Friday, December 17, 2010

School 78, Indianapolis

We're excited to see the article in the Indianapolis Star describing the Indianapolis Public School Board's approval on Tuesday to make School 78, 3734 E. Vermont Street, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's East District headquarters.

Designed by architects Edward Pierre and George C. Wright in 1925, the building is a great example of early 20th-century school architecture and the Police Department and IPS should be commended for saving it. Why are we so excited about this particular school? The archive maintains the original ink on linen plans, which we've been using in class visits this fall since news arrived about its potential sale. Groups of students have been encouraged all semester to envision its possibility for adaptive reuse and came up with a range of possibilities--from a charter school to a corporate office. A police department headquarters wasn't exactly on the list, but it should make a perfect fit.

Image: IPS School 78, detail of cartouche, 1925, Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.

Camels on Monument Circle





These drawings for two of the four life-size camel statues were made by architect Edward Pierre for the Nativity scene installed at Monument Circle for the holidays.
Image: Camels, ca. 1940s, Pierre and Wright Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Yuletide Greetings, 1962


Joseph Cezar showcased his new Indianapolis Arts League building at 3103 N. Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis for his 1962 holiday card. The small structure made a big impact due to its modernist design amongst a neighborhood of early 20th century residences. The Arts League outgrew this building 15 years later and moved north to Broad Ripple where they became the Indianapolis Arts Center.

Today, the building is an unfortunate shell of its original stylish and confident design. Here is a recent picture of it in Google Maps:


Images: Holiday card, 1962, Joseph O. Cezar Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.

3103 N. Pennsylvania Street, Indianapolis, Ind., Accessed via Google Maps




Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Seasons greetings

In addition to being an architect, Charles Sappenfield, better known to everyone as Charlie, was the first dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University. He left a thriving practice in North Carolina to create an entirely new program at what was then, a fairly small university in the Midwest. His legacy as a dean is considerable and continues to be felt in the college today, from the design of the building to the professors he hired who are still teaching in its classrooms.
The archive recently received and is currently processing his collection of material related to his architectural practice, from the early 1960s to the late 1980s.

To say he fully embraced Modernism is an understatement and his clients knew that. We've found photographs of houses in project folders that have written on the back, "We like this, but it needs modernization". We've also found mid-century product catalogs and fabric samples from Knoll and Herman Miller. And, of course, we've found the holiday cards. Enjoy the Modernist Noel.
Image: Noel card, Carles Sappenfield Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Seasons greetings

It's often easy to forget that architects run their own business and have all the same marketing concerns that any small business owner would have. What better way to advertise your business, thank clients who have hired you in the past, and remind them that you're still around than to send out personally-designed Christmas cards. Not to mention that it gives the architects a chance to flex design skills in an entirely artistic way without worrying about pesky issues like load-bearing walls and where to install the HVAC system.


We find these cards in most of the collections here in the archive. Some depict local landmarks or important commissions the architect built that year. Others are solely focused on design, like a few that we found today while processing a new collection. We'll show those in an upcoming post.


Image: Holiday card, 1952, Joseph O. Cezar Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.


Friday, December 10, 2010

Monument Circle at the Holidays, 1950s


Architect Edward Pierre (1890-1971) was one of the civic-minded businessmen who spearheaded the effort to decorate the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument during the holidays as a way to spread cheer and bring people downtown to shop. He first came up with the idea during the 1930s, but the financial constraints at that time prohibited the expense of decorations. It wasn't until 1945, after World War II ended, that he was able to realize his vision of the Circle decorated for the holidays.

This is only one example of Edward Pierre's interest in beautifying and improving the city through architecture and civic engagement. After Pierre died in 1971, then-mayor Richard Lugar described the architect as "one of the most significant and imaginative thinkers in regard to the beauty of Indianapolis". Every year we're reminded why.


Images: Yule Tidings on the Circle, Indianapolis Star Magazine, December 6, 1953. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Meadowbrook Apartments


To accommodate the need for low-income housing in Indianapolis in the late 1940s, the city hired architects Joseph Lloyd Allen (1897-1975) and John Kelley (1902-1991) to design a 50-acre housing project located at the corner of 38th Street and Rural Avenue. The firm of Allen & Kelley created the streamlined Meadowbrooks Apartments--with 620 units in a total of 36 buildings spread across the site. Each building was two stories, with glass block windows and a unique, modern front door inset with three small windows. The firm lists the project cost at six million dollars.

Photographs from an Indianapolis Star newspaper story depict a couple receiving the keys to their new apartment and exploring the interior.


Images: Meadowbrook Apartments presentation drawing, Allen & Kelley Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.
Meadowbrook Apartments photographs, Allen & Kelley Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Drawings + Documents Archive.