On the Road | Fallingwater: Architecture, Nature, Money

Today was my first visit to one of the most iconic places of architecture: Fallingwater, or Kaufmann Residence, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935. The house is located in the rural Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. The house was built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run and is probably the most famous examples of organic architecture as integration of nature within man-made constructions. Bridges, terraces, roofs made of steel and concrete follow curvilinear shapes to engage in an harmonious dialogue with the natural features.

The total house cost at the time of construction was $155,000, about thirty times the cost of a house of a similar square footage (2885 sq. ft. interior) in Pennsylvania at the time.

Fallingwater was used by the Kaufmann family (Edgar Kaufmann Sr. (1885-1955), Liliane S. Kaufmann (1889-1952), and their son, Edgar Kaufmann jr. (1910-1989) as a weekend home  until 1963, when it was entrusted by Edgar Kaufmann, jr., to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

 Architecture follows nature in details: concrete slab opening to allow a tree to penetrate the man-made construction

 Countryside surrounding the Fallingwater site

architecture | Miami Architecture Rises Again

Downtown Miami is enjoying a resurgence at long last. An over abundance of condos jammed in all at once pre-recession, threatened to drown Miami in yet another boom /bust rotation that this humidity-soaked environment is apparently famous for.

The plethora of sparkly new condos were rented out at reasonable rate awaiting the upswing which is now occurring. This sudden influx of new, young blood is kick-starting the previously unloved central location into a “whoosh” of new restaurants, shops and entertainment.

Surprisingly to many, original and interesting architecture is still front and center in this fairly young city. Miami was officially Incorporated in 1896 with a whopping population of 300. I took a stroll around recently, armed with camera, to record a soupčon of old Miami architectural design.

Alfred I. DuPont brass elevators

Alfred I. DuPont Building, completed in 1939, formerly a bank; it now holds court to special events after a series of historic renovations on it’s Depression Moderne style of architecture. Designed by the firm of Marsh and Saxelbye, the DuPont sports hand-painted cypress wood ceilings, detailed scroll work, and brass elevator doors bas relief adorned depicting native flora and fauna.

Olympia / Gusman ticket booth and marquee

Olympia Theater / Gusman Center for the Performing Arts lobby ceiling

Olympia Theater - This silent movie palace opened in 1926. The Moorish architecture, marvelous acoustics and ceiling simulating the night sky also achieved fame by becoming the first building in the South to be air-conditioned. Now known as Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, it transports the audience into experiencing old world charm in downtown Miami. It is one of the few “atmospheric” theaters designed by architect John Eberson still existing today.

Ingraham Building brass elevator logos

Another recently renovated 1926 structure, the Ingraham Building was designed by the architectural firm of Schultze & Weaver, designers of the famous Waldorf-Astoria in New York and the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles in the Chicago Style of Architecture.

Ingraham Building ceiling

camminando MIAMI | Holocaust Museum

Holocaust Museum of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

“I memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust”

This is not a large memorial in area, but impact and sensitivity is not compromised in conveying emotional gravitas. Architect & Sculptor Kenneth Treister was successful in creating a disturbingly beautiful and poignant moment of reflection in a tucked away corner close to the action of infamous South Beach. Meant to provide a haven of remembrance and knowledge of an horrendous slash of history, Treister created achingly expressive full-size bronze sculptures throughout the site culminating in a 42 foot hand with 1000 figures crying out in anguish as they reach out to humanity.

Opened in 1990, the surprisingly evocative twists and turns of this tribute earn the title of “Memorial”. One emerges with the consciousness touched; uplifted to a time and place to clutch in our hearts and minds: reflecting pools, black granite, pink Jerusalem stone, names, historical facts, shrines and tunnels all bring us to a place of deep contemplation.

1933-1945 Meridian Avenue,

Miami Beach, FL 33139

Phone: 305 538 1663

Hours: 9:00AM - Sunset

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

http://www.holocaustmmb.org/

Heron having a contemplative moment on the steps of the Memorial

architecture | Miami’s Architectural Rarity

The Miami Marine Stadium is one of South Florida’s hidden gems that got too close to the wrecking ball for the comfort of an historically-minded group of people now formed into the Friends of Miami Marine Stadium.
Unused since the devastating Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The unique structure is still sound and the “Friends” hard work recently was successful in acquiring designation status as an architectural masterpiece by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and World Monuments Fund. There is still along way to go on the project, but May 2nd will host a dinner to announce the winner of the Floating Stage Competition design.
In the heyday there was stage bobbing in Biscayne Bay at the foot of this Stadium which buoyed performances by the likes of Jimmy Buffet and Mitch Miller presentation for the awards dinner will be by Frank E. Sanchis III, Director of United States Programs for the World Monuments Fund.
Originally designed for powerboat races, Miami Marine Stadium was built in 1963by a young Cuban Architect, Hidalgo Candela. The 6500 seat façade is completely poured concrete with a massive cantilevered folded-plate roof. In the shape of Circus Maximus, its hyperbolic paraboloid roof hovers over the gorgeous Biscayne Bay framing views of downtown Miami awaiting its new life as one of Miami’s premiere sports and entertainment venues.
Over the years it has become a palette for aerosole artists, morphing its derelict flanks into still another explosion of creativity.

Irene Sperber

Photos by Irene Sperber

Photo courtesy of Friends of Marine Miami Stadium

Buildings + Events| New World Symphony Facility, Miami Beach

“Bravo” to the Gehry New World Symphony Facility

by Irene Sperber

Entrance of the New World Symphony

Michael Tilson Thomas is Founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, Miami Beach. A teaching facility, graduate music majors apply to NWS for the opportunity to expand their performance chops; an impressive number of NWS alumnae have been readied and hired into major Orchestra around the world.

The brand new game-changing Gehry designed New World Symphony building is slated to explode onto the concert scene January 25th. Located just a few blocks from the existing NWS off Lincoln Road, the concert hall and adjoining Lincoln Park (park by Dutch urban & landscape architects, West 8) will open up the symphonic experience to new generations of concert-goers. I took a press tour recently and was knocked out by the huge leap in revolutionary orchestral offerings. Gehry said that this is the most functional building he has ever created. Michael TilsonThomas and the NWS worked closely with Gehry Partners to insure that rooms worked with the purpose of the
workspace.

Howard Herring, NWS President wanted a welcoming threshold: “How will we use electronic media to get people in - this is an experiment, a laboratory, learning as we go with the audience”. The Park will have it’s own wifi, able to communicate info with smart phones; posters alerting the public to upcoming events will go digital. There will be fiber optics throughout, allowing musicians far and wide to avail themselves of the high degree of instruction offered by the NWS. The Vienna Philharmonic will be able to teach, via fiber optics, after their working day in Austria.

Concerts will be projected onto outside walls so people in Lincoln Park can enjoy balmy Miami evenings along with the NWS soundtrack; half hour concerts will be offered throughout chosen evenings so as not to interfere with dinner plans or our modern short attention spans...... for $2.50. Inside audiences will be enveloped by sound rather than merely observers; seats can be moved about, several screens peppered around the ceilings will add information on composers or enhance with myriad visuals. Sound and design, light and installations will experiment in social engineering, with interaction bringing the symphonic world into the modern societal milieu.

New World Symphony Facility, Miami Beach
more info

Founding Director of the NWS, Michael Tilson Thomas