Heck of a night August 13. It was the BlackCatTips (Kyle Brooks) solo show for the Art Institute of Atlanta. I met Kyle's mom and dad, I met Nicole Jacobs, and I met Michael Kleeman, the Academic Department Director for Design, Leading Interior Design, Illustration, Graphic and Web Design for The Art Institute of Atlanta.

I've wanted to blog Michael for the last five years because...


Michael Kleeman is the J. Neel Reid Prize winner for 2002 and I'm trying to blog all the prize winners.


Because this is the kind of work Neel Reid Prize winners can do. Hat tip to the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation who awards this prize and to author William R. Mitchell whose book, J. Need Reid Architect helps fund the prize.

The application deadline for the 2017 Neel Reid Prize is February 10, 2017.

---

Italicized text is from Michael's prize application.

Sansovino�s Logetta, Venice

 

Sansovino�s Library and Logetta, Venice

"Venice to study the work of Sansovino
Vincenza to study the work of Palladio
Verona to study the rok of Sanmicheli
Mantua to study the work of Romano
Florence to study the work of Vasari and Ammanati
Rome to study the work of Vignola and da Sangallo the Younger"



Basilica, Venice

"I hope to complete my research of Sebastiano Serlio through first hand recording of the works of his contemporaries throughout Italy."



  Palazzo Porto, Vicenza, Italy




Villa Rotunda.

 "The conferenacse that I attend and present at, the classes that I instruct currently at Georgia Tech...lead to my goal of becoming a professorof architectural history and promoting that field within the schools of architecture."


Palazzo Te



Palazzo del Te or Palazzo Te is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano.

"I remember...seeing only one slide of some buildings folowed by research in textbooks showing the same view again."


The Palazzo degli Uffizi (Uffizi Palace) was built between 1560 and 1580 to house the administration of the government of grand duke Cosimo I de' Medici. The elegant building was designed by the duke's favorite architect, Giorgio Vasari,


Palazzo Pandolfin 
 

Palazzo Pitti.

 

"By allowing me to gain a first hand understanding I take a step coloser to bringing that information back though my sketches, photographs, notes. and memories. "

Continue Reading...

Roger Scruton believes that the "Vernacular Classical Idiom" is a proven idea for fitting in. Me too. We're about to have this demonstrated on La France Street in Edgewood. We'll talk about it next year.



How's your week?

In Atlanta we're talking about an at-risk Jova designed modernist round bank that amuses thousands of drivers every day. We're buzzing about a no-longer at-risk Breuer designed brutalist library which impresses but inspires little love.

We whine about McMansions every single day, those spreadsheet designed houses that don't fit in, certainly works of the devil. We're building these in every hot neighborhood from Kirkwood to Tuxedo Park.

I don't have words. 

So lucky me. I stumbled in to this 2008 Royal Geographical Society debate,"Prince Charles Was Right: Modern Architecture is Still All Glass Stumps and Carbuncles." Roger Scruton was on the "for" side so you can imagine he's much hated.

I made this transcript of Roger Scruton's introduction which starts about here.

"Regarding the ordinary buildings that have sprung up...which seem designed not to fit in but to stand out."

Principle 1
"We build in order to dwell among neighbors and to dwell is to live among neighbors who have as great in interest in how we build as we do. A town is a home where strangers settle side by side and enjoy a shared sense of belonging. Its streets are public spaces, the facades of its buildings stand in a personal relation to all that pass them by."

Principle 2
"Genius is as rare among architects as it is among the rest of us. Most buildings will be the creation of talent-less people who are simply doing a job like you and me. The less they try to be original and expressive the better. To pretend to these (genius) qualities in their absence is to jettison the three most important social virtues: Modestly, humility, and to act as if others are more important than yourself.

"Most of our beautiful towns were not the work of architects but of modest builders working with materials they understood and on a scale that does not challenge our perceptions."

Principle 3
"Buildings should fit together in a public space that it accessible and friendly to all of us. This is most easly achieved if there is a shared repertoire of details. Materials that blend and do not come apart visually at the joints and proportions that can be emulated by each new addition to the towns-cape."



Modest, yet...



Deep reveals. Too expensive these days for anything but an estate house.

Continue Reading...

"Job #178, built for Hugh H. Ellison in 1927. A wonderful example of Buck's versatility, this Italian Renaissance design sits on the east side of Habersham, just north of Argonne." - Lewis Edmund "Buck" Crook, Jr.1898-1967 Atlanta Architect 

But this is NOT what the kids want these days.

In the last six months I've been to estate sales at one Neel Reid, two Shutze's, and two Ivey and Crook's. So far they've torn down one Shutze and one Crook. The Elison is the least of the five houses.



It's photogenic and pink, but it's not so big: The main house is 3,172 square feet on 0.8035 acre. And it hasn't been updated in a while.



We tend to think that Buckhead houses are mansions but most aren't. This is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath with some elegant public rooms. The rest is just a family house with tiny closets.

Have a look.


Neel Reid, Crook, and Shuzte designed adorable side entrances. Look for them.


The front door is for special occasions. It's a little more beat up than the picture shows but I'll take this as is.


I don't know what you call these. The Architecture Tourist thinks big bodacious buttresses with volutes in acanthus wrap. Would the composition look right without them? (Thanks John Tackett, The Devoted Classicist and Merrium Webster these are "consoles" ... console: "an architectural member projecting from a wall to form a bracket or from a keystone for ornament."


Wonder if the metal fan is original equipment. It pulls dark the door, shutters, and lanterns.A composition in pink with white and black accents.


Inside I'd prefer more light and less metal.


The entry has the stair, family entrance to the right and a zen view to the living room and sun room.

These are the fancy rooms, the rest have far less decorative detailing.


This is pretty much how the Georgia classicists did stairs and we should be glad.


From the outside the windows look in proportion, they look just right. From inside you realize they are big. There are many views of the rafter tails under the eaves.


Some of the windows don't operate any more, these casement windows are in the sun room, probably haven't opened since air conditioning.


The living room took my breath away.

"Living room features magnificent heart pine ceiling modeled after a ceiling in Florence, graceful arches and handsome fireplace." Beachcam and Company from the real estate ad.


The sun room has big time detailing too. I didn't get such a good picture. The room out back is an add on family room.


Here's the add on "family room" and I didn't want to look at it.


There is an enfilade across the whole front of the house linking the public spaces. This picture is from the sun room through the living room, foyer/stair hall, family foyer and family entrance. You can see from one end of the house to the other. A zen view. A great feature.


Pantry / breakfast room is cozy. See the how tall the window is?.


Upstairs has some nice pink and under-eave views. Looks it's age.


It feels substantial. Where does the water go?


People lingered here. The corner stair makes a two-story shaft that brings light deep into the both floors and features a balcony with an inside-out view.


This is the bedroom hall. I'm looking from the little bedroom on the right side, across the stair balcony into the master suite on the left side of the house. Another little bedroom is off the hall to the right.


We can see the tile roof from here. Kitchen / service entrance to left. Family room bump-out to the right.


The lot is 400 feet deep, room for another house if they want to restore the original house. But what if you want a pool?

I think it's a goner. 10,000 square feet seems the minimum up here.

Continue Reading...