PLEASE VOTE for the Sacramento Zoo Entrance in Dwell Magazine's "Rethinking Preservation" contest

SacMod needs your help voting for the preservation of the Entrance to the Sacramento Zoo in a contest! The contest, "Rethinking Preservation," is sponsored by Dwell magazine and Sub-Zero.

Over 100 worthy entries are posted for popular vote from February 6 through February 20, 2012. A panel of judges will select the winner from the top ten entries that receive the most popular votes.

You may recall I've talked about the hyperbolic paraboloid structures at the Sacramento Zoo entrance before. Last December I also posted about SacMod's support of a survey and report by architectural consultants that the Zoo entrance structures "meet the National Register, California Register, and Sacramento Register evaluation criteria...."

1961 newspaper clipping of children admiring the new Sacramento Zoo entrance

 Vintage film of Sacramento Zoo and San Diego Zoo 1970 - Sacramento Zoo portion begins first and ends at 1:15

The Entrance to the Sacramento Zoo is the only contest entry from Sacramento - please spread the word. Let's work together to ensure more generations can enjoy this historic mid-20th century landmark. Let's help the Zoo embrace the future without losing its past.

Please vote as often and as much as you would like through the voting period. If you're on Facebook, please "Like" the page as well. Thank you for your support!

Found slide of a flamingo at the Sacramento Zoo circa 1955 from my collection

Happy hyperbolic holidays!

The entryway to the Sacramento Zoo, designed by Rickey & Brooks (1961).

The largest building originally served as a concession stand to all of William Land Park.

The City of Sacramento recently hired consultants from Mead & Hunt to conduct a Historic Cultural / Landscape Survey of William Land Park. Per Mead & Hunt's report, these hyperbolic paraboloid structures "meet the National Register, California Register, and Sacramento Register evaluation criteria as individual properties independent from their association with William Land Park."

Further, Mead & Hunt concluded the Zoo entry structures were eligible "in the area of Architecture – Designed by the local architectural firm of Rickey and Brooks, this series of three interconnected buildings are an important, rare, and intact example of Mid-Century Modernism in Sacramento."

On December 7, 2011, SacMod attended the City of Sacramento Preservation Commission Meeting and spoke in favor of Mead & Hunt's report: "We want to thank everyone involved in the Historic Cultural Landscape survey of William Land Park and support Mead & Hunt's findings, especially those regarding Fairytale Town and the entryway concession buildings at the Sacramento Zoo. SacMod highlighted both of these historic assets as 'points-of-interest' during the first Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour last year. These have been a part of the park for 50 years and are historic landmarks.

The Zoo entrance and Fairytale Town are part of Sacramento's collective memory and provide an irreplaceable and distinct sense of place. In particular, the structures at the Zoo entrance are a rare kind of mid-20th century construction – hyperbolic paraboloids – also known as hypars. I have brought an historic postcard image for you to see them as they originally were. There are few remaining examples of hypars left in Sacramento. The Zoo entrance structures are the most easily recognized examples in town.

SacMod supports Mead & Hunt's recommendations and wishes to see our historic assets preserved. We look forward to working with the City and Zoo in this regard."

So little time, so much to tell!

Busy, busy month! Swinging by the old blogeroo to make a couple of announcements. You can stay better informed regarding Sacramento modernism by joining SacMod's Facebook page. Join us!

Vintage Sacramento Zoo postcard from my Flickr photostream

First, good news for the hyperbolic paraboloid structures at the entrance of the Sacramento Zoo. I've written about these beauties before.

The City of Sacramento hired consultants Mead & Hunt for a Cultural Landscape Survey of William Land Park. (You may download their draft report here.) SacMod has been watching recent developments at the Zoo, particularly those endangering the circa 1961 entrance structures. Mead & Hunt determined that the Zoo entrance and Fairytale Town are eligible for national, California, and Sacramento historic registers. SacMod will continue to monitor and advocate for these structures.

 

Second, Atomic Ranch Magazine has just published the Atomic Ranch 2012 Calendar. We're excited because it features two homes that were on the 2011 Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour! Specifically a home designed by architect Carter Sparks and a Sacramento Eichler home. Atomic Ranch came to Sacramento this summer. Three homes from last year's tour will be featured in separate upcoming issues. I'll be sure to post as the articles and pictures are published.

Finally, AIACV and SacMod are teaming up again -- join us for a free screening of EAMES: The Architect and The Painter. You may recall from my earlier posts that Ray Eames was born and raised here in Sacramento. Join us and other like-minded modernists at AIACV on Monday, December 19, 2011 from 8 - 10pm. Reservations for this free event through Brown Paper Tickets.

Even more things being planned for future SacMod events! Stay tuned!

Help save an iconic Neutra-designed home from demolition!

 via Neutra.org

Hard to believe, but this historic and architecturally significant home is being threatened with demolition. Please take a few seconds of your time to sign a petition supporting the restoration and repurposing of this iconic home into the Neutra Library.

How you can help:
1) sign the petition here.
2) For further actions on how to help, stay tuned on the status of the home here.

 Time is of the essence; do your part and don't let the McMansions win!

Sacramento's sense of place

Can't wait to go to tonight's reception for Iconic Sacto with works by Andrew Patterson-Tutschka, Joe Santos, and Tom Spaulding.

The reception is at the SMUD Art Gallery from 4-6pm today, but you can still check out the show through October 8th.

The show celebrates Sacramento's unique sense of place through its built environment and signage. Per the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, the show:

"... features depictions of the essential Sacramento locations which shape our region's identity and history, and create a sense of place. From Spaulding's striking photographs of historic buildings and picturesque central valley locales, to Santos' arresting watercolors of neon signage, to Patterson-Tutschka's masterful plein air depictions of Sacramento street life and private interiors. ICONIC SACTO represents Sacramento from all sides reinforcing why this region holds such a unique appeal."

Here's a little bit more about the show and the artists.

I would like to see more efforts made to preserve our vintage signage, which is so important to Sacramento's identity. Some towns (I'm looking at you, West Sacramento) have even gone as far as wiping them out on purpose.

Thank goodness for these wonderful artists who are documenting our past before it is demolished. Let's go farther and preserve it, lest we wish to become McCity, Anywheresville.

Free Screening of "The Greenest Building" Documentary at the Crest!

"The greenest building is... one that is already built."

- Carl Elefante, AIA, LEED AP

On Monday, July 25th, 2011, “The Greenest Building,” a new hour-long documentary will be shown at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street, Sacramento. All ages are welcome, and there is no charge for admission. Doors open at 6:30 for the 7PM show. A panel discussion will follow at approximately 8PM, highlighting the ideas in the film in relation to recent and upcoming preservation projects in Sacramento.
 
Per the event flyer, "The Greenest Building provides a compelling argument for conservation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of our existing building stock as the single-most effective strategy for reducing, reusing, and recycling one of our most important consumer products -- our buildings."

Screening of the film is presented by the Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) and the Crest Theatre. More details are available via a Facebook event page, which encourages: "If you are interested in buildings, community development, sustainable communities or just plain want to find out if existing buildings really are worth keeping, plan to attend this special event."



I started this post with a quote by Carl Elefante. He has some thought-provoking ideas about modernist buildings in his June 2008 essay, "Renewing Modernism" from Places (Forum of Design for the Public Realm):

As modernism becomes historic, the 'modern-era' building stock, as it is often termed, is moving into a period of refurbishment.... Numbers alone indicate the importance of preserving and transforming modern-era buildings. Structures from the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s represent more than 55 percent of all nonresidential buildings in the United States.... over the next generation, renovating modern-era buildings represents an even larger and more difficult endeavor than designing new buildings....


... working with modern buildings is redefining preservation thinking and technology. Modern architects and builders were famously forward-looking and quick to innovate, frequently incorporating materials and methods with little track record and no established methods for maintenance, repair and reconditioning.... The preservation of modern-era buildings will be driven by sustainability, and making modern-era buildings sustainable will be no small undertaking.....


The challenge lies in three areas. First, the fractured urbanism and far-flung suburbanization of modern-era cities presents tough problems.... Second, improving the exterior envelopes of modern-era buildings will be difficult and may favor replacement over enhancement. Third, modern-era buildings were designed in an era of cheap energy, and nearly all depend on fossil-fuel-consuming systems to be
habitable, even on the most basic level....

These implications and challenges are not what lovers of mid-century modern architecture necessarily want to hear, but they are indeed food for thought. In another essay Elefante highlights the important role of historic preservation: "To fully capture the value of the existing building stock requires merging two disciplines: historic preservation and green building. It requires an understanding of how to respect and renew what is already here and a vision for where and how to transform the legacy of the past into the promise of tomorrow."

Further links and ideas regarding green building and historic preservation:
- CA State Parks Green Preservation in the News
- Sustainable Historic Preservation
- Smart Growth and Sustainable Preservation of Existing and Historic Buildings
- Calculators for embodied energy
- the Original Green

I'm looking forward to seeing The Greenest Building and hearing what the panel has to say. Hope to see you there.

SMUD HQ nominated for National Register of Historic Places

SMUD HQ at night via Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects website

Through the efforts of SOCA (Sacramento Old City Association) the SMUD Headquarters building has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.  Local architectural historian Carol Roland conducted research and wrote the nomination, which is pending approval by the National Park Service. Roland believes the building is "strongly influenced by the work of Mies van der Rohe and the International sub-style of Modernism."

The architectural firm of Dreyfuss & Blackford began in 1950, opened first by Albert Dreyfuss. According to a Sacramento Bee article written by Gary Delsohn dated June 18, 1995:

"Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Dreyfuss served in the Navy before going to architecture school at Tulane University and then the University of Illinois. He spent some time knocking around the Caribbean with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

He eventually went to work for the State Architect's office and started what later became Dreyfuss & Blackford in April 1950 after a developer friend asked if he wanted to design some apartments. Blackford came on board a few years later and was made partner in 1957."

According to historian Roland, Leonard Blackford was:

"... a recent graduate of Berkeley’s architecture school, joined (Dreyfuss) in 1953, following a short stint in the Office of the State Architect.  Although Blackford did not become a partner until after the completion of the SMUD building, according to Dreyfuss, he was a very important member of the firm, exercising considerable influence over designs from the mid-1950s."

From its inception, according to the firm's website, their:

"... design approach has been rooted in Modernism. A clear and intuitive understanding of steel, concrete and masonry construction has resulted in striking and innovative projects -- buildings that have timeless, lasting character. In the early years, the firm designed many public schools, private office buildings and, in 1959, the SMUD headquarters building -- a landmark project that stirred international interest and earned multiple design awards."

Per historian Roland, one such feature that stirred international interest were the custom-designed extruded aluminum vertical louvers that could be tilted according to season:

"The louvers were a very innovative means of glare and temperature control entirely in keeping with the mission of the utility company and its desire to have an energy efficient facility. The louver design created considerable interest among the architectural community of the time. Architectural Forum magazine featured a stylized photo of the louvers on the front cover of its May 1961 issue."

Water City (1959) by local and world renowned artist Wayne Thiebaud

graces the exterior of the SMUD HQ building

Fantastic photo above via Flickr by local photographer Lorna Lou

Another striking feature of the building is Water City, a 1959 abstract tile mural by local artist Wayne Theibaud. Per Roland, this mural:

"... alludes to Sacramento's sitting near two major rivers. The mural suggests buildings aligned along a water way and the motion and reflectivity of moving water.... During the late 1950s Theibaud experimented with Abstract Expressionism and did other mural designs for the California State Fair. This is one of the few surviving representations of the early period of the artist's work before he adopted his mature and well-recognized realist painting style and the only work in a mosaic medium."

SMUD HQ during the day via Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects website

Dreyfuss & Blackford have built other notable buildings in our region, including:
- Lincoln Plaza
- Herman Miller in Rocklin (collaboration with Frank Gehry)
- the Vogel Chevrolet showroom (1959)
- the IBM building (520 Capitol Mall, 1961)
- the old Sacramento Union building (301 Capitol Mall, 1967 - demolished for dead project Towers on Capitol Mall)
- the apartment complex at 4100 Folsom Blvd.
- the Powell-Teichert Office Complex
- the first Arco Arena
- the original Nut Tree complex
- the original master plan for Sacramento Airport in 1963
- the United Terminal at San Francisco Airport plus other projects there
- their own firm's office building on Folsom Blvd. (1965)

However, one of Dreyfuss' favorites, per the 1995 Sacramento Bee article mentioned above, seems to be the SMUD HQ: "If we've made a contribution to the community... it's to produce buildings that have lasting qualities and will be here long after we've gone and still be good buildings. There's no reason a building shouldn't last 50 to 100 years."

UPDATE: The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sacramento Eichler Homes Gallery

According to my count, a total of approximately 54 remaining Eichler homes exist in Sacramento today. These homes were built between 1954 and 1956 on three streets in the South Land Park Hills area: South Land Park Drive, Fordham Way, and Oakridge Way.

Several neighbors have discussed an interest in enrolling the Eichlers on the National Register of Historic Places. This has been done in Palo Alto's Green Gables and Greenmeadow neighborhoods. If you are a South Land Park Hills neighbor who is interested or has an opinion about this, please leave a comment at the end of this post.

The South Land Park Hills neighborhood is also home to many wonderful MCM homes.


Ironically, there is an Eichler Street in the neighborhood but there are no Eichler homes on it.

The photos in this set were taken in early and late Spring of 2009.

This set is my attempt to document the homes as they are today, over 50 years after they were built. If anyone knows of a Sacramento Eichler home I've omitted, please contact me and I will include it in the group. I've removed or fragmented addresses and license plates for privacy.

UPDATE 7.9.09: Special thanks to pinetree from Flickr for his keen eye in recognizing another Eichler in the neighborhood that I did not (it now looks like a conventional home). More pictures of this particular Eichler here in pinetree's Flickr eichler homes | land park photo set.