• Fortress of Finance: A History of the U.S. Treasury Building
• “Mr. Garrett’s Palace” : The Golden Age Elegance of Baltimore at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion

The Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians proudly presents

“Fortress of Finance: A History of the U.S. Treasury Building”

Lecture by Pamela Scott, Architectural Historian

Thursday, February 9, 2012
6:30 P.M. – light refreshments
7:00 P.M. – lecture

The National Trust for Historic Preservation
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

The apparently “unified” exterior of the U.S. Treasury Building belies that it was created by five major Greek Revival architects and was built over four decades. Robert Mills won the 1836 competition and each of his successors-Thomas U. Walter, Ammi B. Young, Isaiah Rogers, and Alfred B. Mullett- changed the design of his predecessor. All of the architects faced similar problems to varying degrees: politically motivated congressional investigations; labor unrest; and timely delivery of materials. Each explored how emerging technologies could be applied to facilitate the rapid and orderly construction of the largest federal building of its time. At the same time, each architect expressed his individual interpretation of America’s foray into the revival of Greek architecture. Characteristic exterior and interior features associated with each of the architects and the draftsman J. Goldsborough Bruff will be clarified. Because the text of Fortress of Finance was cut by twenty percent, the lecture will also include a longer discussion of the construction of Mullett’s Cash Room than appears in the book.

Pamela Scott is currently an independent scholar. Ms. Scott recently completed a major history of the U.S. Treasury Building, 1798-2005 titled Fortress of Finance, published in June 2010.

The lecture takes place at The National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.

Cost

Reservations are not required.

$10.00 for Latrobe Chapter members
student members (full time) free with ID
$18.00 for non-members.

For general information, please see the Latrobe Chapter website at www.Latrobechaptersah.org, or contact:

Christine Henry
(202)-744-8123
christine.rae.henry@gmail.com

“Mr. Garrett’s Palace” : The Golden Age Elegance of Baltimore at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion

Jim Garrison – John Russell Pope: Transcendent Classicist

February 12, 2012, 2:00 pm

Presented by The Garrett-Jacobs Mansion Endowment Fund in association with AIA Baltimore, Baltimore Architecture Foundation, Baltimore Heritage

The residential commissions of the Garrett, Frick, and Jacobs families were crucial to Pope’s career. Mr. Garrison will discuss Pope’s important houses, their immediate precedents, and how Pope’s clients and work in Baltimore were some of the most significant of his career. Mr. Garrison, AIA, is the author of Mastering Tradition: The Residential Architecture of John Russell Pope.

Cost

$20 per person-discounts for Friends of the Mansion, AIA credit

Send checks or credit card information to:

GJMEF
11 W. Mt. Vernon Place
Baltimore, MD 21201

Questions?

Please contact:

Dale Whitehead, Executive Director
The Engineers Club of Baltimore
Phone: 410-539-6914, Ext. 106
dale@esb.org

Prior to the presentation, we invite you to enjoy an elegant Champagne Brunch at the Mansion – $35 per person all-inclusive

Reservations are required, along with advance payment by check by phone or credit card. Make reservations for no later than 12:30 p.m. to provide ample time prior to performance.

The Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, a registered National Historic Landmark and one of the nation’s most exquisite homes, offers the perfect venue to discuss the opulence of Baltimore’s Golden Age. In the nineteenth century, the New York Times referred to the Mansion as “Mr. Garrett’s Palace.”

Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Where: One East Lexington Street (the original home of the AIA)

Please join us as we celebrate our 25th year in a building significant for it’s architecture as well as it’s history. Originally the Central Savings Bank, it was once home to many Baltimore architects and the original home of the Baltimore Chapter of the AIA. There will be a silent auction, music and dancing, OYSTERS!, and a special 25th Anniversary award, as well as our Golden Griffin and Roger D. Redden awards.

Tickets information available soon. 

Sponsorships and auction opportunities are available please email Tracey at baf@baltimorearchitecture.org

Construction Tour of the Park Plaza, Mount Vernon

Saturday, December 17th at 10:00am

Park Plaza Building
800 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Map and Directions

Join us for a in-depth look at the Park Plaza professional building in Mount Vernon. Burned in a five alarm fire last December, the former residence of Baltimore Sun founder, Arunah S. Abell has a rich architectural history. Originally constructed in 1842 and added on to many times, the building has served as residence, private club, disco, professional office and retail. You can read more on the building’s history via this article by Edward Gunts at the Baltimore Sun.

Post-fire, much of the original form has been revealed. We’ll take a look at the architectural evidence the fire revealed and get a sense of what it’s newest form will comprise. Paul Littman of Southway Builders and Tom Liebel, FAIA of Marks, Thomas Architects will lead us through the building and offer insight into the challenges of restoring this architecturally significant fire damaged building.

Dress for the elements, we are touring a construction phase project, closed toe shoes and comfortable dress suggested. 

Cost

Please pay in advance via PayPal buttons below. A confirmation email will be sent.

Members :: $10

Non-Members :: $15

If you wish to pay in person via check please confirm via email: baf@baltimorearchitecture.org 

Before Tour at the End of the Pier

Sunday, November 20th, 11:00am

Please join us for a BEFORE tour of a soon to be re-imagined home at the end of the South Pier. The team of Rohrer Studio and Ilex Construction will share their vision for this nearly 5,000sf home with exceptional views of the harbor.

Cost

$10 members
$15 Non-members

Please RSVP to director@baltimorearchitecture.org

Exact address of home will be emailed when you RSVP

Parking available on street along Key Highway

Hard Hat Tour of the UB Law Center

Thursday, November 3rd at 4:30pm

FREE for MEMBERS ONLY
Please register via email to:  baf@baltimorearchitecture.org

Location

1 W. Mount Royal Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21201

Map & Directions

Join us for a in-depth discussion and look at the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center. After an international design competition, Behnisch Architekten of Stuttgart of Germany, in partnership with Baltimore’s Ayers/Saint/Gross, Inc., won the international competition to design the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center at UB.

Destined to be one of the greenest buildings in Baltimore and the metropolitan region, it features innovative an approach to interior climate design, interior lighting, water use reduction and energy use reduction. The University is anticipating platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating and we are currently tracking a few points over the threshold - which would make UB’s one of the few law schools in the country to bear this status

We’ll meet with Mike Barber of Ayers/Saint/Gross, Inc. and Brian DeWitt from Whiting Turner. They’ll discuss the project in their office at 1 W. Mount Royal Ave and then walk us through the building.

Details about the project can be found here.

Please note this is a hard hat tour. Dress for the elements, we are touring a construction phase project with no exterior walls. Closed toe shoes and comfortable dress suggested. 

FREE for MEMBERS ONLY 

Please register by email: baf@baltimorearchitecture.org 

Wrenn, Lewis, & Jencks: A Watercolor Exhibit

Sponsored by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation and curated by Lindsay Wong, Roland Park Country School.

Opening Reception

Thursday June 23rd, 2011 :: 5:00pm – 7:00pm

AIA Baltimore Gallery
11 1/2 W. Chase Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
FREE and Open to the Public

Exhibit features watercolors, sketches and blueprints of the firm Wrenn, Lewis and Jencks from the archives the Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF). Active from 1927 until 1978, Wrenn, Lewis and Jencks Architects designed many significant buildings in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. They began as residential architects in Roland Park, Guilford and Homewood, but their successful design for the Faculty Club (now the Hopkins Club) at Johns Hopkins University led them to expand their practice to include commercial buildings as well. Their work included several jobs for the Baltimore Museum of Art as well as the Maryland State House Office Building in Annapolis.

They did not work in a particular style, rather their buildings tended to reference their neighborhoods always with a nod toward Classical detailing. The firm began as Lewis & Westenhaver Architects in the early 1920’s but soon became Wrenn, Lewis, Westenhaver and Jencks until Herbert J. Westenhaver left the firm in 1929.

Islamic Architecture: Past and Present, Lessons for Baltimore with  Mohammad Gharipour

Brown Bag Luncheon
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 :: Noon – 1:00 PM

The Baltimore Architecture Foundation
@ the offices of SMG Architects
1016 Morton Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Map | Directions

Join us as Professor Gharipour discusses what Baltimore can learn from Islamic Architecture.

WHEN: 10:00am Saturday April 16th, 2011

WHERE: League for People parking lot at the Alameda and Cold Spring Lane

Map and Directions

Join the Baltimore Architecture Foundation this Saturday, as we tour the Morgan and Wilson Park neighborhoods with Prof. Dale Glenwood Green, Associate AIA, NTHP, LEED AP of Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning.

Morgan Park is significant for its concentration of more than 145 historic detached residential dwellings, including the Morgan State University Presidents House, Dr. Carl J. Murphy residence which was frequented by Robert Kennedy, and the primary residence owned and occupied by Dr. W.E.B DuBois and his family; now a Baltimore City Landmark.

Developed in 1917, during the time of Jim Crow, Morgan Park provided housing for the faculty of then, Morgan College, now Morgan State University and other African-Americans who were legally barred by covenant from neighboring communities.

Today, it is a uniquely unknown neighborhood that warrants local, state and national recognition as it remains the only African-American neighborhood developed from the faculty of a historically black college or university (HBCU) that is still intact and thriving. Professor Green and his students have been researching and documenting the neighborhood’s history.

Wilson Park, considered one of Baltimore’s first African-American suburbs, was developed by Harry Wilson, an African American, who began to build houses as early as 1917. In addition to some of the neighborhoods being culturally historic, several are architecturally significant. Wilson’s family began to sell large tracts of land in the early 1950s to developers who built dozens of new homes on St. Georges Ave. and Coldspring Lane. Kimberleigh Road was created in 1953 as part of the development. These homes were bought by a variety of upwardly mobile African-American families including those of steelworkers from the Sparrows Point, postal workers, Morgan State University teachers and administrators.

Morgan Park and Wilson Park are virtually unknown today despite both warranting local, state and national recognition and historic designations. Please join us as Professor Green reveals the exciting history of these unique Baltimore neighborhoods.

WHEN: 10:00am Saturday April 16th, 2011

WHERE: League for People parking lot at the Alameda and Cold Spring Lane

Map and Directions

Brown Bag Luncheon with Fred Scharmen

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 :: Noon – 1:00 PM

The Baltimore Architecture Foundation
@ the offices of SMG Architects
1016 Morton Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Map | Directions

Please join us this Wednesday, April 6th as Fred Scharmen discusses Baltimore’s Middle Branch. We’ve all driven over it on 95 as we approach the Harbor Tunnel – now come and learn just what’s down there!

The Middle Branch is an area that is vast, complex and integral to the city’s history, yet it resides both geographically and conceptually at its fringes. It is an area that most Baltimore residents do not know by name and have never visited even though it has long existed at the confluence of various interlocking urban development plans. Please join us as Fred discusses the histories of four sites in the Middle Branch Basin: Swann Park, Reed Bird Island, Port Covington and Masonville Cove, all located at the intersections of industry, infrastructure and commerce. These sites could all be seen as castoffs, the residue of larger projects built around them. Closer examination reveals a more complicated reality – these sites are in fact mirrors of their surroundings, visible evidence of the shifting political, economic, environmental and cultural interests that compete to determine the creation of new space and development.

Pierce’s Park
Brown Bag Luncheon with Scott Rykiel, FASLA LEED AP and Peng Gu, RLA LEED AP of Mahan Rykiel Associates 

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011 :: Noon – 1:00 PM

The Baltimore Architecture Foundation
@ the offices of SMG Architects
1016 Morton Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Map | Directions

Pierce’s Park
Please join us for another FREE brownbag luncheon as Mahan Rykiel discusses their design for Pierce’s Park. In line with Waterfront Partnership’s ‘Healthy Harbor’ Sustainability Initiative, the Park will be built as a sustainable space, not only in design but with educational opportunities as well. This will include indigenous trees, native plantings and pervious surfaces for walkways; it will also include bioswales that will incorporate water collected on the adjacent building’s roof and educate children about the benefits of capturing runoff.  The Park design will be centered on two circular open/play spaces, separated by undulations in the ground that mimic waves. They will be surrounded by berms that are high enough to enclose the spaces for the children but low enough for adult visibility to see beyond.

About the Park:
Located in the heart of Baltimore City within an easy walk of the National Aquarium and all of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor attractions, Pierce’s park will be a place for imagination, for community and for nature and urban life to co-exist. Named after local business and community leader Pierce John Flanigan III,  the Park will evoke memories of Pierce Flanigan’s love of the environment and the Chesapeake Bay. The design includes play opportunities provided by locally produced, commissioned sculptures and landscape features. One planned sculpture includes a raised area shaped as the hull of a sailboat, with trees providing the mast feature.