Ball State University Center for Historic Preservation and Indiana Landmarks release guide to historic architecture of Bartholomew County

Congratulations to the Ball State University Center for Historic Preservation and Indiana Landmarks on publication of the Bartholomew County Historic Sites and Structures Inventory. Graduate students from the College of Architecture and Planning's Historic Preservation program spent over a year making frequent visits to Bartholomew County to compile this comprehensive illustrated report of well-known landmarks as well as lesser-known structures, such as the c. 1865 Horace Solmon House in Haw Creek Township, Bridge #47 on County Road 1150 East over Clifty Creek, and the Nau House in the Forest Park neighborhood of Columbus.

The public is invited to an illustrated presentation on the inventory's findings Wednesday, December 5, 7:00 p.m. The presentation will be held at the Bartholomew County Public Library in Columbus. The 213-page report-featuring historic and contemporary photos and maps-may be purchased at the special price of $20. The price will be $25 after the event.

Greg Sekula, director of Indiana Landmarks' Southern Regional Office will present a brief program showing architectural highlights of the county as well as discoveries of overlooked gems. He will also discuss services available to assist those interested in saving and celebrating Bartholomew County's landmarks.

"This is an update of the 1980 survey that examined properties constructed prior to 1940," says Sekula. The 1980 survey identified 1,987 historic structures; the current inventory documents 3,245 properties. The 2012 survey documents properties constructed through 1969, which includes the county's large concentration of post-World War II architecture.

The survey and report were funded in part by matching grants from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA). DHPA oversees Indiana's Historic Sites and Structures Inventory.

For more information on the December 5 program, contact Julie Hughes at jhughes@bartholomewhistory.org or 812-372-3541.

Welcome Back!

We're so glad to see the students and faculty returning to the hallways of the CAP building today, the first day of classes. To welcome everyone back the Architecture Library, Visual Resources Collection, and the Drawings and Documents Archive are all hosting open houses for students today from 11 am to 1 pm. We're hosting an open house targeted toward the research needs of graduate students on Thursday from 11 am-1 pm. Join us for exhibits and light refreshments as you embark upon your academic year!

If you're unable to join us, enjoy a few images of CAP students and faculty that are part of our CAP Images Collection. If you are alumni, look closely as you may recognize a few familiar faces.

Architecture students in the Mad Men era



As is happening in other college towns in Indiana, Muncie officials voted unanimously this week to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. While Ball State University banned smoking in classrooms a long time ago, we recently discovered this photograph of a 1960s architecture student lighting up during the class lecture. With what we know now about the health hazards of smoking, a scene like this can seem rather surprising! 

We found the image this summer while processing the CAP Images Collection, which illustrates the exciting history of the College of Architecture and Planning from its inception in the 1960s. 

Image: Student smoking in class, 1960s, CAP Images Collection, Drawings + Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries.

International Open Building Student Competition

After the successful completion of the First International Student Competition in Open Building in 2008 here at Ball State University, the CIB W104 is organizing the 2nd student competition in association with Tecnalia in Bilbao, Spain in May 2010. The competition has two aims:
1) to invite critical observation of the traditions of architecture as a profession, and
2) to invite creative and focused thinking on the needed advancements in design methodology to meet the challenges of a dynamic new urban morphology mutating with the changes of contemporary urban life.

2008 competition award winners: http://www.bsu.edu/web/capweb/bfi/openarchitectureconference/competition_awards.html

Information on the 2010 competition:
http://open-building.org/archives/2010_spain_competition.pdf

Students are encouraged to enter this prestigious competition!