Georgia Tech throws an Architecture Party for Betty Dowling.

I'm telling you: those crazy hard partying architecture professors had their-selves a time.

This is Betty Dowling, Elizabeth Meredith Dowling Ph.D. that is. She's an author, professor, architectural historian, a registered architect until 2005, and now the Georgia Tech College of Architecture’s first professor emerita.


For Atlanta architecture fans: she wrote THE book about Shutze: American Classicist: The Architecture of Philip Trammell Shutze and others.

She gets around. I've seen her out and about 3 times lately. As president of the ICA & CA Southeast (Southeast Chapter of the Institute for Classical Archtiecture & Classical America) she rallied the classical architects, designers and fans.


She introduced William Bates (founder of the Drawing and Design Department at the American College of the Building Arts) at ADAC.


She enjoyed the Pink Castle with us. She'd written about it in "The Book."


So what do you for a girl who has everything and is obviously too young to retire? You throw a party featuring her former students who have become distinguished architecture historians in their own right. You start at 8:30 AM on a Saturday morning and end with a luncheon with key lime pie for dessert. Yeah!

Where to party? The recently renovated Reinsch-Pierce Family Auditorium. It's a beautiful modern room with walls covered with sparkly gold fabric, stainless doors with portholes, and practical hospital style lobby, impervious to sleep deprived students.


How do nutty, hard partying architects break the ice? They present academic papers at 9am of course. Yahoo. I'm pretty sure I was the only non-professor, non-student, non-in-the-business person in the room. Those that knew me were amused. I had the freedom of an outsider and the ignorance of the amateur.



The law of academic papers: All the blood must be squeezed out before delivery. Fortunately when humans deliver the papers, joy and beauty inevitably escape the text.

Pauline Morin (Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology now at Cornell) took us to Florence. Did Masaccio's painting, "The Trinity," serve as the model for main portal of Santa Maria Novella by Alberti? I was delighted to go home and study up on that.


Carol A. Flores (Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology now at Ball State) . Text on buildings remains a BIG thing and there is more come. I'm going to pay more attention.


Michelle Moody (M.Arch Ga Tech, now project manager at Norman Davenport Askins Architects) introduced me to parody as a way to appreciate P0mo. No irony though. I wanted to learn more about Kresge College and Robert Venturi.


Julia M.-Smyth-Pinney (M. Arch Harvard now at University of Kentucky) confirms that however hard it is to find out what your neighborhood was like 50 years ago, it's a bit tougher in Leo X's neighborhood back in 1520.


Dorothy Metzger Habel (Dottie Habel Ph.D. University of Michigan now at University of Tennessee) gave the keynote. She demonstrated that property management, tenant relations, urban planning, financing, and building has always been tough. We've all been to THAT zoning meeting. The Piazza Colonna turned out pretty nice anyway but you should have seen the original plans.


A panel discussion followed


Allow me to introduce you.

George Johnston and Julia M. Smyth-Pinney


Julia M. Smyth-Pinney, Michelle Moody, Dorothy Metzger Habel


Dorothy Metzger Habel, Carol Flores, Pauline Morin


Here is another person Georgia need to know, Robert M. Craig (Ph.D. Cornell now at Ga Tech). He appeared in a ghostly internet video to pay a humorous tribute to Betty. Robert is the author of most of the architecture entries in the New Georgia Encyclopedia like this one on Leila Ross Wilburn. Grab Robert's, "Atlanta Architecture: Art Deco to Modern Classic, 1929-1959" if you can find it.


After that we had a nice lunch with key lime pie. Betty could not escape without a little speech. Some eyes were a bit moist. But the session ended in time for that horrible game at Clemson.

The Tragic Poet, the Fontana Piccola, the Faun

The latest trends in garden homes and decor are 2000 years old.

What a night. Georgia Tech professor Doug Allen presented "Villas of the Roman World" at Emory's Carlos Museum (see the Carlos social media page) on behalf of the Southeast chapter of the ICA & CA. Lot's of villa fans were there.


If you haven't been to Pompeii, have a look: House of the Tragic Poet, House of the Faun and the relatively modest House of the Small Fountain - Fontana Piccola, shown below.


The Carlos lecture room lobby is special don't you think? Closest you can get to the Porch of the Caryatids without leaving Atlanta. The lighting simulates clerestory windows.


I wasn't expecting so many folks: architects, students, landscape lovers, antiquity lovers and lover lovers I'm sure.


Elizabeth Hornor, Director of Education, welcomed us on behalf of The Carlos.


Betty Dowling introduced Professor Allen on behalf of the ICA & CA.


Douglas Allen used gestures, laser pointer, Latin words, slides and wit. The crowd literally oohed and aahed. I oohed and aahed out loud.


Doug defined villa rustica. The crowd fantasized a nice fixer-upper. (Here are a few floor plans.)


The House of the Faun covered a Pompeii city block.


It was over all to soon but the crowd was happy.


The lobby is a very comfortable place to chat after the show.


These reproductions are everywhere.

Attn: Design Fans: Lecture at Ga Tech Wed, Sep 7, 2011 6P

There is no test but AIA Continuing Education Credits are available.


The Georgia Tech School of Architecture presents a monthly lecture series that begins this Wednesday September 7 at 6PM.

You should go.

1. Enjoy an easy, free, convenient, formal, design event.
   
2. Meet and talk with the internationally know lecturers.
   
3. Learn about projects and methods at the very edge of design.
4. Sit with a room full of soon to be stressed designed students.
5. Talk with Tech faculty.
6. Blow your mind.
7. Take advantage of this international resource in our own back yard.
   

From the Tech COA schedule. This week:
"Kinder Baumgardner is Principal and Director of SWA Houston. Over the span of 20 years, he has actively traveled the country seeking out regional flavors to create landscapes that are culturally resonant. Kinder’s collaborative mindset and awareness of the effect of historical and contemporary culture in creating experiential places is rooted in the design work he has performed in all corners of North America. His current work often finds him in the Middle East, Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent where he is called upon to synthesize complex systems to create open spaces for new cities or urban precincts. While much of his work is focused in these regions, he cherishes his projects in the US and Texas where inimitable regional American cultures and landscapes define who we are, and how we live.

"SWA is a multinational landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm. Its projects are recognized for visionary aesthetics, exceptional functionality, keen understanding of social design, and integration of environmental sustainability."

I blogged a few lectures from last year:
Man Who Moved the Little Mermaid Talks at Tech


Bjarke Ingels

The Hinman gets a $9.5M reno and throws a big party!


Nader Tehrani

Georgia Tech throws an Architecture Party for Betty Dowling.


Presentation by Julia M. Smyth-Pinney

Bloggers Geoff Manaugh, BLDGBLOG, and Nicola Twilley, Edible Geography speak at Tech


Nicola Twilley (accent on "Nik") and Geoff Manaugh (may' know) are married - to each other.

“There Are So Few Modern Masterpieces and We Know Them by Heart” Leon Krier at Georgia Tech.

Thanks to my Blog, Twitter and Facebook friends for saying hello. I'd sure enjoy your comments. Tech usually puts these online. I'll let you know.

Leon Krier spoke last night at the Georgia Tech College of Architecture. It was the first annual Academy of Medicine Distinguished Architecture Lecture. You should have been there.



I hoped Mr. Krier would attract outsiders to the Tech campus: folks who are interested in design, new urbanism, city planning, placemaking, traditional building.

And who isn't?


These lectures are usually cutting edge: Top international design talent discuss the the latest in everything. And this is a very challenging field.

And honestly, they often talk in another language. Their presentations are provacative but rarely pretty. Afterward I sometimes need a translation and couple of aspirin.



When I enter the auditorium, I'm always excited AND a bit wary. When I leave, I'm always happy I was there.


Tech is loaded with design talent, both students and faculty. These folks are going to plan and design our future.

After the lecture most went right back the studio. The lights never dim in the architecture building.


I hoped Leon Krier's lecture would break from the cutting edge. (That's Assistant Professor Jude LeBlanc in the center. He put this lecture series together.)

Is new urbanist influenced planning is cutting edge? In any case it's easy for the layman to grasp.


His slides didn't need any translation. Can you put Le Corbusier anywhere? Everywhere?


The place filled right up.


Standing room only.


Finally he began.

And for me it was one great aphorism after another. Like this: "Skyscrapers are vertical cud-de-sacs, only one way in or out."

 
The Reinsch-Pierce Family Auditorium is a fine place for a lecture.


Thanks to Jimmy Trimble & Betty Dowling (above), Gene Surber (below), and the rest of the Academy of Medicine Board for saving the Academy of Medicine, donating it to Georgia Tech and endowing the lecture.

 
For Atlanta insiders: Do you recognize Gene Surber (center)? You are probably familier with some of Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein Architects' preservation projects and more.

I recommend you subscribe to the Georgia Tech College of Archtiecture News so you won't miss any more of these.

See you there?

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.



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."

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.


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.





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.



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.


What are those Rowlocks (or Bull Headers) doing in Flemish Bond? I tried to look it up.


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.


I lingered on the street to admire the cobblestones, beautiful but challenging for ladies in heels.


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.