Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Louisville Modernism - Critical Regionalism, 1950 - 1980
The traditional registers for architecture are writing, drawing, modeling, and
building. The intention of these registers is to provide the general public with a
critical insight into the designers and the design processes they use to shape our
built environment. Often though, due to economic, time, or other constraints,
architects do not write, they do not model, and their drawings are stored
improperly, discarded, or destroyed. As a result buildings are often the only link
to the design process.,
Building as Register
Todaytwo legacies of modernism- buildings and architects - are disappearing
fast. Modern buildings are being razed giving way to new construction, which
removes the first register of the architect's creative endeavor. The Historic
Landmarks Commission is struggling to record through drawings, surveys, and
photographs, these historic structures before their destruction. The last major
push to survey these historic structures in Kentucky was in 1979. The purpose of
that survey project was to document architecture built prior to and at the turn of
the twentieth century.
Architect as Register
The architects in practice from 1950 to 1980 are now between the ages of 70 - 90
years old. Several major figures have passed away since the early 1990s. One
prime example, Jasper Ward, a pivotal figure in Louisville Modernism, passed
away only days before my scheduled interview. With him, an entire legacy and
ideology ceased. He did not write. He taught by example. He did not model. He
left his buildings to be the best representation of his work. In his death we lost his
general sense of being, his creative insights, and his passion for architecture that
extant examples of his architecture can only begin to convey.
Necessitv for the Oral Interview
Kentuck;' architects during the modern period generally did not write or promote
themselves and little is known about their work. The primary purpose of this oral
history project is to learn from the intervie\vees how buildings and architects link.
I am interested in the interaction between artifact and designer and how the
designers became a vital part of the modern cultural legacy of Louisville,
Kentucky. By conducting these interviews, the architects themselves, will reveal the human equation in design and will also identify the focus of our future
research projects.
Current Research
These interviews will provide a great deal of information for my research projects
on Louisville architecture. My investigations fall into four themes from which
both general publications and national presentations will emerge.
First, the architects - Norman Sweet and John Bickel
Second, a survey of Modern Architecture in Louisville from 1950 - 1980
Third, an AlA guidebook of Louisville Architecture; and
Fourth, presentations at Society of Architectural Historians and
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture National Meetings
My long-term research project, augmented by these oral histories will increase our
understanding of the cultural history of Kentucky, especially its recent
architecture. These interviews wi]] identify key figures that have shaped our local
physical and cultural environment, our educational processes, and our 'modem'
ways of living. It is the beginning of a life-long research agenda that ultimately
may bring Kentucky architecture back into prominence.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 6/1/03 → 6/30/04 |
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