TFA Member Appreciation Reception

Please join us for a TFA Membership Appreciation Reception celebrating National Preservation Month at the Gartner House, designed in 1926 by noted Tulsa architect Donald McCormick, FAIA.

For those not familiar with Donald McCormick, he is responsible for a large number of iconic Tulsa buildings and residences. From the traditional (Grace Lutheran Church, Southern Hills Country Club, Cascia Hall) to the modern (the Page Belcher Federal Building, the Flint Steel Building, and the demolished Dowell/Helmerich & Payne Building), McCormick’s work in Tulsa spanned six decades and included over 200 residences, with the J.L. Gartner Residence being his first commission.

Originally from Pennsylvania, McCormick was in Tulsa supervising the construction of the First Methodist Church, which McCormick’s employer, the architectural firm of Charles W. Bolton, designed. McCormick decided to stay in Tulsa and establish his own architectural practice after Mr. & Mrs. J.L. Gartner commissioned him to design their home on East 21st Place in 1926. One of the interesting things about the design of the house is its unique and unusual floor plan that is still extremely functional.

Because the McCormick Collection is one of our major collections in the archives, we have all the original drawings for the Gartner House. Here are a couple images of the home’s unique floor plan.

John Brooks Walton Book Signing

Join the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture and John Brooks Walton for a very special evening FREE to current TFA members to celebrate the publication of Walton's latest book, Tomorrow's Historic Tulsa Homes. Mr. Walton will be available to sign copies of the book and answer questions.

The book-signing will be held in a private residence featured in the book with local architect Brian Lloyd Freese, AIA, on hand to discuss the home's design. Light refreshments, including wines from Girouard Vines, will be provided.

• Date: Thursday, November 18, 2010
• Time: 5:30-7:30pm
• Location: 12336 S. 49th W. Ave.
• Free for current TFA members, book $30
• $35 for non-members, includes book
• RSVP/Questions: Call Lee Anne at 583.5550 or laz@tulsaarchitecture.com
• Space is limited to 60 guests

Photos by Ralph Cole

Powers of Ten Celebration: 5 Films + 5 Speakers

TFA is collaborating with Modern Tulsa and Philbrook Museum of Art to celebrate the Eames film "Powers of Ten." Although Charles and Ray Eames created "Powers of Ten" over 30 years ago, it is still very relevant today and an extremely useful tool in relating the importance of scale. In addition to the "Powers of Ten" film, we will be screening four other Eames films, each with commentary from local aficionados on the impact of modern design in Tulsa. Philbrook will also be making a very exciting announcement you won't want to miss!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Patti Johnson Wilson Hall, Philbrook Museum of Art

Free and open to the public

RSVP to the event on Facebook

119 Downtown Tour

The newest place to live in downtown Tulsa, 119 Downtown, is having an open house and tour of the model apartment unit on Thursday, September 9th from 5-8pm. River City Development is the team behind 119 Downtown; River City Development is also responsible for the conversion of the Philtower to apartments. The McIntosh Group is the architectural firm doing the renovation while Pohlenz Cucine Moderne is designing all the kitchens. One thing that differentiates this project from other recent residential developments downtown is that the 119 units are for sale, not rent. Click here for some great images and renderings of the project.

Located on the northwest corner of 6th and Cincinnati, Leon B. Senter designed the building in 1949. Originally constructed as the Stanolind Building, it has also been referred to as AMOCO East, the 502 Building, the Towercade, and most commonly the Service Pipeline Building. In addition to the 119 Building, Senter also designed many other prominent Tulsa buildings, such as the Fire Alarm Building, the Philcade, the downtown YMCA, and Will Rogers High School. Although not as flamboyantly art deco as some of Senter's early work in Tulsa (like the fire Alarm Building and Philcade), the 119 Building is an excellent example of late deco in Tulsa that also includes many mid-century modern details.

The tour on Thursday, September 9 from 5-8pm is free and open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, call 918.582.0200.

(Please note that this is not a TFA event.)

Meet ModernTulsa

Think Art Deco is the only architecture Tulsa has to offer? Think again. Tulsa’s collection of Mid-Century Modern architecture is just as impressive as the classic buildings from the Roaring Twenties. So often, post war modernism is easily misunderstood and dismissed as “too new” to be considered historic, when in fact most mid-century buildings are nearing the standard 50-year-old mark, if they haven’t already.

You’ll have an opportunity to view images and architectural drawings of some of Tulsa’s best modern architecture on Thursday, August 26 from 5:30pm-8:30pm. Modern Tulsa, an organization of the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, will host Meet ModernTulsa at the TFA archives in the Kennedy Building, 321 S. Boston. On display will be architectural drawings, renderings, photographs, and architectural periodicals celebrating Tulsa’s mid-century architecture. The evening will also serve as an opportunity to get to know the people behind Modern Tulsa working to preserve Tulsa’s recent past. Meet and mingle with others interested in Tulsa’s modern architecture, enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine, browse the archives, toast the modern gems we’ve lost and celebrate the survivors.

Downtown Living Celebration 2010

You are not going to want to miss tomorrow's Downtown Living Celebration. We will feature three outstanding sites, each with its own style and spectacular view of downtown Tulsa. The celebration will be a progressive party with wine from Girouard Vines, beer from McNellie's, and hors d'oeuvres from Elote, Ti Amo, Impressions Restaurant, Center 1 Market, and sushi from Yokozua. Tickets are $40 for current TFA members, $50 for not-yet members and may be purchased at Dwelling Spaces, 119 S. Detroit, or by calling TFA at 583.5550. Here are a few pictures I took two weeks ago when we had our walk-through at the Mayo Building. And yes, we will be able to hang out on the roof and enjoy the view!

The Robert Lawton Jones House

The Oklahoma Interior Design Coalition is holding an open house at one of Tulsa's most famous homes, the Jones House, today from 2 - 7:30pm with a $10 donation at the door. Robert Lawton Jones, who helped found the Tulsa architectural firm of Murray Jones Murray, designed the house as his personal residence in 1959. In addition to the Jones House, Murray Jones Murray designed many of Tulsa's iconic mid-century buildings including the Tulsa International Airport, First Place Tower, Center Plaza Apartments, and the Texaco Office Building.

The house is cited as the first International Style residence built in Oklahoma and includes many hallmarks of modern design. Jones studied under Mies van der Rohe as a graduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology and later attended the Technical University in Karlsruhe, Germany on a Fullbright Grant after graduate school.

Not only has the house been featured in numerous architectural publications in the U.S. (most notably Arts & Architecture in July 1960) but the house was also featured in a couple European publications as well, Bauen + Wohnen in January 1961 and Schoner Wohnen in September 1963.

Another distinction the Jones House hold is that it was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 when the house was only 42 years old. This is especially significant for a few reasons. First, the house was deemed significant enough to be listed individually and not simply as a contributing structure in a historic district. Secondly, the architect is still living. Thirdly, the house was listed before it was 50 years old, which is generally the accepted age for structures to be considered eligible for listing.

Here are a few pages from the various publications. If you'd like to see some contemporary photos of the house and for more info about the open house, check out the article in today's Tulsa World. Or see it for yourself this evening! The house is located at 1916 E. 47th St.