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Log goes 3-D

Log 17 cover: Untitled by Tristan Eaton, 2009Log 17 cover: Untitled by Tristan Eaton, 2009

Check out the latest issue, Fall 2009, of Log [Observations on architecture and the contemporary city].  The initial thought for this issue was to “explore the idea of depth in the superficial in architecture” (1) so a 3-D drawing for the cover seemed perfect as it references the idea of depth, which can only be seen properly by using 3-D glasses.

Naturally, the initial superficial attraction to the 3-D cover will soon be overshadowed by the articles this issue contain, which, are as always, engaging and timely. “Log 17, guest edited by Mark Foster Gage and Florencia Pita, features essays and conversations focusing on relationships between new media and materiality in architecture – with an emphasis on sensation and affect.”(2)

1. –, “Cover Story.,” Log, no. 17 (Fall 2008): 152

2. Contents. Log.

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Karl Kamrath, Architect and Collector

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Karl Kamrath exhibition on view at the Architecture & Planning Library Reading RoomKarl Kamrath exhibition on view at the Architecture & Planning Library Reading Room

“Karl Kamrath: Architect and Collector” will be open in the Architecture & Planning Library Reading Room in Battle Hall through March, 2010.

Houston modern architect, Karl Kamrath (1911-1988) collected and consumed information on Frank Lloyd Wright and organic architecture, and then incorporated his own articulations of Wright’s principles in built form. His interest in organic architecture was evident in projects that blended into the landscape while satisfying the individual needs of his clients.

This exhibit highlights several of these projects through drawings and photographs from the Karl Kamrath collection in the Alexander Architectural Archive. Evidence of Kamrath’s collecting practice is displayed through books and journals selected from the Library’s Special Collection of published material.

Karl Kamrath, Architect and Collector continues a series of student-curated exhibitions held at the Architecture and Planning Library, drawing from rare and unique resources used during their research.

This exhibit reflects the scholarship of Katie Pierce, who recently completed her master’s thesis in architectural history on Kamrath. Pierce was also the lead processor of the Kamrath archive while earning her Masters degree at the School of Information. She is now an IMLS Doctoral Preservation fellow in the School of Information.

Katie Pierce stands by one the cabinets displaying drawings and artifacts from the Karl Kamrath Collection.Katie Pierce, curator, stands by one the cabinets displaying drawings and artifacts from the Karl Kamrath Collection.

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School-wide Open House iPod Raffle Winners

Raffle winner and graduate architecture student Chris Emens receives his prize from the Architecture and Planning Library’s Head Librarian Beth Dodd.

Undergraduate architecture student Walter Medrano and graduate architecture student Chris Emens were the winners of this year’s school-wide open house raffle. The event provided an opportunity for students to discover nine of the school’s rich resources showcasing collections, programs, facilities, and expert staff. School of Architecture students were required to visit each participating site in order to become eligible for the raffle. Two iPod Shuffles were generously donated by the Campus Computer Store.

Both Walter and Chris found the open house event to be a valuable experience making them aware of the wide variety of resources available to students. Participating locations included the Alexander Architectural Archive, the Architecture and Planning Library, the Career Services Center, the Center for Sustainable Development, the Computer Lab I/O Central, the Design Lab (Woodshop), the University Co-op Materials Resource Center, Materials Lab and Conservation Lab, and the Visual Resources Collection.

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JOURNALS ON(_)LINE(S)

Joshua Bailey, fourth-year architecture student and library student associate, stands behind the mobile he designed for the Architecture and Planning Library.

The UT Austin Architecture and Planning Library (APL) recently installed a two-story mobile in the grand stairwell of Battle Hall.

The installation is intended to raise awareness about electronic journals made available through the University of Texas Libraries that focus on subjects related to the research needs of School of Architecture students, faculty, and staff.

Almost one-third of the 215 journal subscriptions at the APL are available online. The mobile is proportioned to represent this trend—quarter-scale booklets represent journal titles that can be found in print, while the symbol @e is used to represent electronic journals.

Together, the objects hanging in the stairwell illustrate technology’s impact on journal publication and the transitional tension between printed and digital media.

The Journals On(_)line(s) installation, designed by architecture senior Josh Bailey, was funded in part by the School of Architecture’s John Greene Taylor Endowment for Collections Enhancement and the University of Texas Libraries.

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Library Web Site Documents Dallas Architect’s Legacy

The Architecture and Planning Library at The University of Texas at Austin has launched a Web site that will serve as the authoritative resource for information about an acclaimed Dallas architect and his work.

“The Architectural Legacy of Herbert Miller Greene” is now available for online research about Dallas architect Herbert Miller Greene (1871–1932).

Featuring architectural drawings and archival material, the Web site grew out of an exhibition at the Architecture and Planning Library in 2005. It includes a online version of the exhibit, as well as all source documentation used during research conducted for the exhibit including full text articles from the Dallas Morning News archive, scans of Greene’s archival records and links to other source documents on the Web.

The Web site is the result of a collaborative effort by the Alexander Architectural Archive, the Architecture and Planning Library and the School of Architecture’s Visual Resources Collection. It focuses on Herbert M. Greene’s Dallas architecture, his Masonic commissions and The University of Texas buildings he designed. The site provides 139 images depicting 42 projects.

Herbert Miller Greene built over 90 projects throughout Texas and other U.S. cities and founded one of the oldest continuously operating architectural firms in Texas. In 1922, Greene received a 10-year contract from The University of Texas at Austin to succeed the esteemed Cass Gilbert as university architect, where he worked with associates Edwin B. LaRoche and George L. Dahl on designs for over 15 buildings on campus. The following year, Greene was the first Texas architect to be elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

The John Greene Taylor Endowment for Collections Enhancement funded the processing and preservation of Herbert M. Greene materials throughout the Alexander Architectural Archive, as well as curation of the exhibition.

The endowment—established by Greene’s grandson John Greene Taylor—supports the Architecture and Planning Library, the Alexander Architectural Archive and the School of Architecture’s Visual Resources Collection by providing funds for collection cataloging, digitization, acquisition and outreach.

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Collection of Prominent Texas Architect Donated to University of Texas Libraries

The University of Texas Libraries has acquired a collection of materials belonging to Houston architect and Frank Lloyd Wright devotee Karl Kamrath (1911-1988).

The materials, donated by Karl’s children– Eugenie Mygdal, Jack Kamrath, Karl Kamrath Jr., and Tom Kamrath–will join an earlier lot donated to The Alexander Architectural Archive.

The collection, which includes business papers, project records, correspondence, original architectural design drawings, photographs, prints and ephemera, provides insight into the prolific Texan’s work, much of whose modernist design aesthetic paid homage to Wright.

The strengths of this archive are in its design drawings and post-construction photographs, including some of Kamrath’s award-winning projects such as the Kamrath residence of 1939, Temple Emanu-El in Houston, the Houston Fire Alarm Building, M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, and the Contemporary Arts Association in Houston.

Karl Kamrath grew up in Austin and earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas. In 1934, he moved to Chicago, where he worked for the architectural firm Pereira and Pereira, the Interior Studios of Marshall Field and Co. and the Architectural Decorating Company.

In 1937, he and another former graduate of the university, Frederick James MacKie Jr. opened their own architectural firm, MacKie and Kamrath in Houston, Texas. MacKie and Kamrath were among the first Houston architects to follow a modernist approach to design for which they received national recognition.

Kamrath left the firm from 1942 to 1945 to serve as a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers. Shortly after his return in 1946, Kamrath met Wright and immediately became an advocate of Wright’s Usonian architecture style.

Kamrath became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1939 and was elected to fellowship in the institute in 1955, and at various times served in an adjunct capacity at the University of Oklahoma, The University of Texas, Texas A&M University and the University of Oregon. He was also a founder and served on the board of the Contemporary Arts Museum from 1948 to 1952.

“Our archive already contains a strong collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-related work,” says Frederick Steiner, dean of the School of Architecture. “The Kamrath Collection enhances the depth of Wright-related materials and will benefit architectural scholars for generations to come.”
The sister collection for the office of McKie and Kamrath, including the bulk of the office files, job files and construction documents, resides at the Houston Metropolitan Research Collection of the Houston Public Library.

The Kamrath archive is projected to be processed and available for use by patrons by August 2007.

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William A. Storrer collection donated to the University of Texas at Austin

Storr
William Allin Storrer at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY. William A. Storrer Collection.

Noted Frank Lloyd Wright scholar, Dr. William Allin Storrer, has donated his manuscript, research and reference archive to the University of Texas at Austin Libraries. The collection consists of photographic prints, negatives, slides, drawings, papers, books and periodicals that led to his groundbreaking publications: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: a Complete Catalog; The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: a Guide to Extant Structures; and The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion. Storrer chose the University of Texas at Austin because of its School of Architecture’s “focus on organic and environmentally viable architecture and because of the presence of Wright scholars Anthony Alofsin and Richard Cleary among its faculty.”

The Storrer Collection joins nearly one hundred other archival collections consisting of more than a quarter of a million drawings and thousands of photographs and related materials in the Alexander Architectural Archive and more than 88,000 volumes in the Architecture and Planning Library.

Marin County Hall of Justice
Frank Lloyd Wright. Marin County Hall of Justice, San Rafael, CA (S.417). William A. Storrer Collection.

Storrer produced the first comprehensive catalog, along with a definitive numbering system, of Wright’s nearly 500 built works. The 3rd edition of the Catalog identifies in photo or drawing every extant constructed project. It also incorporates the maps and directions from his earlier Guide (1991). Storrer’s Companion (1993) provides an additional textual component, plans, and photographs, as well as new documentation on nearly 100 properties that have been destroyed. The range of this documentation makes his publications essential tools for all Wright scholars.

“The Storrer Collection represents the most comprehensive documentation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s built work that has ever been assembled outside Wright’s own archive,” states Alofsin. “It will provide generations of scholars with an incomparable foundation upon which to base future Wright research and study. Having the Storrer collection in the Alexander Architectural Archive confirms the University of Texas at Austin as the primary location for advanced scholarly research on Wright, America’s best known architect and a major cultural figure of the twentieth century.”

interior of residence
Frank Lloyd Wright. Interior of the John Storrer residence, Hollywood, CA (S.215). William A. Storrer Collection.

“Dr. Storrer’s generous contribution marks a significant opportunity for the School of Architecture,” emphasizes Dean Fritz Steiner. “With Storrer’s appointment as Adjunct Professor of Architecture, the University of Texas at Austin now offers graduate students seeking to pursue advanced scholarship on Frank Lloyd Wright unparalleled expertise and a range and depth of archival materials found at no other institution of higher education.”

Once processed and cataloged, the Storrer collection will be available by appointment within the Alexander Architectural Archive.

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Exhibits highlight architectural information resources and services on the UT campus

Two exhibits highlighting architectural information resources and services available to students, faculty, staff and the general public on The University of Texas at Austin campus are now on view: “Architecture and Planning Library Collections and Services” in the Main Building ground floor corridor and “Timeless Treasures” in the entrance floor lobby of the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL). Both exhibits will be up through October 2003.

The PCL exhibit features materials from the Architecture and Planning Library’s Special Collections and its Alexander Architectural Archive. Included are architectural drawings, photographs, models, scrapbooks and other unique artifacts from the archival collections, as well as pop-up books and rare titles such as the two oldest books in the collection: a 1568 edition of Philibert de l’Orme’s Premier tome de l’architecture and a 1570 edition of Andrea Palladio’s I Quattro libri dell’ architettura. Both are originally from the library of architect Paul P. Cret, the architect of the Main Building.

The Main Building exhibit highlights the collections, services and facilities of the Architecture and Planning Library and the Alexander Architectural Archive located in Battle Hall, a 1911 building designed by architect Cass Gilbert and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Alexander Architectural Archive – the largest repository of architectural records in Texas with more than 90 collections containing over 300,000 drawings and 1,600 linear feet of papers, photographic material, models and ephemera – documents thousands of projects in Texas as well as many in New York, Chicago, California and Great Britain.

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$192,268 TIF Grant awarded to the General Libraries for Texas Archival Resources Online project

The Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) Board has awarded $192,268 to the General Libraries of The University of Texas at Austin to further the development of the Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) program.

TARO is designed to assist scholars and citizens across Texas in locating important archival materials relating to the history, culture, social, and economic conditions of the state. Many of these materials have been long forgotten, overlooked, or virtually unknown for generations.

The General Libraries is the lead institution in a consortium of libraries including the Austin History Center, Houston Public Library, Rice University, Southwest Texas State University, Texas State Library and Archives, the University of Houston, The University of Texas at Arlington, The University of Texas Pan American, The University of Texas at El Paso, The University of Texas Medical Branch, and The University of Texas at San Antonio. The consortium will use the TIF funds for the creation of electronic finding aids to unique archival materials at these institutions. The electronic finding aids will be mounted on a website already in existence for the Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) project (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro).

The co-directors of the project are Mark McFarland, Assistant Director for Digital Library Services, General Libraries; and Kris Kiesling, Coordinator of Technical and Digital Services, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.

Students, faculty, independent professionals, avocationists, genealogists, K-12 students and teachers, and anyone with an Internet connection can avail themselves of the electronic finding aids to learn more about these unique materials located in libraries, large and small, across the state.

This is “Phase II” of TARO. Plans for future phases include (1) the digitization of the archival collections themselves so that the citizens of Texas can have clear, ubiquitous, any-time access to important archival collections held throughout Texas, and (2) the addition of more library partners to increase the variety and quantity of information available.

Since its creation by the 74th Texas Legislature in 1995, TIF has awarded approximately $1.2 billion in telecommunications infrastructure grants to its four constituent groups- public schools, libraries, institutions of higher education, and public, not-for-profit healthcare facilities.

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Texas Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records established

The Texas Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records (TxCOPAR), sponsored by the Alexander Architectural Archive at the University of Texas at Austin, has been established to assist in the location of historical records and the preservation of the architectural heritage of Texas. The web site for the Committee can be found at http://drupal.lib.utexas.edu/apl/aaa/copar.html.

TxCOPAR will serve as a resource for sharing expertise on the management and preservation of architectural records, as well as information about the location of those records. To date, over 30 repositories have been identified in Texas. At this early stage, the web site is primarily dedicated to gathering membership information through its online form. The Texas Committee urges those who own or care for architectural documents or those who are interested in locating and preserving architectural records in Texas, to join TxCOPAR.

The Committee follows the model of other regional COPARs that are part of the national COPAR (Cooperative Preservation of Architectural Records) effort. This national effort was established in 1973 and is maintained by the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress as a center for information on architectural records in the United States. COPAR directs researchers to repositories in all states.

TxCOPAR is suitably based at the Alexander Architectural Archive, the largest repository of architectural records in Texas, with more than 250,000 drawings and over 860 linear feet of papers, photographic material, models, and ephemera, representing thousands of projects in Texas and beyond. The Alexander Architectural Archive is located within the Architecture and Planning Library, a unit of the General Libraries. Many important resources are located nearby, including the Texas State Archives, the Texas Historical Commission, the U.T. School of Architecture, and the U.T. Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) with its strong Archives and Preservation and Conservation Studies programs. TxCOPAR, however, is a statewide effort dependent on its members. It is a statewide service committed to the preservation of architectural records in Texas and the sharing of information about the location of these records.

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