Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Dancers and skaters at the park, crazy and fun.

Skateboarders and dancers shared the Historic Old 4th Ward Skatepark last weekend. I was there for rehearsal and two performances but I'm at a loss to explain it. The ArtsATL.com review might help.
I'd call gloAT a dance troup that dances off stage. They say "gloATLis a collaborative platform of exceptional contemporary physical experience...Part choreography and part interactive art installation..." and I think that's right.

P1080171-2012-05-11-gloATL-rehearsal-search-for-the-exceptional-O4W-skatepark-sign
This is the event. The park remained open for skaters throughout the rehearsals and performances.

P1080431-2012-05-12-gloATL-search-for-exceptional-O4W-skatepark
That was a very good thing.

P1080429-2012-05-12-gloATL-search-for-exceptional-O4W-skatepark-at-184-spectators-in-this-picture
Hundreds of folks showed up.

P1080442-2012-05-12-gloATL-Saturday-Show-O4W-skatepark-edge-photographers
Did  you know about the brand new skatepark on the Beltline?

P1080444-2012-05-12-gloATL-Saturday-Show-O4W-skatepark
The fans didn't always know what was going on.

P1080425-2012-05-12-gloATL-search-for-exceptional-O4W-full
They probably still don't know.

P1080423-2012-05-12-gloATL-search-for-exceptional-O4W-skatepark
Dancers wore '60's outfits and wigs.

P1080407-2012-05-12-gloATL-Saturday-Show-O4W-skatepark-septet-full
They danced solos and septets. They danced everywhere. They danced in front of, in, and behind the audience. They danced to music, to words, and to crowd noise. I chased them about but if you stayed in one place, they eventually came to you.

P1080402-2012-05-12-gloATL-Saturday-Show-O4W-skatepark-in-the-grass-full
They danced on concrete and grass.

P1080393-2012-05-12-gloATL-search-for-exceptional-O4W-skatepark
Skaters watched dance and kept skating.

P1080389-2012-05-12-gloATL-search-for-exceptional-O4W-skatepark-detail-right-full-Jace-Agolli
Dance fans watched skaters and dancers.


And it was just crazy.


Just crazy.


Crazy fun.


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Classical rot managment in Decatur. Where does the water want to go?

They're fixing a little rot at Decatur's First Baptist Church and it made me pay attention.

The rot is way up there, the rot we can see.

P1080098-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-full
It's hard to miss First Baptist. It's a big Gibbs style church on a suburban-sized parcel on the north edge of downtown Decatur Georgia. It's big right down to its super chunky quoins and dentils

P1080100-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51 
Everybody "knows" that Ivey & Crook, Architects designed the current building.

I consulted Lewis Edmund Crook, Jr., Architect, 1898-1967: A Twentieth-Century Traditionalist in the Deep South by William R. Mitchell Jr to learn more. It says, ""Job 513 First Baptist Church Alterations 1948." Alternations? Must investigate.

P1080097-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-full
I drive by twice a week but it's become so familiar I don't pay much attention.

P1080102-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-damage-detail
Ugh.

P1080097-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-detail-1
Ugh.

P1080102-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-damage-detail-2
This corner's not looking too hot.

P1080102-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-damage-detail-2-false
I used Photoshop to give us X-Ray vision.

P1080097-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-detail-2
This is so complex. Where will the water go?.

P1080097-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-detail-3
What about those black corners? All 4 corners of the tower are black. The tower is the bottom section of the steeple.The level above is the belfry, see Steeple Anatomy.

Now that I'm paying attention to brick, I notice the Flemish bond alternating with 5 rows of stretcher bond. Is that the right terminology?

P1080097-2012-05-08--Decatur-1st-Baptist-by-Lewis-Crook-classic-Portico-Repair-1948-51-detail-5-Pediment
I'm sorry about the rot but happy it made me pay attention.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Architectre Tourists should visit Atlanta Symphony Show House It's "Knollwood" by Philip Shutze, 1929

#1: I love soffits more than sofas, stairways more than settees, bricks more than banquettes. I love sofas, settees, and banquettes too. But I think great buildings are great even when they are empty. When designers start with great structure, it's irresistible.

(If you are a brick expert, please stick with me 'til the end.)

#2: I want our best buildings to be public or open to the public once in a while. Above: A great house is great even in hard rain.

So:

Attention Architecture Tourists: Get yourself out to Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 2012 Decorators' Show House & Gardens benefit, the last day is May 13, Click this link to find out everything you need to know.

I mean it, I'm taking names and this WILL go on your permanent record. The house is great, the decor is great. This will probably our only opportunity to see it.

I went yesterday as a blogger courtesy of Atlanta Symphony Associates. Thanks to Allison Ford for thinking of me.

P1080124-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-driveway-approach

It's the Kriser House next door to the Governor's Mansion by Hentz, Alder, and Shutze, Architects. From Betty' Dowling's American Classicist:
"One of his earliest fully developed American works is the W. H. Kriser house of 1929 known as Knollwood. Shutze developed this house from his study of Chatham in Stratford County, Virginia (1765). He translated the orginal stucco house into a brick Georgian mass with a one-story portico that spans the curving arrival drive."
P1080110-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-driveway-axis-detail

Jim Strickland and Andrew Cogar, leaders of Historical Concepts were there to give a talk so I asked them what they liked about the house. Jim's first words were, "It's so comfortable."

Comfortable? I think that's exactly right. It impresses, but rather than intimidate, it comforts. It's uncanny. It's why you'll be glad you went.

P1080118-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-window-detail
The original shutters probably rotted away many years ago but the shutter dogs and layered paint show graceful aging.


Here the south side, the "front" that faced Paces Ferry before the property was parceled out.

I could barely absorb a single room. I had my tiny camera in my pocket but my photography skills were no match for the interiors.

I just wanted to look. I kept bumping into other lookers, I did years worth of "pardon me" in a couple of hours. The hosts wore red sashes and politely kept their eye on me.


P1080122-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-porte-cochere-full


My favorite interior place was the north enfilade. Go to the atrium and look back into the house through the north door all the way back to the stairs. I walked back and forth between the stairs and atrium. Don't doubt me out this.

The lady's master bath was like the inside of a diamond. Attention men: take a few deep breaths before entering.

Back outside the brick turns out to be architecture rocket science.

P1080118-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-brick-corners

I took a picture of an inside/outside corner. It's straightforward, sturdy, and solid Flemish bond. But Shutze designed brick requires an even a closer look.

P1080119-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-flemish-bond-skinny-brick-detail
What are those Rowlocks (or Bull Headers) doing in Flemish Bond? I tried to look it up.

P1080120-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-flemish-bond-MORTAR-JOINT-cut-detail
And what is the story with the mortar and pointing? Trompe l'Oeil?

One visit was not enough but my little brain was quite full.

P1080125-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-driveway-cobble
I lingered on the street to admire the cobblestones, beautiful but challenging for ladies in heels.

P1080126-Atlanta-Symphony-Decorators-Show-House-Knollwood-the KiserHouse-by-Shutze-1929-driveway-cobble-dimension
It's a good look so I used my business card to get the scale.

When your grandchildren ask if you've ever been to Knollwood, you'll want to say yes.


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

4 of my favorites

I like 'em like this. I'll bet you have your favorites too.

When I'm in East Lake or Decatur or Peachtree Heights or Peachtree Battle, I'll drive by if I can.

They delight me every time. What is it about them?


I've only been inside this one.

P1080952-2011-03-20-Meadow-Nook-Pheonix-Flies-Alston-House-From-Street
This is the drive-by view. I'd call it a vernacular; they call it low country planter style, what do I know?

It looks like it belongs. It could be 150 years old. But it isn't.

P1080943-2011-03-20-Meadow-Nook-Pheonix-Flies-Alston-House-Porch-Cat
It's actually 156 years old.

Here is another:

P1191715-Hillyer-North-Facade
It could be 100 years old but it's 120.

P1191715-Hillyer-South-Facade
It's irresistible to me. I drive by twice a week and I don't have to go out of my way.

Porches, gables, not too big, gravel, close to the ground...

Here's another, hard to see, it's always a zen view.

P1010305-2011-10-18-Wesley-Gordon-Favorite
I've driven by 100's of time but only "looked" at it in the last 6 months.

P1010306-2011-10-18-Wesley-Gordon-Favorite
It's a low-rise rambler with gravel and hints of Greek Revival, only 81 years old.

Here is the 4th one.

P1050455-2012-06-08-Vernacular-Near-Wesley-yard-full
It's another "woody" with shutters. Property records say it's 129 years old, built in 1883. It's unlike any of it's neighbors. But it's like the ones I like.

P1050453-2012-06-08-Vernacular-Near-Wesley
A low-rise rambler with just one gable but no gravel, it still passes my test.

Are there any like these your neck of the woods? I'd sure enjoy seeing them.

Thanks,
TK

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Grant Street at Milledge peeking into windows in Grant Park.

Begun in 1882 the Grant Park neighborhood is old for Atlanta. It's is a prime source for architecture tourist entertainment.

Grant Street has pretty much everything you'd want to see in Grant Park so I cruise it when I'm in the neighborhood.


In February, they took a big window out of this one at the corner of Milledge. You've guessed that this isn't an authentic 100 year old Victorian.

P1040767-2012-02-13-Grant-Park-Big-Window-Out-Grant-Street-detail
But I like "lived-in eclecticism" a bit more than the "frozen in time" look.

Does authentic mean "as built" or "as lived?" Both, I guess.


P1040768-2012-02-13-Grant-Park-Big-Window-Out-Grant-Street-detail
The is BIG.

P1040768-2012-02-13-Grant-Park-Big-Window-Out-Grant-Street-detail-inside
I Photoshopped so we could see inside. The room is as tall as the windows, wow.

Prepare for a sruprise as you drive a bit further. You'll discover that this is an addition to a 100 year old house.


View Larger Map

This is the sort thing that makes Grant Park endlessly entertaining to me.

Blog Archive