn... These two sketches (above and below)are interesting...a shorter building design and below, it featured open balconies...are those spotlights shining into the sky? It appears there are semi-circular fence elements on the surrounding stone wall... perhaps to tie in with the balcony railing and the top of the roof deck enclosure that looks a lot like the skylight in Wright's Guggenheim?

The sketch above is an early perspective with "clunky" elevator towers that look awkward compared to the more refined later perspectives...Carl would often sketch at the top of the paper and have a lot of white space before you see the name of the project at the bottom, almost in the same way as Wright used the Japanese woodblock techniques in many of his earlier perspectives. Note the "inverted-L house" is omitted from the drawing.Once the final design concept was in place Carl built this model to help the client visualize the building...With an enormous number of drawings and effort expended, the client started to lose money on other investments, the early 1980's were an economic mess. Concurrently, he started losing interest in the building, which would have been complicated and expensive to build...he stopped paying Carl and during litigation the client committed suicide...

Below- This "Typical" floor plan is easier to read than the previous ones...

The reason I call this Carl's "Opus" is for the next fifteen years he met with developers in many cities and the Lake of the Ozarks as well as Branson, in an effort to get it built...Unfortunately, it never was. Below- The "Solar Deck"...

Below- Great photo of the model taken while at the lake.

Below- This angle shows the entrance on the north of the building and the car court with drive to underground parking.

Stay tuned...I'll post some other interesting work by Carl Stenstrom

Carl Stenstrom-Architect- His Opus - Part One

2010-01-27T16:05:00.005-06:00

It's been almost two years since my friend and architect, Carl passed away. I have had the pleasant/painful task of organizing his many drawings from a career that spanned over 40 years. Carl had to pay the bills, with hundreds of drawings for projects like U-Haul Stores nationwide to his "Wrightian" leanings such as the distinctive roof lines of his Gates BBQ designs. In his work you can see where his heart was...the more challenging the site, the more adventuresome the client, the opportunity for a more "organic" design...amplified his efforts. I call this his "Opus"...originally conceived in the late 1970's and after meeting an enthusiastic investor, John Lucas, Carl threw himself into creating a unique, eye-catching architecture for a dominant site west of the downtown skyline at 17th and Jefferson in KCMO. If you look closely at the renderings above, you will see in the background the concrete "inverted-L" house that was recently demolished...note the large stone wall that still remains at the site where a large modern house was constructed a few years ago...can't miss it when on Hwy I-35.
Carl worked and reworked his design, revising and manipulating space in the confines of a circular structure...the roof and balconies were challenging for him to resolve to his satisfaction, all the while dealing with and encouraging a temperamental client to "stay the course".

The single unit plan below would have offered a lavish lifestyle with great city views.

Below- A revision of the double-unit plan(2 dwelling spaces on one floor)

Below...By February, 1982 the project was now called "Monticello West"...the owner of the tower would have the top floor, capped by a "Solar Deck" on the roof.

Part Two will feature more drawings of the exterior, a detailed model and the reason this building didn't get built...Stay Tuned.

Architect, Louis S. Curtiss in Kingsville, TX - St.L.B.&M. General Offices

2010-01-26T18:00:00.001-06:00

After spending the remaining three hour drive from Kingsville to the southernmost tip of Texas being perplexed by the Louis S. Curtiss Mystery Urns and the brief fuzzy image of a "railroad station" that appeared to be a Curtiss design, I set out to do an internet search on the worlds slowest wireless internet connection from our condo. I was in search of an image of the Kingsville railroad station. After quite a few strategic shuffles of key words, some five minute waits for photo downloads and some google magic, I discovered a postcard image of my quest.

It turns out that the station was not a railroad station at all, but was the headquarters or "general offices" of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad (St.L.B.&M.) in Kingsville, Texas. This was the only image that I could find on the internet and it definitely was the hand of Kansas City Architectural hero Louis S. Curtiss.

But what about the mystery urns? There were none in the colorized photo postcard. Hmmm...

More to come....

Kingsville, Texas and the Louis S. Curtiss Mystery Urns

2010-01-23T12:00:00.006-06:00

On my recent trip to South Texas my father wanted to stop our caravan and visit the King Ranch, which is the largest ranch in the world with over 1 million acres of land. The next two bus tours were full, so we browsed the exhibits and read about the ranch in a small museum that they have on the property. We decided to see a twenty minute film about the King Ranch, the King family, their Santa Gertrudis cattle and Triple Crown winning race horses. Near the end of the film the narrator documents the King family donating the land and platting the new town of Kingsville, Texas to be a new rail hub and headquarters for the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad. Vintage photos were shown of an imposing railway station and headquarters for the fledgling railroad.

EUREKA, I thought that I had found a lost Louis S. Curtiss building! I recognized the structure as a Louis Curtiss building right away. And knowing that Curtiss had designed several railroad stations reinforced my resolve. I immediately asked the Museum personnel for the location of the train station, which they showed me on a city map. We drove there, family caravan in tow, and much to my disappointment there sat a rather conventional brick train station with wide overhangs. Not the building that I had hoped to find.

BUT there was one clue there that mad me think that I was not completely off base. There in front of this rather unremarkable train station sat a series of unusual Prairie Style Urns. Unusual, in that they were vertically proportioned... They were almost in the style of Arts and Crafts, Teco art pottery and very eclectic. Eclectic is the word most often used to describe the work of Louis S. Curtiss. Maybe I was on to something.

More to come....

Old KC Images- Part Two

2010-01-21T07:43:00.000-06:00

This video has some of the same images as the previous one...I thought it was worthwhile just because some of the images are different...Click on the link below and Enjoy!

http://blip.tv/file/2080171

Old KC Images-Part One

2010-01-19T06:31:00.003-06:00

This film features places of interest in the Kansas City area from the 1950's into the 1990's. If you grew up in the area or were around during this time, you'll definately recognize some images. We've never posted a video before but felt this would be fun for those who have not seen it... This is just under six minutes long...so just click on the link below, sit back and enjoy the memories ( when is the last time you saw that many cars at Metcalf South Mall)...a big thank you to OldKC.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD-hQTEfSqc

Everyone Loves a Good A-Frame and a Hamburger - Whataburger

2010-01-18T18:00:00.008-06:00

I remembered the venerable Whataburger chain of restaurants decked out in University Texas Longhorn colors from a week of college debauchery in South Texas in the 80's. We had even stopped at one of the famous A-frames on a return drive from Spring Break and then listened to one of my back seat travel companions complain, OHH-WHAT-A-BURGER, from a raw onion induced stomach ache for the next 500 miles.

On my more recent trip, I was not prepared for the lack of the landmark, tall A-frames, which were once as common as Longhorn cattle in Texas. You could usually spot one of the distinctive narrow orange and white striped roofs and the gigantic W logo signs from a mile away, a testament to it being a true "Roadside Architectural Wonder." Any Texas town over 2000 people seemed to have one. These days the Whataburgers are just as common, but the buildings seem to come in a more conventional toned-down, quasi-A-frame design. A shorter, squatter mini A-frame-hybrid with ranch house roof side appendages is how I would describe it. And the orange and white stripes are much wider, with a less aesthetic commercial metal panel roof replacing the standing seam metal. Really the newer designs are quite dissappointing.

If you are a true roadside food aficionado, then you can imagine my delight when my daughter latched on to the clever name and the distinctive color scheme and began demanding, "I want to eat at a Whataburger!" She convinced the family patriarch that this would be a better choice than a quick stop at a Burger King. Soon the whole family of fourteen would agree. WHAT-A-TREAT! I quickly became enamored with the #5 bacon cheeseburger with onion rings instead of fries. After three more stops over a week we waved goodbye to our last orange and white roof as we headed north out of Oklahoma City.

I am starting a campaign to demand that the Whataburger chain expand to the north just one more state to include Kansas.

KCMODERN friend Debra Jane, aka Agility Nut, has photographed many Whataburgers, which you can see here.

It also appears that the hamburger chain has started to recognize the historical and marketing significance of their little A-frame buildings and has posted a fun section to the Whataburger A-frame website, which I recommend you check out.

You will also note that the more recently built, flagship location in Corpus Christ, Texas, dubbed the "Whataburger by the Bay," has made a weak nod back to the high A-frame and the narrow orange and white stripes.

George Kraigher House by Architect, Richard Neutra - Then and Now

2010-01-13T06:00:00.005-06:00

Then: Image courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Now: As the house appeared on my visit in December 2009

George Kraigher House by Architect, Richard Neutra - Before and After

2010-01-12T06:00:00.006-06:00

Before: Image courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

After: As the house appeared on my visit in December 2009

As I mentioned the Kraigher House by Richard Neutra was in deplorable shape just a few short years ago. Here are the dramatic before and after restoration views of the house.

George Kraigher House by Architect, Richard Neutra - In Depth

2010-01-11T06:00:00.003-06:00

Recent image from unknown internet source

On 24 May 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the George Kraigher House on Paredes Line Road as one of America’s Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places for 2004. Reflecting increased awareness of the historical value of modern architecture, the then sixty-seven-year-old Kraigher House, the first International Style house built in Texas, was one of two modern buildings on the Trust’s most endangered list in 2004.

The Kraigher House was built in 1937 to the designs of Richard J. Neutra (1892-1970), an Austrian-born and–trained architect who immigrated to the United States in 1923. Settling in Los Angeles in 1925, Neutra attained international recognition as one of the foremost advocates of the Modern Movement in twentieth-century architecture with his first important building in the US, the Lovell “Health House” in Los Angeles of 1927-29. Despite the onset of the Great Depression, Neutra produced a series of inventive modern buildings in California, mostly small houses, that were extensively publicized in the international architectural press. According to Neutra’s biographer, Thomas S. Hines, it was during a business trip to Los Angeles in 1936 that George Kraigher, a Pan American Airways pilot, saw one of Neutra’s houses and commissioned the architect to design a country house for him in Brownsville, where Pan American Airways had established its Western Division offices in 1932.

George Kraigher (1891-1984), like Richard Neutra, had been born in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Kraigher was from Slovenia. He was trained as a pilot in the Austro-Hungarian military but in 1915 defected to Italy and, for the rest of World War I, flew for the Serbian air corps. Kraigher immigrated to the US in 1921. Before joining Pan American Airways in 1929, he performed aerial survey and mapping work. During the 1930s, Pan American Airways routed all its overland flights between the US and Latin America through Brownsville. Kraigher was a senior pilot for Pan Am. In 1937, he set what was then a speed record for commercial flights in a journey that began in Brownsville and, over the course of six days, extended as far south as Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, before ending in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Kraigher was gregarious and convivial. An accomplished horseman as well as a pilot, he entertained in Brownsville, often arranging for friends to fly in from other Texas and Mexican cities served by Pan Am. Among Kraigher’s colleagues was the pilot Lars H. Kristofferson, whose son, the actor Kris Kristofferson, was born in Brownsville in 1936. When the US entered World War II, Kraigher left Brownsville. During the war, working first for Pan Am, then as a US military officer (eventually attaining the rank of colonel) under the Office of Special Services, Kraigher used his flying skills and geographic knowledge in support of critical military missions. He charted air routes across Africa serving supply lines from the US to the Middle East and India in the early 1940s. In the latter part of the war, he was active in the Balkans organizing and carrying out aerial rescues of downed Allied aviators. Kraigher did not return to Brownsville after the war and sold the house in 1946. He organized air services for Aramco in Saudi Arabia and in the 1950s built a second house designed by Richard Neutra in Litchfield, Connecticut, where he lived until his death in 1984.

Neutra’s design complemented George Kraigher’s sense of adventure. The compact house is two stories high. Flat roofs, horizontal bands of steel sash casement windows, a second-floor roof terrace with metal pipe railing, and planar walls finished with white stucco are identifying modernist characteristics. Neutra offset interior spaces in plan so that all rooms have access to the prevailing southeast breeze. A spacious, L-planned room on the first floor combines living and dining uses. There is a bedroom with separate bathroom and dressing room on the first floor and a bedroom, bath, dressing room, and den on the second floor in addition to the roof terrace. A two-car garage projects off the northwest corner of the house. The house retains its original cabinetry and fixtures. Neutra’s hand is especially visible in the deftly proportioned exterior wall planes, which are sculpturally juxtaposed with overhanging roof fascias to give the small house its dramatic presence. The house is surrounded by vegetation typical of the Lower Río Grande border, the only semi-tropical area in Texas: tall Washingtonia palm trees and low, thorny ebony and mesquite trees. Adjoining the flat site is a resaca, a lagoon-like ox-bow lake. The house was built by the Brownsville contractor A. W. Neck for a contract price of $5,000. The Brownsville architect Frank L. Godwin supervised construction. Neutra did not see the house until a chance visit to Brownsville in 1951. The Kraigher House was published in the May 1939 issue of Architectural Record as “Open-Planned, Window-Walled House in Southwest.” It is also illustrated and discussed in Hines’s book Richard Neutra and the Search for Modern Architecture: A Biography and History of 1982.

The Kraigher House was the first house and (following the Magnolia Lounge at the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936 in Dallas, designed by the New York architect William Lescaze) the second building in Texas built in the International Style of modern architecture. Neutra was the modernist master who had the greatest impact on Texas in the 1930s and 1940s. One of the first modern architects to practice in Texas, Charles Granger of Austin, worked in Neutra’s Los Angeles office in the 1930s. The Kraigher House forecast the role modern architecture would play in re-shaping the Lower Río Grande Valley during the 1950s, when, for the only time in the region’s history, buildings designed by local architects were published in the national architectural press.

The Kraigher House was owned from the 1961 until 1999 by the Brownsville real estate broker and developer Bud Franke and his wife. After the early 1970s, the Franke family ceased living in the house and rented it. By the early 1980s the house began to show signs of lack of maintenance. By 1992 it was windowless and inhabited by tenants who lived there rent-free in order to keep the house from being occupied by vagrants. Efforts by Preservation Brownsville and its founding president, Ambrosio Villarreal, Jr., led to acquisition of the house and two acres of its six-acre site by the City of Brownsville in 1999. The city enclosed the house and fenced it off but never began rehabilitation. In February 2004, Preservation Brownsville and Villarreal were successful in having the house listed by Preservation Texas as one of the most endangered historic sites in the state. Villarreal and Preservation Brownsville were also responsible for nominating the Kraigher House to the National Trust’s most endangered list. Listing prompted the City of Brownsville to negotiate a ninety-nine year lease agreement with the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College. In January 2006 the university took possession of the two-acre site and began restoration of the Kraigher House. Dr. Juliet V. García, president of the university, and Dr. José G. Martín, provost, were instrumental in securing the university’s support of this effort.

The restoration of the severely deteriorated house was carried out by Lawrence V. Lof, assistant professor of biology and director of the Gorgas Science Foundation, who is also the university’s rehabilitation projects manager. After overseeing restoration of the Alonzo Building complex, a late nineteenth-century corner store; and another such complex, the Cueto Building, both examples of the border brick style of the lower Río Grande; as well as the J. J. Young House, an imposing Colonial Revival house built in 1910—all for use by various agencies of the university—Lof embarked on the restoration of the Kraigher House with students enrolled in Texas Southmost College’s Historic Rehabilitation Practicum. Restoration work was carried out between early 2006 and 2008.
Article courtesy of Lower Río Grande Valley Chapter, American Institute of Architects
September 2009

George Kraigher House by Architect, Richard Neutra in Brownsville, Texas

2010-01-09T14:30:00.005-06:00

Name: George Kraigher House
Architect: Richard Neutra,
with Frank L. Godwin, associate architect
Year Designed: circa 1936
Builder: A. W. Neck
Year Completed: 1937
Size: Unknown
Location: 525 Paredes Line Road, Brownsville Texas
Type: Residential
Style: International Style Modernism
Status: Excellent
Photographed by: Robert McLaughlin

I traveled with my extended family to South Padre Island, Texas between Christmas and New Years Day. While there, we made a side trip to Brownsville, Texas and Matamoris, Mexico, sister cities on either side of the Rio Grande river. At my request we made one stop of architectural interest on this rainy day at a home designed for George Kraigher by California Modern Architect, Richard Neutra. Kraigher was a Pan Am pilot stationed in Brownsville, which in those days was a hub to South America from the US. I jumped out and quickly shot off some photos from the hip while thirteen impatient family members waited in a van. I wish the photos were better, but I had to work with haste and the poor weather conditions of the day. Later, I had to seriously debate whether to give up one of the few sunny days at the beach to make a return trip, but my family vetoed the thought.

This house is special in that it represents a significant success story for the preservation of Modern architecture. In 2004 this house was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of the "Eleven Most Endangered Places." The house sat windowless and unoccupied while termites were destroying what remained. Fortunately a few people with some idea that a modern home could be historically significant intervened and convinced the city of Brownsville to purchase the home in 1999. The property was fenced, but no work was done to stabilize the structure. The placement of the house on the 2004 list convinced the city to commit to a 99 year lease to the University of Texas Brownsville/Texas Southmost College. The home was restored by the University from 2006 to 2008. I post these photos as a testament to the good work done by the people of Brownsville.

To see larger versions of these photos go to my flickr site.

Happy New Year from All Your Friends at KCMODERN!

2010-01-06T21:48:00.004-06:00

I took these photos over the Christmas Holiday as the snows started to build up and drifts began to grow. This particular area on the roof of our mid-century modern ranch is a drainage point for two gables and prone to wind drifts during snow and heavy wind. I wanted to share what I thought was a lovely snow veil cantilevered from the roof.

The icicles grow...somehow a metaphor for the year as it goes by...

We wish you a Happy, Healthy and Abundant New Year!

...We were talking the other day about upcoming events for 2010 ( check back soon for announcements on our late winter events) when we reflected on 2009 and the fun we had...Here is a short list of our efforts:

In February, there was "Memphis in Missouri, " an open event at the home of our friend Rod, showcasing his collection of Ettore Sottass designed furniture and decorative accents, along with other great 80's artists and designers.

In March we hosted a modern tour for the architectural students from Iowa State University and our friend and professor of architecture, Dan Naegele.

KCModern co-hosted an April tour of architecturally important houses, Louis Curtiss, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer, Jones and Emmons, Clarence Kivett, Bruce Goff, Edward Tanner and Barry Byrne, (see previous posts) for the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy Spring Meetings, including reception dinners at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Bott and Sondern-Adler houses.

In April, we planned and recorded an audio/visual oral history of Ted Seligson, architect FAIA/educator, preservationist and wonderful man.

In June we partied with our first "Martini Modern" at the wonderful home in KCMO designed by William S. Beckett. Part of the proceeds from the event was for the benefit of the Historic Kansas City Foundation.

In August we began our co-sponsored film events with the AIGA.

September was the David B. Runnells House Tour and reception at the "All-Climate Home" with our special guest Jill (Runnells) Grose.

November was our "Showcasing Green" Event at the Studio 804 designed house in KCKS.

At this time we are in the process of seeking not-for-profit status.

This will help us in our quest for continued research and advocacy for modern architecture and preservation of our modern assets...

As we build our calender of events, please let us know what you would be interested in... and look forward to a fun filled and educational KCModern 2010... We wish you the very best the New Year has to offer!

Bruce Goff, Architect- Thanksgiving In Bartlesville, OK

2009-12-15T16:33:00.001-06:00

I'm late in getting this post up...Over Thanksgiving my family went to see relatives in Bartlesville, OK. As I always do, I had to cruise around and check on some amazing architecture there. We stopped in at the Price Tower to see the Contemporary Art Show, we were told the restaurant is now closed but the bar is still open at certain times. It's a great building, you should stop in if you are near. I then drove over to Christ Redeemer Church (located adjacent to Hwy 75). This originally was a church complex designed by Bruce Goff, unfortunately the church was never built but the ancillary service/ youth building was in 1961...these photos show how it looks now.

The pieces of blue-green glass are "culled" glass broken out of large vats from a nearby glass manufacturer( Bruce Goff often used "found" items or elements in his architecture). The glass is used in similar fashion as Shin-en 'kan, the Joe Price house destroyed by arson ten years ago, I love the bold corner embellishments. Note the entryway supports that resemble arrows.

Below: The glass cullet is used as sidelights to the door, letting in dramatic light by day and glowing at night from light within...

I had to get a photo of the afternoon light on this wall...the steel framed diamond windows, Oklahoma Limestone and random placement of the glass cullet give this building a refined discipline...I would have loved to see the faces of the church's building committee when BG presented his design.

The building was locked for the holiday, I'll try to locate some photos I have of the interior and post those in the future. I didn't include photos of the chapel, it is more subdued and less exciting, somewhat mismatched, but I'm sure it was more affordable than the design by Goff.

"What's The Story On That House?"

2009-12-14T16:40:00.001-06:00

You may have driven by this house before, if you drove by 80th and Grand in KCMO. Located in an older working class neighborhood with all house types, many being "dinky" little cottages with just a few hundred square feet of space...then you come across this Prairie style house...Designed by an architectural student/apprentice for the current owners, built in 1991 with move-in in 1992. On a double lot this all-brick house with a low-slung hipped roof commands it's corner location. Very derivitive of turn of the 20th century work in Chicago...I talked to the proud owners, who said they wanted a Frank Lloyd Wright "looking" house. They said they spent a lot of time researching publications on Wright, the Robie house and other examples of his Prairie period. I was surprised to hear, with the exterior it has, the interior has no Prairie School elements...no extensive woodwork, no fireplace (?), etc. Now I know why I never saw a chimney.

Below- Side and rearview of house. Like a "three little pigs" house it screams shelter!

Southwest Research Institute Housing Research Foundation Certified Quality Design - Revere Quality Houses by Don Drummond and Architect David Runnells

2009-12-05T20:51:00.010-06:00

This post could easily get the reward for the longest title at the KCMODERN blog.... This is a brochure for the "Revere Quality Houses" that I wanted to get up on the blog before the Runnells Weekend back in September, but I ran out of time and stamina. The brochure proudly displays the most famous image of Builder, Don Drummond's Revere Home, designed by Architect, David B. Runnells on page two. Also visible in the second house photo is a home by Architect, Charles M. Goodman and Builder, Robert Davenport, which was built in Hollin Hills, a modern development in Alexandria, Virginia. The third house's provenance is not known. The program was later joined by well-known Modern Builder, Joseph Eichler. The Revere Home Program was sponsored by the Southwest Research Institute Housing Research Foundation, which provided it's seal of "Certified Quality Design."

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that this brochure was found in one of the boxes that Jill (Runnells) Grose gave to me with her father's documents in them.

Do You Remember ...Mission, KS

2009-12-03T13:10:00.006-06:00

Do you remember this little gem of a building? I stopped by about a year and a half ago, wondering if the building would be impacted by the city's upcoming flood control plan. I met the staff working there and they assured me the owner of the building said it was safe and not threatened. Well...the building was razed two weeks ago...a friend asked if I had noticed it was torn down...

Above and below- Great views of the building straddling the creek, probably couldn't build it today! The creek takes a hard turn to the north behind the building.

Below-Indoor view of lobby, front door is to the left.

I drove by and this is what I found...this was a cool building completed in 1965 as a Credit Union for Shawnee Mission School Teachers and designed by an educated hand... with the massing of the entry/foyer and the scale of the span over the creek. The employees didn't know the architect or builder names. Another example of mid-century modern architecture being the most at risk for demolition. The city of Mission, Ks. has seen a few MCM buildings demolished in the last few years...Mission Center and the "Circle" building to name a couple.

Palisades Concrete Pier House - Photo of the Week

2009-11-17T06:00:00.002-06:00

Name: Palisades Concrete Pier House
Architect: Unknown
(Occupied by the Architect who designed it.)
Year Designed: Unknown
Builder: Unknown
Year Completed: Unknown
Size: Unknown
Location: Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, CA
(overlooking Sunset Blvd.)
Type: Residential
Style: Brutalist Concrete and Wood Modern
Status: Excellent
Photo by: Robert McLaughlin

This photo has proven to be my most popular image on Flickr, so I thought I would share it with our blog readers. I photographed this house several years back while staying with some friends who lived just a block away. It is only about a half mile from the Eames House. The home was designed by the architect who lives there and it has great views into the canyon and probably the ocean beyond the ridge. The road visible below the house is Sunset Blvd. Click Here to see the front of the house.

Better Homes & Gardens Decorating Book Cover - 1961- Modern Illustration

2009-11-16T09:00:00.005-06:00

Wow it has been a while since I posted. Attribute it to Post Runnells Tour recovery I guess. Lets kick things back off with and image or two.
What can I say about this image from the cover of the 1961 Better Homes & Gardens Decorating Book? It just oozes Mid Century Modern Goodness! The primary colors, the MCM art, the Nelson bubble lamp, the sofa, the tables, the fruit bowl all make me drool. It even has a copy of BH&G magazine on the coffee table.... This kind of artwork makes me wish I lived in that era. This might have been the best two bucks I ever spent on a book.

SHOWCASING GREEN - Studio 804 - Sunday, November 15th, 4-6pm

2009-11-12T15:04:00.006-06:00

Please join KCMODERN for:
SHOWCASING GREEN
at the amazing house built by Studio 804, 3716 Springfield
with our guest, Gerould Sabin of Elements of Green,
who will be presenting green building materials
Sunday, November 15th, 4-6 PM.

Studio 804 at the University of Kansas has designed Kansas City’s first “off the grid” residence as a model of sustainability. The studio is aspiring to complete the first LEED platinum residence in the Kansas City area. The house showcases may energy saving techniques, including a wind turbine, solar panels, a geothermal heat pump and a water reclamation system.

Meet Gerould Sabin of Elements of Green, which he created to make an impact in Kansas City by simplifying access to the product stream of sustainable building, remodeling and finishing solutions to the Midwest and to provide a social networking venue for the discussion of environmentally sound building materials and practices.

Studio 804: http://www.studio804.com/about%20us/mission/studio/studio.html

3716 Springfield: http://www.3716springfield.com/
From State Line Road and 39th Street, go west on 39th by KUMed and across Rainbow Bvld, 3 blocks to Springfield and north to the house. Parking will be in the gravel lot located across the street and a little to the north.

Elements of Green: http://www.elements-of-green.com/about-us.html

Photo by Dan Rockhill

1955 PARADE OF HOMES-Part Three

2009-11-09T23:20:00.006-06:00

The 1955 Kansas City Home Builders Association Parade of Homes Guidebook featured the above ad on the back cover, naming "powerhouse" builders of the time...I love the wall refrigerator, which I think was a cool idea thet never took off, perhaps because of costs and reduced wall storage space...still a cool idea. Note the "All-in-One" unit in the upper right called the "Kitchen Center"...every appliance but the refrigerator grouped together as one, sounds daunting and depressing by today's standards...but convenient!
The guidebook is a great example of the growth of "First-Ring" suburbs like Prairie Village, KS. The ranch dominated the styles available...
The house below was by Sam Symons, builder. You will see a number of examples of this identifiable plan throughout the area. He was a "direct" competitor with Don Drummond for a few years in the "Modern" home market, and many people refer to these homes as "Drummonds" because of similar characteristics. This house is the largest of the three built on the southeast corner of 75th and Lamar. 75th street was just recently paved and was two-lane setting the houses well back from the road. I love the pricing, for example: "Six Foot Longer House- $1000". The houses were priced in the guidebook from "$15,000 to $17,500". Interesting to note Symons office on Juniper was one of this plan.

The house below is the Better Homes and Gardens "Idea Home of the Year"... built by Vic Regnier. Vic was a builder/ developer at the time, building many homes in the area near Ranchmart Shopping Center (which he developed and built including his multi-family residences. According to the O.P. Sun, Vic was estimated to be worth about $36 million in the late 1980's. That didn't stop him from coming to work everyday in his beat up pickup truck bringing his lunch and washing it down with buttermilk... a brilliant business man who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, you would often see him at Ranchmart Hardware, where I think he preferred to be).

Vic didn't build many "modern" houses, preferring a more traditional ranch house. The house below had the breezeway lifestyle, which ultimately would get enclosed, expanding livable square footage. When I first saw it in the late 1980's it still had it's light-stained mahogany walls and cabinets... The "magazine" house was all the rage at the time, it being a unique medium to reach the public, and more importantly, women...as I understand it, this architect was in/involved with the architectural firm of Hugh Stubbins, giving it a unique pedigree... per the guidebook, this house was priced $30,000-$35,000...as far as we know, this was the only one of this plan built. The images are not here now...but I may add them later...

1955 PARADE OF HOMES- Part Two

2009-11-02T21:50:00.004-06:00

It's fun to live in a "Magazine Cover Home"...with color harmonized interiors personally selected by Cliff May. In 1955, Stanley Cowherd, Builder contracted to build five speculative houses near 77th and Lamar in Prairie Village, KS. These homes were part of a marketing thrust by Better Homes and Gardens Magazine and Cliff May, house designer, promoting a better lifestyle for less money through better design. The homes were priced from $20,000 to $25,000. The builder planned to build these homes in nearby communities, but as far as we know these were the only ones constructed. I talked to Stanley Cowherd's niece and she said he died in the 1980's and no one was left in the family that knew any details about his building and/or company. These are the only Cliff May homes in Kansas City that we know of. A large custom May design in Mission Hills, KS. was torn down a couple of years ago.

Above, the most lavish of the group and the parade model...check out the floor plan, the patio doubles the living area. The photo below shows how the house looks today from the south, note the "raised" roof done in the early 1980's(probably as an all-in-one "solution" to a tar and gravel roof replacement gaining added insulation and addressing the "market" concerns with low-pitched roofs), it partially conceals the clerestory windows. A popular design element at the time was the garage and carport combination.

Below, the house seen from the north...walled patio on the left.

Streetside scenes...as a rule these homes were sited for the most privacy, light and ventilation...

For more info on Cliff May designed homes being built in 1955 check out: http://www.cliffmayregistry.com/ Be sure to check out the original home guide (found in the house featured in the blog below) and note May's kookie font on the brochure. Also check out http://www.ranchostyle.com/.

To see a blog about restoring one of these homes in Prairie Village, KS go to our friends' site at http://cliffmayremodel.blogspot,com/
or see Kansas City Home Remodel Blogs- Our Love of Cliff May

1955 PARADE OF HOMES-Part One

2009-10-25T22:15:00.003-05:00

The 1955 Home Builders Association Parade of Homes Tour was the 8th year of the homes tour. It was was the first year of the homes tour to have a guidebook. It is interesting to see the way houses were promoted at the time and the way builders addressed the buyers needs and wants. The house below at 79th and Juniper "markets" a twenty mile view long before the trees grew.

Below, Interesting floor plan with lower level entry. "Restricted"...? That was of it's time... In the area, split level plans were a minority in the mid-fifties, ranches being the dominant plan. Schaeffer and Company did the rendering, which is wonderful...they did many of the local architects' perspectives at this time...

Below, J.C. Nichols Company advertising in the Guidebook. This house was designed by Edward Tanner and Associates. Many subtle messages here talking to market value and location..."THINK before you invest".

The house below is built by a builder who did numerous houses in the first-ring suburbs KS/MO.(Click on Image to Enlarge

Bruce Goff-Architect- Save the "Space Rocket"!

2009-10-22T18:00:00.002-05:00

This photo was taken shortly after completion in 1964 by our friend, architect Robert Bowlby and featured in the Friends of Kebyar -Bruce Goff in Oklahoma Guide( if your doing a Bruce Goff Tour in Oklahoma you need this guidebook!)...note the bright colors and pendants(colorful aluminum bubbles) on steel tension cables.

I took these photos in August 2009. You can see the rust and neglect but you can also see that this structure needs maintenance to be a sculpture and perhaps an engineer's report on it's structural integrity with repairs to be a playground "toy" as originally conceived. My wife played on this as a kid and said it was an exhilarating experience.

We wanted to bring attention to a seriously cool landmark in Sooner Park, Bartlesville, Oklahoma and to salute those that have made noise and created a discussion by calling attention to the importance of this civic design by Bruce Goff as a gift to the city by the H.C. Price family. The child's toy; fun to look at, fun to be in was welded shut years ago...in the 1990's it seemed all but forgotten; not painted, not accessible and definately not a "fun" place that Mothers would be comfortable with their children playing on. There has been a lot of "chatter" regarding this treasure but no concrete group has stepped up as far as I know other than the Friends of Kebyar (http://www.kebyar.com/). I would encourage anyone that supports saving this rare landmark to contact them and the Price Tower(http://www.pricetower.com/) to encourage preservation voices be heard on the importance of this work.

In Salute to the Fall Parade of Homes!

2009-10-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

The local homebuilders and the Home Builder's Association of Greater Kansas City have been having a tough year...we salute their efforts and see a parallel to this photo. This article trumpets the Parade of Homes in 1957...with a recession looming, builders were "digging in". Don Drummond, the builder, was very busy at the time building numerous modern custom and production homes in the south Kansas City area. He got a great photo-op here, though the site needs a final grading. Clearly the photo was staged; Mr. Quinn holding building plans, Mrs. Quinn in a snappy outfit, the child(who looks like he really wants to get in the dirt) and the family dog in tow. The article says they are moving in this weekend! It's interesting to note the photo promotes the HBA Homes Tour and at the time Don didn't belong to the organization...Talk about "digging in" and positioning at all costs. This is still a cool house, though modified greatly over the years from a stone and timber modern it has the open plan and sophistication you would expect in a 50 year old city home... Here's to Homebuilders and to the economy improving!

REEL Design Film Series ends this Tuesday with Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect

2009-09-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect

KCMODERN has partnered with other members of the Kansas City Design Community including, AIGA, AIA, IDSA, SEGD to assemble exclusive one-night only screenings of some great design films. Each screening will have surprise visits and giveaways. The REEL Design Film Series will be shown at the Tivoli Theater, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave. Kansas City, MO 64111. Tickets for the movies will cost $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Advance tickets are available at: http://www.kansascity.aiga.org/events/

Modern Builder, Don Drummond's Own Home by Architect, David Runnells

2009-09-19T23:53:00.005-05:00

(Please click to enlarge this photo for best viewing)

Name: Home of Don and Francie Drummond
Architect: David B. Runnells
Year Designed: Circa 1946
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Completed: Circa 1947 or 48
Size: Unknown
Location: Mission Hills KS
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Demolished
Photographer: Unknown

This is the only known image of the house that David Runnells designed for Modern Home Builder, Don Drummond's personal use. Don loaned me this 8x10 transparency film for me to scan. He told me that some photographers, possibly from House Beautiful, were in town to shoot another of his projects and they shot this one image on their lunch break while Francie made them a meal. Notice that almost all of the tables and chairs were by high end, classic-modern designer, T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings. The one notable exception is the coffee table by Isamu Noguchi. Don Drummond Jr. said that his mother made a special trip to New York to buy all of this furniture. Most of the furniture and the painting of seagulls were in the Drummond home when we visited him in California a few years ago. In fact, he sat in the white chair to the far left almost the entire time we were there. This image is one of my favorite finds in my quest to uncover the story about Don Drummond and David Runnells.

Sneak Preview of the David B. Runnells Tour this Sunday

2009-09-19T13:00:00.002-05:00

Photographer and KCMODERN sponsor, Bob Greenspan was kind enough to take some sneak preview shots of the tour houses for us. Enjoy!

Crosstown Center Proposal by David B. Runnells, Architect & W.G. Roeseler, City Planner

2009-09-19T12:15:00.002-05:00

Not much is known about this unbuilt urban renewal project, except that it was to be located roughly where the Power and Light District is now near the Sprint Center Arena and that it was designed by Environmental associates which was a partnership between David Runnells, AIA, Architect and W.G. Roeseler, AIP, City Planner. The project demonstrates early 70s style semi-brutalist architecture not unlike the built Crown Center urban renewal projects.

Who is Architect, David B. Runnells?

2009-09-19T12:01:00.003-05:00

Portrait of David B. Runnells taken by Life Magazine in 1950

David Benton Runnells, Architect 1913-1973

Architect, David B. Runnells traveled extensively in Europe after graduating from the University of Illinois. He was heavily influenced by the work of Alvar Aalto while traveling through, Finland and Sweden on a scholarship to the University of Stockholm.

Runnells was a student of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, studying city planning at Cranbrook, a hotbed of modern design education. Other students attending at that time were Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Benjamin Baldwin, Harry Weese and Jack Lenor Larsen. Runnells worked in the Saarinen offices during part of World War II and did competitions with co-worker and Case Study House Architect, Ralph Rapson.

Runnells eventually settled in Kansas City sometime around 1941 as head of the industrial design department of the Kansas City Art Institute. He was a director of planning with the Kansas City Planning Department from 1943-46. He became an architect in 1946 and partnered in Runnells Clark Waugh and Matsumoto Architects. Together, they did one of his best known projects, the new Art School building for the Kansas City Art Institute. The only other project known to have come from that partnership is the James I. Clark Residence.

After the partnership dissolved, with Waugh and Matsumoto leaving to teach, Runnells went on to do merchant home builder designs and custom homes, many of which were built by modern builder, Don Drummond. The Revere Homes are his best known merchant builder design. The Reed Residence is the best surviving example of his large custom residential work. The two custom personal residences that he designed for himself and for Don Drummond have both been demolished. His 1966 design for the Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity in Lawrence, Kansas has also been demolished.

"Modern Cape Cod" House by Architect, David B. Runnells

2009-09-19T12:00:00.006-05:00

Name: Modern Cape Cod House
Architect: David B. Runnells
Year Designed: 1951
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Completed: 1952-1954
Size: Location: Prairie Viallage
Type: Residential
Style: Modern Ranch
Status: Good
Photographer: Unknown

When Mid-Century Modern was Green - A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley by Architect, David B. Runnells - Part 2

2009-09-18T23:01:00.001-05:00

Name: A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri Valley - Stuart Williams Residence
Architect: David Benton Runnells
Year Designed: 1949-1950
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1950-1952
Size: Unknown
Location: South Kansas City, Missouri
Type: Residential
Style: Modern, Passive solar heating and cooling
Status: Good
Photographer: N/A
Illustrator: Unknown

Scanned from an article, "If You've Too Much Climate Try Climate Control" and "A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley" in the May 1950 issue of House Beautiful magazine.

When Mid-Century Modern was Green - A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley by Architect, David B. Runnells - Part 1

2009-09-18T23:00:00.001-05:00

Jerad and Jessica Foster's Revere Home

2009-09-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Jerad and Jessica Foster's Revere Home will be one of the eight homes on tour this weekend. They recently won two KC Home Design, design excellence awards, one gold award in the outdoor category and a silver award in the historic preservation category. Congratulations to Jerad and Jessica. We look forward to your home being on the tour!

Revere Homes by David B. Runnells

2009-09-18T17:00:00.003-05:00

Name: Revere Home
(part of the Revere Quality House Program sponsored
by the Housing Research Foundation that is part of the
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas)
Architect: David B. Runnells
Year Designed: 1949
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Completed: 1950-1951
Size: Varies
Location: Prairie Village, KS
Type: Residential
Style: Status:
Photographer: Unknown

David B. Runnells with Eero and Eliel Saarinen on the Steps of Cranbrook Academy of Art - Photo by "Charlie" Charles Eames - 1941

2009-09-18T12:14:00.006-05:00

This photo of Architect, David B. Runnells (left foreground) with Architects, Eero and Eliel Saarinen and others was taken on the steps of the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

The Saarinens were powerhouses of design and architecture at that time, winning many architecture competitions and commissions. They also educated and entire generation of the best designers in America at the time. Other students who were there at the same time as David Runnells included: Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Benjamin Baldwin, Harry Weese, Ralph Rapson and Jack Lenor Larsen.

The back of the photo says in script, "Photo by Charlie Eames Cranbrook 1941" (Charles Eames).

The names of the people from left to right appear to be: Ed Leuders, David Runnells, Jamy Schilling, Eero Sarrinen, Carl Water, Eliel Saarinen and Art Breuer.

This photo was loaned to me for scanning by Jill (Runnells) Grose, who is David Runnells' daughter. Jill and her husband Gary will be the guests of honor at the events this weekend.

Runnells Weekend Reminder

2009-09-16T11:03:00.006-05:00

Click on image to enlarge for all of the party and tour details!