A Fort Comes Full-Circle

It's hard to imagine that  two and a half ago I was in Texas stressing-out over completing my Final Study project for my Master's Degree.  I highlighted the project here and here, but I didn't specify where the building was located mainly because it was still an active military base slated for closure.  Well today the nation's oldest continuously operating military base, Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, is being decommissioned by the Army and is open to the public for the first time since its creation in 1819.

What is so amazing about this location is that since it was a military base, it remained untouched by developers who grabbed almost all of the waterfront property in Hampton Roads.  So not only does it have an incredible sampling of two centuries of architectural styles (plus a MOAT!), but the waterfront views are absolutely astounding.  

photo court. of Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort via flickr 

The redevelopment authority for Fort Monroe has strict preservation and development standards in place as to prevent developers from going crazy over this property - and there's also a local movement to have the Fort made a National Park, so the views are safe for the moment.   If you are in Hampton Roads Virginia, be sure to take advantage of being able to visit this incredible treasure and all it has to offer.  And be sure to check out the one piece of Fort Monroe that is near and dear to my heart: Building 57 (aka, the motor Pool)

Which I proposed go from looking like this:

to this: 

and this:

Here's hoping that whoever redevelops this building uses it for something other than parking (which is the currently listed "best redevelopment use" for this building... a total cop-out if you ask me).  The 8 foot tall casement windows that span the length of the building still make me knees weak.

Happy decommissioning day to Fort Monroe and here's looking forward to an incredibly successful future!

Fugly Architecture Thursday - Cinema Style

This is a heart breaker of sorts.  For those who don't know me / are new to this blog, I will fill you in on some of my background - I have a Master's in Architecture.  However I also have an Undergraduate Degree in Historic Preservation and a Master's certificate in Historic Preservation.  This means, in short, that I am obsessed slightly with historic buildings.  I love their construction, their decades/centuries of stories, the feeling you get when you walk into a historic building, as well as an overwhelming sense of their infinite possibilities.  I despise the modern idea that old = useless, context is there only to be ignored and the only possibilities for a historic building is as a home or a museum (Fact: I also despise house museums.  Useless waste of awesome potential).  Adaptive reuse design is a passion of mine and something i absolutely loved doing back in grad school.  To hell with new buildings, bring on the old stuff.

So this brings me to today's post.  In New Orleans, we have a bit of a shortage of theatres that are within the city (minus the new canal place theatres).  But located in the Garden District, nestled next to small homes and boutiques, is a quaint little theatre that dates back to 1915.  The Prytania Theatre  is the only single screen theatre left in the state of Louisiana and really is a treasured establishment.  While it specializes in playing art films and movies from Hollywood's golden age, it is equipped with 3D technology, so you can see Inception in 3D right next door to your little shotgun house.  

The only problem?  Urban renewal and the idea that "old is ugly" that plagued the country in 1960.  So this quaint little theatre went from this lovely Italianate building:

to this:

Look mommy, a brick box!  I half expect to walk through the archway entrance and hop in a boat for a ride through the "tunnel of love" rather than going to see Toy Story 3.   This building has absolutely no character and, like last week's feature, NO respect for context (its in the Garden District for heaven's sake!!).  On the plus side: at least it isn't clad in steel or vinyl siding or, heaven forbid, turned into a museum. *shudder*

Times are a changin' -- a return to blog-world

Hello everyone! Long time, no, see, speak or hear. Yes, a long absence, i know. However, its been one insane week after another. Some things to note:

1) I passed my final thesis with so much ease, it was awesome. My committee loved it, I could answer all of the tough questions, and my images were worth the 10+ hours of rendering... each. If you knew me the first year of architecture school 3 years ago, you will understand just how amazing this is-- back then I called home almost every night, in tears about how I was going to drop out, hated architecture and missed home. However, lots of all-nighters, great guidance and poor fast-food eating habits helped me to achieve a project that not only made my committee happy, but proved that no matter what I believed 3 years ago, I am NOW a competent designer. Below you can see a few pictures from my final study:

(The picture on the upper right is the building's existing condition. The main image is my proposed condition)

(night view looking in the other direction, at the new bar addition)

(The proposed gallery space in the industrial building. I previously posted about my initial rendering of this space. The image in the upper right had corner is the existing view of the space. The largest image is the proposed reuse)

So yay for being done! Passing my final study then lead to my next update:

2) GRADUATION!! I have my masters degree, thank Heavens. Here's a picture of me after the hooding:

It was a blast and very bittersweet. I am so happy to be done, but I know I'm going to miss this time in my life for one reason or another.

4) After graduation, it was time to pack everything up and move everything about 7 hours east to my fiance and I's new hometown... now for him and in September for me: New Orleans. It is absolutely an amazing city and for the first time in my life I've visited a place and haven't ever wanted to leave. We got to catch up with friends, both new and old who now call this amazing place home, so Bama Boy and I are really looking forward to starting our life off there together in September. The lucky guy gets a head start on me though, since he gets to live there now while I have to wait. We didn't take a lot of pictures b/c we were pretty absorbed by finding a temporary place for my fiance to live til the wedding, but I know more pictures will come the next time I visit/ when I officially move there. One thing to note: the 3 course breakfast at Brennan's is a must.... it is a day's worth of calories at one meal, but oh my goodness it is so amazing (Brennan's is the restaurant that invented Banana's Foster in the '50s).
So here I am back in Virginia working after a crazy month of graduating, moving to a new city and spending time w/ extended family in New Jersey. The next adventure? Diving head-first into planning a big party (more commonly referred to as a "wedding") in less than 100 days.... so here we go!

Final Study Friday

Since I haven't done Fugly Architecture Thursday in a while, I decided to share my final project design instead. Heck, depending on your preferences, this could be considered fugly. But eh, its all subjective anyway.

As many of you know, I'm trying to wrap up my Masters in architecture. I've been immersed in the world of late nights, no sleep, critiques and model making for 3 years already and I cannot wait to get that diploma. But before that glorious May 15, I have to complete a the architecture version of a master's thesis: aka- the final study project. Since I'm a preservation nerd, I chose to adaptively reuse a 1934 Motor Pool Building located on an Army base that is projected to close in 2011. When I visited my site in December, this is the current condition of the building's inside:

Very very industrial, and blase. Also very dark. But the entire left side of the building in this picture has 9 foot tall casement windows that stretch from about 4 ft off the ground to the bottom of those trusses. Some brilliant person in the 1960s decided it would be a fabulous idea to cover up the top 5 feet of these windows with ugly siding... thus creating the dark interior. Genius I tell you (*rolls eyes*). The wonderful current condition is shown below:

Isnt that just horrid!!??

Since I'm dealing w/ 48,000 sq ft total, my project proposal was to adapt the building into a art gallery, restaurant, art academy spaces and standing room only, House of Blues type entertainment hall. All areas are connected by a central "avenue" that runs the center of the building. My description is totally not doing the design justice, but this past march for my "thesis defense" I had a 20-slide PowerPoint to explain my project. I'll spare you the pain of that presentation.

Now I'm in the design development phase and here's a little sample of where I am in my project.

This is the proposed view down the main "avenue." To the left (behind the turquoise wall) is a dance studio and part of the academy. To the right is the side of the Entertainment Hall.
The other end of the corridor is the art gallery, the entrance of which is shown below:
The red wall in the background is the entrance to the Entertainment Hall. This view is from practically the same location as the original, dark and icky picture shown above. Also, I've removed the silly window coverings and voila: more light! Shocking, I know.

These are very preliminary renderings and theres still A LOT to do -- last night i spent just developing skylights. Oh Ces't La Vie. Must push on til the 7th!!

PS - SUPER excited, b/c Bama boy will be here tomorrow!! It's been 2 months since we last saw each other. Oh the horror.

Fugly Architecture Thursday

Introduction of new weekly (ok, probably bi-weekly) segment entitled : Fugly Architecture Thursday.

On Wednesday myself and the girls in the research center I work at were horrified and then just astonished by this horrendous 20 story luxury apartment development proposed for Gramercy Park, NYC. Yup those two little colorful blocks in the midst of that glazed mess are historical apartments that are being built around with NO consideration whatsoever.

vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com

But then you say: well at least those considerate developers are taking account of whats already there and building around the existing historical context. Oh contrare! I say in return. Check this more recent rendering out of the SAME proposed development looking up the other side of the road:

NYTimes.com

Yup, you guessed it: they've created different schemes based upon the amount of existing tenants (in those lovely little apartments) that will give up their homes and businesses so a faceless, region-less, once again - glazed mess of a building would go in their place. Note: the original scheme was to cantilever the new building over the existing collection of unique buildings... an actually very attractive, human in scale and historically sympathetic scheme (seen below)

but NOPE.. once bullying one resident out of the area was successful the cantilevering was nixed and the buildings were planned to come down and have glazing put in its place. Now note that i am NOT against development... communities thrive on it, and I hope to enter the preservation associated part of the field after graduation. But honestly, there are SOME responsibilities that need to be assumed when anyone purchases a property or properties: if a historic building is on the property, assume the responsibility of taking care of it and being respectful of something that existed long before you ever held a deed. If you don't want the responsibility, then awesome... sell the property and move on. The most successful spaces are those that are pre-existing that daring developers take on and create a unique live/work space for people to live their lives. Humans do not want cookie cutter sterile environments. Why do you think that studio apartments which have been converted from historic warehouses are in such high demand?

Okay, rant over, but you best believe more will be coming down the road.

oh, and just if you're wondering, this is what that block looks like right now. I want one of those quaint little balconies.