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Showing posts from March, 2011

Goff Exhibit at Price Tower

Hey gang, here's a great idea for anyone who hasn't seen this excellent exhibit yet- drive to Bartlesville! That's right. You've got a month left to see this unique glimpse into the far out world of Bruce Goff. Jackie and I ran up the turnpike last October to see Bruce Goff: A Creative Mind at the Fred Jones Museum in Norman, OK. The exhibit is currently at the Price Tower Arts Center through April. The exhibit is dedicated to Goff's designed-but-never-built projects. Visitors are taken on a virtual tour through the magic of fancy computer stuff! Projects never realized come to life through photo-realistic 3D renderings. Even the ill-fated Shin-enkan (lost to arson in 1996) has been reimagined for this show. A selection of Goff's original drawings are also on display, but it's the 3D animations that kick it up a notch. The video creations, made by Skyline Ink Animation Studios of Oklahoma City, are truly the main event. Watching as the "camera&qu

Historic School Threatened

We first told you about the unique Phillis Wheatley School in New Orleans, and the efforts of the World Monuments Fund to save it, back in October 2009 . The good news- the building is still there. The bad news is the structure isn't getting any better, and a permit for demolition was recently requested. A petition asking the Mayor of New Orleans, Mitchell Landrieu, to stop the plan to demolish the school building has been circulated. The letter cites the school's importance to the black community as well as its unique architecture. Currently the petition has nearly 1100 signatures. Built in 1954, the school's cantilever design is unique to say the least. It takes advantage of its own footprint to provide much needed shade from the noon-day sun. A plan for a possible re-use of the site has even been proposed by DOCOMO-Louisiana . You can help by signing the petition... Save the Phillis Wheatley School

Photo Tour: Various Tulsa Homes

A few snapshots of our favorite houses in T-Town. This is not an exhaustive list- just a selection of cool pads that we thought were worth sharing. Somewhere west of Lewis. University Club Tower isn't Tulsa's only modern high-rise. The award-winning 2300 Riverside from 1963 is pretty mod too! This displaced motel is actually a home in Johansen Acres. This is a great house located near 31st and Lewis. One of my all-time favorites- the Sanditen House on South Utica. This is a pretty neat house- but that's a really awesome roof! It's just west of Harvard behind Edison High School. Another modern little abode near 43rd and Harvard. And let's not forget the Lustron on North Harvard! This house has some killer curb appeal.   That's all for now. Stay tuned for more modern, or visit us on Facebook !

BOK Center Hosts NCAA Tournament

This week the BOK Center was in the national limelight as Tulsa hosted the NCAA Tournament. The striking stainless steel structure has become a nationally renowned venue for sports and entertainment, and a catalyst for the rebirth of downtown. But it wasn't an easy road. What we know today as the BOK Center took three attempts at the ballot box and a lengthy public debate to become reality. The package known as Vision 2025 bundled the new arena with other downtown renovations, residential incentives and a proposed airplane factory. Tulsa County voters approved that measure in 2003, Cesar Pelli was asked to submit a design for the arena and the airliner deal lost out to Everett, WA. The proposed design was mocked and criticized. Naysayers complained about the size, the cost, the location, the parking- and once the design was approved- the aesthetics. Detractors have called it everything from a crushed beer can to a steel tornado. Cesar Pelli's arena design was the resu

Oklahoma City's Mid-Century Monolith

Oklahoma City's Mid-Century Monolith was more formally known as Central Motor Bank. Built in 1959, it was supposedly the largest drive-in bank in the world at the time, and able to accommodate 5,000 cars a day. It's located on Classen Boulevard at NW 5th Street. There's two really great things about these ruins. I mean there's a lot of great things about it- don't get me wrong. But two really stand out for me... First off, the heavy aluminum screen is just too cool. I mean can't you see that on the set of Star Trek? It's also a little odd to have what is essentially a room divider outdoors . The second great part is the little blue tile. There's just something about a mosaic of 1" tiles that screams Mid-Century Modern. As if you didn't already know. I remember seeing a vintage postcard of this building. It was a night shot of the drive-thru lanes and really showed off that sine wave roof. Today it's abandoned, most recently operated

Two Okies in the Mecca of Mod

Modernism Week in Palm Springs We'd been hearing about this desert city full of Mid-Century Modern architecture for years. But it's difficult to comprehend until you actually experience that cool-building-on-every-corner aspect of Palm Springs, California. The celebrities who frequented this city in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties built cutting-edge homes to use as their Winter retreats. Today this city of approximately 45,000 is awash in well preserved examples of Streamline Moderne, International, Brutalist and Postmodern architecture. And fortunately for us the civic leaders appear to understand the power of architecture as a tourist attraction. Preservation has saved many important buildings, and many commercial structures are protected from any visual alterations or possible "remuddle" jobs. New construction also leverages the  modern look by incorporating classic Fifties styling cues like a butterfly roof or aluminum brise-soleil . If you love modern ar

The Maple Ridge Poolhouse

It's another Mod of the Moment! Photo courtesy of Northeast Oklahoma Real Estate Services If you've seen this house you don't quickly forget it. Reactions are polar- you either love it or hate it. Never in between. And thanks to Modern Tulsa you can drop in and form your own opinion this Sunday! Mod of the Moment March 6, 2011 4:00 to 6:00 PM 1220 E. 21st Place   The home, known as the Scherbatskoy house, began life as a typical Maple Ridge home from the Twenties. It appears in the book One Hundred More Historic Tulsa Homes , where John Brooks Walton calls the chapter How a Swimming Pool Designed a House. In 1957 the owners asked Robert Buchner to design a natatorium and integrate it into the east side of the house. A few months later fire partially destroyed the roof of the original house- so Buchner was called in again. The final result is a distinctive swimming pool with a house attached! For more details on the event, the organizers or who the heck

The Recent Past

Oklahoma State Capitol Bank

On the Trail of Julius Shulman: Stop 2 "This is a bank," the sign outside the futuristic building read. According to legend a prankster added a strategic question mark and echoed the sentiment of many passers-by: "This is a bank?" That was back in 1964 when it opened. Today the Arvest on Lincoln Boulevard looks a bit less Jetsonian, mostly due to replacement of structural glass below the "saucers," but it's still an unusual bank. Designed by Robert Roloff of the architectural firm Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson & Roloff, the State Capitol Bank caused quite a stir in Oklahoma City when it opened. Heck, it's still pretty shocking today! Originally the flying saucers appeared to hover above the building (as seen in this vintage postcard). All the glass that made that effect possible also made heating and cooling an expensive proposition. Security concerns also mandated replacement of those windows with solid materials and small square portholes

The Bruce Goff House in Vinita

We were recently surprised to learn about a Goff-designed home just an hour away from Tulsa in Vinita, Oklahoma. Vinita is probably best known to OK Mod readers as the home of the Glass House on I-44, also known as (shudder) the World's Largest Largest McDonalds . Anywho, turned out the Goff house was on the market, and the owner was more than happy to let us have a look around. We took a short drive up the turnpike one Sunday afternoon to meet the realtor, snap some pictures, ask some questions and enjoy another one of Bruce Goff's unique creations. The home is known as the Adams House and was built in 1961. The 3,700 square foot home is arranged in a circular floor plan with a large sunken "conversation pit" at the center. Rising up from this pit is a large metal fireplace, its chimney surrounded by skylights, which dominates the entire house. Rooms surround the perimeter with folding accordion doors acting as walls. To maintain some semblance of privacy an inner

Home of ORU Architect on the Auction Block

Frank Wallace is best known as the man behind the futuristic look of the Oral Roberts University campus. On October 14, 2010 his unique home overlooking ORU will be sold in a public auction conducted by Mister Ed's Auctions . Jackie and I recently had a chance to visit with Mr. Wallace and learn more about the house, his career and his thoughts on architecture. When we visited we expected to snap a few photos of an empty house and speak with a representative from the auction company. To our surprise the door opened, and we were greeted by Mr. Wallace himself! After assuring him we were not architects, he let us look around. Unfortunately we were not prepared to interview the man whose buildings incite such extremely diverse reactions- but that didn't stop me from asking him several questions anyway.  The home, completed in 1980, was designed and built by Wallace who is now 87. The expansive home is so large that Wallace spends most of his time in a room that was his la