Pierre & Wright's Fire Station #18 on the 10 Most Endangered List

Indiana Landmarks recently published their 10 Most Endangered List for 2017 and Pierre & Wright's Fire Station #18 is featured prominently on the list. A stylish Art Deco fire station built in 1936 on Indianapolis' west side, the building served the Indianapolis Fire Department handsomely until it was replaced in 1994 and left vacant.

A few years ago, Edward Pierre's granddaughter donated a large collection of the architect's papers, photographs, and other materials he collected over his long career. In the papers, he cited Fire Station #18 as one of his favorite buildings he designed. He matched fashionable design elegantly with the utilitarian needs of men who needed efficiency in their race to save lives and property. Pierre was proud to live in Indianapolis and worked very hard throughout his career to make it a better city for its citizens. He was proud to design important buildings like the Indiana State Library, but also proud to design small, utilitarian buildings like Fire Station #18. From gas stations to libraries and office buildings, Pierre infused every project with the best design he could produce.

Today the former fire station at Washington Street and Tibbs Avenue sits ready for redevelopment to transform it into its next life. Perhaps a restaurant, a residence, or an office will find its new home there. No matter what, the building will serve its purpose with style and grace straight from one of the greatest architects in Indiana history.


Images: Fire Station #18 rendering by Leslie Ayres, 1936. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.
Current photo by Evan Hale, Courtesy of Indiana Landmarks.

Losing Another Edward Pierre: 16th and Capitol

 

 

In a refrain that is becoming fearfully common, another building designed by Edward Pierre is expected to be torn down. The teardown of this particular building rips at the hearts of many in Indianapolis who know it as the former home of much beloved Crawford's Bakery, the local purveyor of delicious cream cheese brownies and splendid birthday cakes. For anyone interested in architecture, the loss from this rather small building will be heartbreaking, indeed. Its demure stature belies its historic significance to Indiana architecture.

It was built by Pierre & Wright, Architects, in 1926, and originally held George Pandell's Flower Shop. You can see Pandell's Flower Shop in the historic black and white photo, above, which is in the Pierre & Wright Collection at the Drawings + Documents Archive at Ball State University.

The handsome commercial building now stands at the corner of 16th Street and Capitol Avenue, but may not stand there for very long. Its shop fronts look much like they did in the 1920s, with large expanses of glass and stately limestone eagles perched atop ornamental columns along the façade. Rosettes are interspersed amongst the terra cotta arranged in a stylish diamond pattern.

It's an altogether elegant building that has stood the test of time well and provided a refuge for those in need of beauty, whether in the form of flowers for a sweet occasion or sweets for any occasion. But most of all it provided beauty in an area that is increasingly strained with its fast food chains and uninspired parking garages. This is not only a loss for Indianapolis architecture, but also a loss of what is beautiful about our city.

Indiana Landmarks has been trying valiantly to save this building for years, but to no avail. The building owner has offered to allow someone to salvage the terra cotta from the façade. If anyone is able to preserve this portion of the building, please contact Indiana Landmarks.

UPDATE: The building was indeed lost torn down on the very day that had historically kept the businesses it contained--a flower shop and sweet shop--thriving: Valentine's Day. It's a heartbreaking architectural loss for the city.

A call placed to the gentleman who worked quickly to salvage some of the decorative Terra Cotta pieces on the façade has led to a promised donation of one of the flower designs. The archive doesn't typically save building fragments, although we do have quite a few in the collection, but this building evokes generations of happy memories as well as provokes multifaceted discussions of preservation. If a sound, well-loved building cannot be protected, what can we protect?

Pandell Flower Shop/Crawford's Bakery building, 1926-2015.

Images: Pandell Flower Shop, 16th and Capitol, Indianapolis, 1926. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.
Former Crawford's Bakery, 2014. Photo by Indiana Landmarks.

On the market: Edward Pierre

 

A colleague recently alerted me to an Edward Pierre residence on the market that appeared in the July issue of Indianapolis Monthly under the title "Realty Check: What $550,000 Gets You in Brendonwood." Well, what someone will get is Pierre's 1954 Indianapolis Home Show model home, called The All American Home, for which we have fantastic interior and exterior renderings. And we get to see some of the changes to the home over the past 60 years. To look at current real estate photos, check the Indianapolis Monthly article online and the listing on Zillow. You can compare these current images with images in our collection, which you can see a sampling here or the full set in our online Pierre & Wright Architectural Records collection in the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository.

Photograph of the home on display at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1954:

 Interior renderings:

Landscape plan by James A. Maschmeyer:


 

Images: Indianapolis Home Show house and landscape, 1954. Photograph and renderings. Edward Pierre, architect; James A. Maschmeyer, landscape architect. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University. 

 



Connections

Connections between architects among our archival collections are usually rather interesting and offer perspectives into their personalities, friendships, and how they conducted business. These are often ephemeral exchanges removed from their professional design work, which is understandably the focus of each collection. Such is the case with the letter, above, from the young Terre Haute architect Ewing H. Miller II to the established Indianapolis architect Edward D. Pierre.

Miller had recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was applying for his license from the National Council of Architectural Registration Board. He needed three references and asked Edward Pierre, a longtime friend of his uncle, architect Warren D. Miller, to serve as one of those references. Pierre's unequivocal response that not only does he love the Miller family, but he believes in Ewing's abilities, is striking.

We readers in the 21st century have the luxury of knowing that Edward Pierre was eventually considered one of the greatest Indiana architects, and we also know that Ewing Miller became another great architect for his generation. Pierre was right to believe in Ewing. He ended up having a long and prestigious career that altered the Hoosier landscape and brought the study of psychology into the process of design. Now retired, Miller was recently awarded the prestigious AIA Presidential Award on behalf of his work and that of two other Miller family architects--his father Ewing H. Miller and uncle Warren D. Miller.

We are currently processing a new, large collection of materials from Ewing Miller, and are finding many incredible photographs, professional papers, research, drawings, and, yes, correspondence. We'll post some of our finds on the blog as we prepare the collection for large-scale digitization.


Image: Ewing H. Miller II and Edward D. Pierre correspondence, 1953. Miller Family Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Architectural Holidays

From the office of Edward D. Pierre comes this angel adorning a holiday card from 1956, which can be found in the collection of architect and former alum from Pierre's previous firm Pierre & Wright, Fran Schroeder. They maintained a friendship throughout their careers, but Schroeder had his own firm by this time. A natural historian, it's in Schroeder's files that we find many of the holiday cards from Pierre, Leslie Ayres, and others. On this card, Pierre included his fellow architects in the firm, James Merrifield, Richard C. Zimmer, and J. Parke Randall.

Image: Holiday card from the office of Edward D. Pierre, 1956. Fran Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Losing another Edward Pierre

While the city enjoyed the Circle of Lights, a much-beloved yearly holiday tradition Edward Pierre created many decades ago, bulldozers and wrecking balls were being planned for one of his buildings just a few blocks away at 1440 North Meridian Street. It was torn down this weekend.

His design for the Riddick Building in 1949, shown above, was altered substantially in later years from the inviting, open wall of glass meant to highlight the display of grand pianos on the first floor. As it looked most recently on Google Street View, below, shows the negative impact of such a severe alteration. The building, which once looked modern with its clean lines, glass walls, and streamlined columns, suffered from the addition of a stone façade that lent it the air of a small, but forbidding fortress on Meridian Street. Riddick Building, 1949-2013.

Images: Riddick Building, 1440 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis, 1949. Sketch by Leslie Ayres. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Google Street View of 1440 N. Meridian Street, accessed December 19, 2013.

Circle of Lights History

It took the vision of one man, architect Edward Pierre, to make the holiday seasons brighter in downtown Indianapolis for generations. Learn more about the origin of the yearly spectacle from a recent WTHR news story by correspondent Mary Milz as she interviews Edward Pierre's granddaughter and visits the Pierre & Wright collection at the Drawings + Documents Archive.


Image: Monument Circle holiday model photograph, date unknown. Fran Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

The Wheeler Estate, Marion College, and the Time in the Middle: New Discoveries in the Archives

Now part of Marian College’s campus in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Wheeler/Williams/Stokeley Estate was originally built in 1912-1913 by the Philadelphia architect William L. Price, of Price & McLanahan, for automotive industrialist Frank H. Wheeler and his family. Wheeler, one of the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and owner of Wheeler-Schebler Carburetor Company, instructed the architect to design a “home that was luxurious without being ostentatious,” and the result was a stunning Mediterranean-style mansion that included a four-story water tower with apartments, man-made lake with an island, Japanese teahouse, and fruit orchards.

The Drawings + Documents Archive has digitized our collection of 39 black and white photographs taken by the H. H. Coburn Company shortly after it was built. All of these are available in the University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. There you'll find incredible images of the landscape, exterior of the home, as well as the interior, which includes some of Price's own furniture designs that were made specifically for the house.

This week the Archives uncovered another piece of the estate's history when processing a recent addition to the Pierre & Wright Collection. In 1927, the estate sold to G. Monty Williams, the CEO of the Marmon Motor Company of Indianapolis. He is credited with modifying the estate significantly, but the designers or architects he hired remains unknown.  However, thanks to these two drawings, shown below, we know he consulted Pierre & Wright to explore ways in which to subdivide and alter the substantial property. One solution appears to be apartment or connected housing that maintains the orchard and stables on the property, and the other shows conventional subdivided lots with single-family homes. This project, however, does not appear on the comprehensive Pierre & Wright job list.

Williams lived at the house for ten years and sold it to William B. Stokely of the Stokely-Van Camp Company, in 1937. Stokely lived at the home the longest length of time and in 1963 the estate was then sold to Marian College. Williams' swimming pool is now used by college students. The Japanese teahouse remains, although without the pond. Also missing are the gazebo, 2-story water tower, garage, and tennis pavilion.

Images: Wheeler Estate Photographs, ca. 1913. Wheeler Estate Photographs. Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Preliminary site plans for G. Monty Williams, ca. 1927. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records. Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Indianapolis Home Show

The Indianapolis Home Show has played a vital role in the development of architecture and design as well as promoting home ownership in Indianapolis from its beginning in 1922. Many of the architects reflected in the collections (Richard Bishop, Edward Pierre, Fran Schroeder, Leslie Ayres, Joseph Cezar, among others) participated in the event and therefore we have architectural drawings, ephemeral materials such as brochures and newspaper clippings, photographs, and other material related to this yearly Indianapolis event.

Depicted above is the souvenir booklet for the 1941 Indianapolis Home Show, which showcased three homes: the $5,000 All-American Four-Star Home by Pierre & Wright and built by Thelma D. Schaffner (the first woman builder at the Home Show); the Homemaker by architect Charles D. Ward and built by Bridges & Graves; and the Manor House by architect Leslie F. Ayres and built by S. E. Arvin, which is depicted above. All three houses were landscaped by James H. Lowry.

Typically the show organizers created just one full-scale home. In 1940, the year prior, the show organizers had also created three full-scale homes and were building on the success of that show. 1940 and 1941 would be the only years with three full-scale homes on display. The following year, the organizers decided to discontinue the show during World War II and wouldn't have another display until 1946, after the war ended.

The life of the display homes extended well past their short life on display for the thousands of visitors that flocked to the tour the homes every year. All three of the 1941 homes were dismantled after their exhibition and reconstructed throughout the city. The All-American Four-Star Home now resides at 2708 E. 58th Street, the Homemaker is at 5805 N. Oxford, and the Manor House is at 6085 N. Olney, all in Indianapolis.

The All-American Four Star Home would later be featured in the 1947 holiday issue of Popular Home magazine, shown below. The Pierre & Wright firm had disbanded earlier, in 1944, but Edward Pierre revisited the original design and created ten variations on the floor plan of the popular ranch-style house. Potential home builders were directed to order plans from Pierre at his office in the Architects' and Builders' Building in downtown Indianapolis.

You can find digitized items regarding contributions to the Indianapolis Home Show from the architecture firm Pierre & Wright, as well as Edward Pierre's work after the Pierre & Wright partnership dissolved, online in Ball State University Libraries' Digital Media Repository. Other items are available to view in the archives. For those intrigued by the history of the Indianapolis Home Show homes, you can read Indianapolis Home Show: Its History, Evolution, and Centerpiece Homes, an impressive and informative thesis written by Shannon L. Hill, for her Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Ball State University. Copies are available in Archives and Special Collections, as well as in the Architecture Library.

Images: Indianapolis Home Show booklet, 1941. Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Popular Home, 1947. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Architectural Holidays

This undated tri-fold holiday card from Indianapolis architect Edward Pierre and family displays the warmth and creativity we have come to expect from his cards. Printed on blueprint paper with hand-drawn colored pencil, the card might have been a prototype since it appears to have a few penciled-in additions to the text (the addition of wish after Christmas, and welcome under the stairs) and two disparate house facades. The third panel shows a very traditional house with columns flanking the door while the house in the first panel is considerably more modern.

The female figures wearing striped skirts in the first panel are most likely portraits of his wife, Louise, and their daughter, Mary Dien. Both women appear on additional Pierre family holiday cards, as well as in other papers in the collection. Two of Edward Pierre's most ardent supporters, they sent this telegram, pictured below, signed "Your Sweethearts" to him while he was at the 1951 American Institute of Architects convention in Chicago to accept his election to the prestigious Fellowship program. 

Images: Pierre family Christmas card, not dated. (3-117); Sweethearts Telegram, 1951. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Monument Circle at Christmas



This week the Drawings + Documents Archive received two separate, significant collections of work by the Indianapolis architects Edward Pierre and M. Carlton Smith. These two architects didn't work together but they were contemporaries and likely knew each other. Both collections, once they've been cataloged, will become valuable resources for researchers of Indianapolis architectural history.

It is particularly exciting to see the large amount of manuscript material--such as photographs, writings, speeches, letters, pamphlets--that came in with the Pierre donation. While we already have an extensive collection of Pierre's architectural drawings, prior to this donation we had few of his papers. We've only begun sorting the materials, but I couldn't resist posting this photo, below, of the multiple files regarding the Indianapolis Christmas Committee since Pierre was the driving force behind decorating Monument Circle at the holidays. The two camel drawings, which were used in the design for the Monument Circle Nativity scene, came from the folders and give you a little glimpse of the treasures within.

Images: Camel drawings for Monument Circle Nativity scene, ca. 1943. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives & Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Photo of  Indianapolis Christmas Committee folders by Carol Street.

Moveable Feast: Give to Grow, Grow to Give

Getting fresh produce into the hands of people who live in what we today refer to as "food deserts," apparently isn't a new problem. These drawings made in 1920 by Indianapolis architect Edward Pierre for Servu Stores Corporation show how he designed for the problems intrinsic to a travelling grocery store: sloped shelving that can be moved, cold storage, aisles for shopping, and a place for the cash register. It's not known if these vehicles ever hit the streets in 1920, but ones like it today are experiencing tremendous success.

An example of a modern-day version of Pierre's motor market is Chicago's Fresh Moves, which began in 2011. With a donated Chicago Transit Authority bus and design assistance from Architecture for Humanity, the Fresh Moves grocery store on wheels brings healthy food into local communities that need it.

To see the above drawing as well as plans for the motor market transportation routes in Indiana, visit our online Pierre & Wright Collection.



Image: Details of Motor Market for Servu Stores Corporation, 1920. Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Red, White, and Blueprint

Indianapolis architect Edward Pierre (1890-1971)  possessed "a high concern for both intelligent planning and individual responsibility," so it is no surprise that he responded wholeheartedly to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1960 challenge of the All American Resolution: "That a group of selfless, able and devoted citizens be formed outside of government, to define for America long range goals that would spur us on in our efforts, but would also meet the stern test of practical reality."

You can see more of Pierre's designs for the All American Resolution in the Pierre & Wright Architectural Records online collection. There you will find the numerous small house plans, logos, designs, reports, and promotional material he created for the project.

The Drawings + Documents Archive will be closed July 4th in honor of Independence Day.

 Images: Red, White, and Blueprint for America, ink on vellum, 1960s; Indianapolis Star article, July 3, 1960 [3-176.1] Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Civic Pride at the Murphy Building

The Drawings + Documents Archive's exhibit, Civic Pride Begins in Your Backyard, which opened at Blackline Studio for Architecture Friday night drew a surprising number of AIA Edward Pierre award winning architects as well as some proud homeowners, preservationists, and those just interested in architecture. Many thanks to the architects at Blackline Studios for hosting the wonderful event so well and bringing together a diverse crowd. Also, many thanks to those who support the Archive and braved the Super Bowl-sized crowds on a weekend like no other in Indianapolis.

For those who haven't seen it yet, the exhibit is still on display at Blackline Studios in the Murphy Building until March 2nd. And you can read NUVO's review of the exhibit online.

  

Images from the exhibit opening of Civic Pride Begins in Your Backyard, Blackline Studio for Architecture, Fountain Square, Indianapolis, Ind., February 3, 2012.

University Libraries’ Drawings and Documents Archive Exhibit Opens in Indianapolis for Super Bowl Weekend

Edward Pierre: Civic Pride Begins in Your Backyard

Exhibit opening at Blackline Studio for Architecture, February 3, 2012, 6-9pm.

1043 Virginia Avenue, Studio 211, Indianapolis, Indiana

To celebrate the hard work and civic pride that has been taking place around Indianapolis in preparation for this weekend's Super Bowl, Ball State University Libraries’ Drawings and Documents Archive and Blackline Architecture Studios have partnered to present the exhibit Edward Pierre: Civic Pride Begins in Your Backyard, opening at the Blackline Studio in Fountain Square’s Murphy Building, on Friday, February 3, 2012, from 6-9 p.m.

Curated by Carol Street, archivist for architectural records, and Vessel von Ruhtenberg, architectural historian, the exhibit highlights Pierre’s Modernist work throughout Indianapolis with large photographs and renderings from the Drawings and Documents Archive’s collection. Blackline Studios, where the exhibit will be held, is comprised of architects Craig Von Deylen, Scott Perkins, and Craig McCormick, all graduates from Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning.

Architect Edward Dienhart Pierre, FAIA, could be called the man who built Indianapolis due to his lifelong career shaping Indiana’s built environment and overwhelming dedication to make the city shine as brightly as possible. It is fitting to honor this extraordinary architect at a time when the city is shining brighter than it has in years, thanks to the Super Bowl coming to town. Much in the vein of today’s extraordinary Cultural Trail and the projects to beautify the city’s near east side, Pierre felt good design should engage the public and he pursued this through a wide array of buildings and civic events that we continue to enjoy today.

If you’ve ever seen Monument Circle lit up at Christmas, shopped in the Sears and Roebuck building on Mass. Avenue, eaten at Yats on College, visited the State Library, experienced a game at Bush Stadium, or driven around Meridian Kessler, Meridian Hills, or Butler Tarkington, you’ve experienced the benefits of having an architect like Edward Pierre in Indianapolis. He also designed, along with architect George Caleb Wright from 1925-1944, and in his own practice from 1945-1960s, the Old Trails Building, Oxford Gables Apartments, numerous schools (including IPS School 78, which is currently being repurposed into a IPD building), fire stations, and many jewel-like modest houses as well as expansive mansions throughout the city.

Of course, not all Pierre buildings are still standing or in use as originally intended. Bush Stadium is undergoing renovation and will be turned into condominiums, the Art Moderne-style Fire Station No. 18 on Washington Street stands vacant, and we just lost the small, but well-designed Tarkington Park Tennis Shelter to the wrecking ball in October. The exhibit will highlight numerous Pierre designs, buildings both lost and loved, and invites visitors to consider a little civic pride for Indiana’s architecture, as well as a thank you for all the hard work everyone has accomplished lately to make the city shine. The exhibit will run through March 1, 2012.

Blackline Studio is a full service architecture and interior design studio for commercial and residential architecture. Recent projects include the Speak Easy incubator space, City Gallery at the Harrison Center for the Arts, and The Hinge in Fountain Square which opens in late 2012.

Ball State University Libraries’ Drawings and Documents Archive preserves the history of Indiana’s built environment and contains over 100,000 original architectural drawings, landscape plans, blueprints, photographs, models, and building remnants. Located in Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning, the archive is open to all researchers. You can find thousands of drawings from the Pierre & Wright Architectural Records online in Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository.

Images: Civic Pride Begins in Your Backyard original drawing, 1950s [3-233]
"Planning the Metropolis of Tomorrow", Indianapolis Star Magazine, February 17, 1957 [3-176.2]
Tarkington Park Tennis Shelter architectural rendering, photostat, 1957, [3-128] 
Pierre & Wright Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Holiday Archives

Every year we explore the collections for holiday cards that architects sent to clients, staff, and family. This year we discovered a wonderful collection of cards in the Fran E. Schroeder Architectural Records Collection. Schroeder (1908-1988) worked in the Pierre & Wright architectural firm from 1929-40, then the Curtis-Wright Corporation during World War II. After the war her joined McGuire & Shook before starting his own firm in Indianapolis, known as Fran E. Schroeder and Associates. He also enthusiastically participated in the Indiana Society of Architects, the Architectural Guild of Indianapolis, and the American Institute of Architects. The collection contains holiday cards that he received from fellow architects and firms, such as Ed Pierre, Leslie Ayres, and Pierre & Wright, as well as cards he designed.

To start off our blog celebration of holiday cards is this undated card from Edward Pierre and family with a gatefold design on blueprint. As is often found in the Pierre & Wright collection, Pierre seems to have drawn portraits of himself, his wife Louise, and their daughter caroling at the gate to their house. It exemplifies the creativity and familial joy that can typically be found in Pierre's sketches.

Front:

Center, open:

Back:

Images: Christmas card from Edward Pierre and Family, n.d. (3-117C) Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Mid-Century Modern Edward Pierre

Edward Pierre, like many Indianapolis architects, participated in the Indianapolis Home Show for numerous years throughout his career. His design for the 1954 ranch-style show home is well documented in the Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection with drawings, boards, and the above photograph of the house installed in the exhibition hall. You can find them online in the Ball State University Libraries' Digital Media Repository

Images: Indianapolis Home Show presentation board and photograph, 1954. [3-123] Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Losing Edward Pierre

As many of you know, our collection of Pierre and Wright Architectural Records is one of our most important collections at the Drawings + Documents Archive. It gets that distinction not just from the quality of materials in the collection itself, but what it represents of the architecture in Indianapolis from the early 1920s to the 1960s. From art deco to the birth of the cool; that's when the architectural fabric of Indianapolis was largely built. And Edward Pierre and George Wright were committed to doing it well.

They were also committed to civic engagement. We can thank them for having the idea of decorating the circle at Christmas, for designing gracious estates as well as small houses that were affordable to all, and for trying to make Indianapolis a greater city. Another one of their gifts to generations of Indiana residents is the elegant Indiana State Library.

AIA Indiana's website describes Edward Pierre as "a crusader for the welfare of children, decent housing for all, peace and progressive urban planning. He was honored repeatedly for his outstanding service to the architectural profession and the public." The yearly AIA Edward D. Pierre Award is meant to honor contemporary architects who display the same commitment to public service.

The recent photograph and historic architectural rendering above show an example of the architecture from Edward Pierre's later years: a graceful solution to the modest problem of needing to change into tennis attire in Tarkington Park, at 40th and Meridian. Pierre didn't cling to outdated styles during his career, but embraced the best of every era. Built in 1957, the tennis shelter's lowslung modernist design offers both privacy and openness while mirroring the architectural character of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, we just heard the news that this building was torn down yesterday. 1957-2011.

Images: Tarkington Tennis Shelter, 2011, photograph courtesy of Vess von Ruhtenberg
Tarkington Tennis Shelter architectural rendering, 1957, photostat, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

Eliel Saarinen in Indianapolis

Eliel Saarinen, architect of the First Christian Church in Columbus, Indiana, among other extraordinary Modernist buildings, is shown here judging a competition at the 1928 Indiana Society of Architects show, which took place at the John Herron Art Institute.

On the walls are architects Pierre & Wright's prize-winning display showing Oxford Gables Apartments and other commissions. Pierre & Wright won honorary gold certificates for best apartment building (Oxford Gables, 320 E. 38th Street) and best commercial building (27th and Meridian Streets).

At the time he received the award, Edward Pierre and his wife Louise lived in the Oxford Gables apartment building, in #207. Not only did he design and live in the building, but along with Wright they invested in the $287,800 project. It was one of the only documented times where the firm financially invested in a project they designed.

Also of note, the architectural firm of Johnson, Miller, Miller & Yeager from Terre Haute, whose collection we also have in the Drawings + Documents Archive, won honorary gold certificate for their design of the B'nai Abraham Temple in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The photograph of Saarinen and an article about the show that most likely appeared in the Indianapolis Star are found tucked into the scrapbook in the Pierre and Wright Architectural Records Collection that dates from the 1920s. The collection also contains some of the large-scale photographs seen in the picture.

Image: Scrapbook, Pierre & Wright Architectural Records Collection, Ball State University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Drawings and Documents Archive.