Gettysburg Update

This came in today from the National Parks Service. Please note the tagline:

Skip:

There is no resolution in the lawsuit regarding the Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg National Military Park.

Demolition work is beginning on the old Visitor Center building.
Demolition of the Cyclorama building will not move forward however until the lawsuit is resolved.

Katie Lawhon
Public Affairs Specialist
Gettysburg National Military Park

Experience your America

The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that they all may experience our heritage.

I think the tagline is sad really. I am trying to get more information.

Breuer's Second New Canaan House is Reborn

[PICTURE REMOVED]

One of the renovation projects in New Canaan that we have been following for the last couple years is the expansion of Marcel Breuer's second New Canaan house. Called "Breuer 2" by some people in the area and other areas as well, it is in actually "Breuer 3" with "One" being the house he built for his family in Lincoln Massachusetts a stone's throw from the Walter Gropius House and "Two" being the modified home on Sunset Hill.

Anyway, while testing a link from the townhouse post to Prutting Construction's website (UPDATE: the photos of the completed renovation have been removed to honor the wished of Prutting Construction and Their client) I found new pictures of the completed project which was designed by the former head of the Harvard Architecture School, how appropriate since that is where Breuer and the rest of "the Harvard Five" (Breuer, Johnson, Noyes, Johansen and Gores) came from, Toshiko Mori.

Mori's approach seems to have been one of separation and preservation with the addition obviously the addition and the original home preserved, from the outside anyway, in near it's original form. It is a stunning bit of work. The addition, while new, does pay homage to the forms and themes used by Breuer and his contemporaries. It's almost as if the main living area from Johnson's Wiley House was lifted off it's foundations and placed next to the Breuer House.

The project shows that with a team effort, owners with foresight balanced with historical importance, a really good architect steeped in the traditions of modernism and its history and an accomplished and professional builder, that these moderns need not disappear.

[PICTURE REMOVED]

[caption id="attachment_298" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Known as Breuer 1 in New Canaan this is actually Breuer 2"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_103" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="This is the real Breuer 1 in Lincoln Massachusetts."][/caption]

Toshiko Mori

Prutting Construction

It's Like 1952 All Over Again

During a visit to friends at The Daycare Center of New Canaan, where I spend a lot of time in the summer building moderns out of blocks with the kids, I was barraged by questions about whether or not I had been back by the Joeb Moore townhouse on Park Street being constructed by Dave Prutting's (pronounced "prooting") crew.

I hadn't...so I went back today and stopped in.

In the previous post I had mentioned that there is a blurring of the lines drawn by the founders of mid-century modernism and it's progeny. That the buildings although arguably unadorned by extraneous ornamentation had begun to run the risk of becoming the ornamentation themselves. This is the case in so many "new" moderns where form does not necessarily follow function but function is invented to justify form. They have in some cases become part sculpture, which may not be a bad thing but certainly misses the point of modern, in my opinion anyway.

I think this townhouse walks that edge between the two.

The Joeb Moore designed New Canaan townhouse from the northeast.

It is, as you approach it from the north, not that jarringly different. It's mix of gray metal and wood siding looking somehow like it is an abstraction or extrapolation of the regions architecture. Anyone who complains that it does not fit in the neighborhood should pause and take a good look around. Next door on one side is a god-awful condo, on the other (an in the back) old homes that seem to have been carved up for apartments and across the street are the old brick bread box apartments that I remember from my childhood in town. Down the street more of the same, ugly condos and cluster homes crammed into ridiculously small lots. I would venture that the townhouse is an improvement to the neighborhood.

As you reach the front it is evident that this is not yet another cliché house. This is indeed something different. But the view from the front is not an "in your face" view. There is a lot of wood and yes, metal but it still seems to fit. Even more so that the pictures lead you to believe. This is all subjective of course. The back is breathtaking with large windows that overlook Mead Park in the distance. There is a rumored rooftop deck too.

My 76 year old mother is...shall we say....not a fan nor was the older gentleman walking by when I was snapping pictures who sort of harumphed as he passed. It seems to be kind of a love/hate thing. I was reminded of those people who in 1952, began writing poorly rhymed poems as letters to the editors of The New Canaan Advertiser lambasting the modernists for their "packing crates, hatboxes and half open drawers".

I don't care. If it were up to me there would be a lot more of these in town. New Canaan should be happy. Here is a piece of architectural significance not hidden behind a stone wall or down some long tree covered driveway. It is right in the middle of town, walking distance from The Glass House Museum, right where everyone can see it for what it is, a monument to those who, despite external pressures, came to New Canaan and gave it a soul to back up the gigantic pieces of waste that dot the landscape.

The front entrance opening.

This may be the front entry side of things where, if it is, obviously the real front door has yet to be installed. Note the way the siding has been installed to give the wall texture. Brilliant I say.

Where's the garage?

The garage door is a work of art. Absolutely brilliant. It was open when I got there and was closed as I came around from from the back so it was kind of a nice surprise.

The rear.

This is the rear of the house. The picture does not do it justice.

www.joebmoore.com

www.prutting.com

Semi-Mass Modernism, The FlatPak Way

The mission of mid-century modernism was the creation of a new architecture using modern industrial materials and methods. This so that the masses could have something nicer than the faux capes and ill-conceived split levels that people like Abraham Levitt were foisting on the public after WWII. At least that's what we think. These contrary little wonders, devoid of ornamentation, were created by often struggling and financially challenged men who later became icons of 20th century architecture. They had names like Neutra, Noyes, Gropius, Breuer, van der Rohe and Johnson.

As time passed that initial mission has blurred so that now it is possible to get a 15,000 square foot house with a flat roof and big windows that is billed as modern. This is a bad thing.

Another issue is that, and I am not saying that people should not be allowed to create and explore the endless variations that architecture provides, often you see the house becomes the ornament. Large foldy things with spikey tops and walls that travel at weird angles provide decoration without function. This is not really bad, there is a house or two in New Canaan that fall into this category and we love them, but I think it misses the point set by the founders mentioned above.

Enter FlatPak. Those of you who stop by here on a regular basis already know that we think that the concept behind the FlatPak House is a good if not great one, where panels are manufactured and then shipped and assembled with almost zero on site waste and at a great time savings. One just has to read our interview with Charles Lazor, founder or Lazor Office, BluDot and FlatPak House to see why this all makes sense (excerpt below).

EM! It seems to us that your FlatPak approach to prefab is an infinitely more flexible approach than a typical prefab where you pick modules or rooms that are already a certain size and shape and you plug them together.

CL Correct and the architect in me holds a number of things very dear. Each site had its own specific conditions, its own specific greatness, its own challenges and that each client has their own specific needs, tastes and specific ways of living and working in and with their house.

EM! So was FlatPak founded as a way to bring modern to the masses at a lower price point?

CL Maybe more specifically it’s about opening up the possibility of a modern architect designed home to more people. It’s still a premium product. It’s not cheap but pound for pound these houses are significantly less expensive than a traditional custom house.

In my office we do traditional custom designed and built homes in the modernist idiom, exploring ideas in modern living and working, materials and technology but FlatPak houses take as little as half the time from the first meeting to move in. They cost somewhere between 20% and 30% less.

So when we got an email this morning from Jeff Hollander at FlatPak stating that they had some great new pictures of a new FlatPak house under construction, we thought we'd share.

[caption id="attachment_253" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="First the panels are built in the FlatPak facility"][/caption]

Above...The beginning of the manufacturing process at the FlatPak facility. This follows the interview/design process.

[caption id="attachment_254" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The siding is applied"][/caption]

During the manufacturing process the panels are surfaced in a variety of materials. This cedar made from repurposed manufacturing waste from another factory reminds us of the sideing on Eliot Noyes' Bremer House in New Canaan.

Ready to go

These are ready for the truck.

[caption id="attachment_258" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The panels are packed and shipped"][/caption]

This is one of three trucks used to bring the house's shell to the site. Two brought the panels sealed packages and one brought the truss system for florrs and roofing.

[caption id="attachment_257" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="A Package with the cover off"][/caption]

This is how the panels are shipped, packed flat together. You can see that the contents of the rear package have aleady been placed.

[caption id="attachment_260" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Then the crane takes the budle off the truck"][/caption]

The foundation can be seen in the background. It will not take long for the FlatPak A-Team to get the shell up and set.

[caption id="attachment_261" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The first floor goes up"][/caption]

This is a two structure building with the crane loading in a panel on the living structure ahile the work structure awaits the floor system and second floor wall panels.

[caption id="attachment_262" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The wall panels goes up"][/caption]

The second floor of the working space quickly is enclosed. FlatPak founder Charles Lazor (with the camera) checks progress.

[caption id="attachment_263" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Almost there"][/caption]

The panel is set in to place. You can see the truss system under Mr. Lazor.

[caption id="attachment_265" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Seen from the street"][/caption]

The FlatPak's shell is almost complete. The house takes on an almost Eames Case Study House look.

[caption id="attachment_266" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="All in a days work"][/caption]

It's all in a days work for the FlatPak House A-Team. These are members of a dedicated assembly team that are dropped on the site to continue quality control beyond the factory walls.

Thanks to the folks at FlatPak for these pictures and we can't wait for pictures of the finished product.

Saving The Things We Don't Know We Want Saved, Recent Past Preservation Network.

[caption id="attachment_249" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Neutra's Lovell Health House falls outside RPPN's mandate."][/caption]

I got off the phone a little while ago with Christine Madrid French, the president of The Recent Past Preservation Network and while those who are tasked with fighting for the preservation of old items think they have it tough imagine trying to save things that the general public isn't convinced needs saving.

That's just it. The RPPN has in it's name, an implied mandate that makes their job that much more difficult. They are the Recent Past Preservation Network. That is buildings which are under 50 years old. That means that much of the work by iconic architects such as Neutra, Gropius, Schindler and the like would not fall under the group's mandate.

[caption id="attachment_250" align="alignright" width="250" caption="John M Johansesn's Mechanic Theater in Baltimore falls within RPPN's mandate and is an example of Brutalism."][/caption]

Before you recoil in horror, hear me out. This is where RPPN needs and deserves our support. They fight for those pieces of history that we don't yet realize we might want to have still around later on. Think of how much of an impact they might have made in 1963 when New York's original Penn Station was demolished.

That's the point. RPPN works to save the future landmarks we don't yet appreciate or know we'll want saved. What started as a group to help save locations such as the Richard Neutra Gettysburg Cyclorama Center, a fight which continues to this day, follows their floating mandate as it moves from early modernism into brutalism, enclosed malls and other styles and structures that seem unloved at present.

[caption id="attachment_248" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Marcel Breuer's Armstrong Tire and Rubber building in New Haven Connecticut also fits the bill."][/caption]

Ms. French, a former National Parks Service employee who had worked in the Capital Region and done battlefield surveys at places such as Antietam was alarmed over the lack of interest and administrative attention being paid to The Cyclorama Center's history.   The Center was, as part of a battlefield restoration program by the NPS, slated for demolition  (it still is).

While the group focuses on United States architecture they do get emails and phone calls from around the world, "we got an email from India", she begins, "and another from England about a parking lot that was  being demolished.

So as RPPN's mandate lurches forever forward let's follow their example, take a deep breath and pause before tearing anything down. You know, pretty soon we'll be looking to save examples of McMansions as examples of gross excess and architectural stupidity.

Recent Past Preservation Network.
National Register of Historic Places.
Richard and Dion Neutra Architects.
Mission 66 (for the preservation of NPS visitor centers built from 1956-66)