Master Plan Development by Wright, Porteous & Lowe

This summer, Drawings + Documents Archive intern Mitchell Knigga, an undergraduate in Public History and Historic Preservation at Ball State University, has been processing the extensive Wright, Porteous & Lowe Architectural Records collection. We will be posting images of many of his discoveries while he works his way through the collection. 

Pictured above are presentation boards of the A Master Plan Development in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. These include renderings of a project near the federal as well as a map depicting the location of the proposed site and other projects taking place in the city. Wright, Porteous & Lowe were the main architects for the City-County Building, which opened in 1962 and was very similar in design to the structure depicted in the renderings.  

Images: A Master Plan Development, Indianapolis, Indiana, presentation boards, ca. 1960. Wright, Porteous & Lowe Architectural Records, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Vonnegut & Bohn Collection Online

 

The Drawings + Documents Archive’s collection of drawings and photographs from the prominent Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut & Bohn is now available online in the Ball State University Digital Media Repository. Materials include photographs and architectural drawings for 16 building projects in Indianapolis and Evansville, Indiana. The collection is part of the larger Wright, Porteous, and Lowe Architectural Records, and is the first series of the collection to be digitized. Plans include drawings for Indianapolis Public School #33, Kahn Tailoring Company, Merchants Building, Evansville Telephone Exchange Building, The Children’s Museum addition, a gas station, and the Vonnegut Hardware Store. Photographs depict the Atheneum, Herron School of Art, Roosevelt Building, Lyric Theater, and the daring move of the Indiana Bell Telephone Company Building.