Dallas...big Texas!

Catching up on some posts this week and wanted to write about my trip to Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas back in May. I attended the Cultural Landscape Foundation's workshop on modern landscapes. Texas has some incredible examples...works by Phillip Johnson, IM Pei, Dan Kiley and Lawrence Halprin.  I was so fascinated by the celebration of water, which makes sense considering it was in the high 90s the whole time I was there. Below are pics from Fountain Place (located right next to the Dallas Museum of Art where the symposium was held), and Water Garden in Fort Worth (a pivotal work by Phillip Johnson),.

The highlight was a special tour of Heritage Park in Fort Worth, recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the first work of Halprin's to be designated as such!

 

Fountain Place, Dallas, Dan Kiley/I.M Pei/Peter Ker Walker, 1986

Water Garden, Fort Worth, Philip Johnson, 1974

Heritage Park Plaza, Fort Worth, Lawrence Halprin, 1976

San Jose Modern Tour

On October 9th, the Northern California Chapter of DOCOMOMO hosted a self-guided tour of San Jose's Stevens Creek Blvd commercial corridor. It was our first venture into partnering with a local advocate, our first event in the south bay, and the largest tour we've done to date. It was a huge success and I am so proud of the strong efforts of our group. Below are some images of the "non-architectural" highlights (signage, cars, landscape, and artwork).

 

Outkasts Car Club Vintage Car Show at Burger Barn.

Mosaic at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. 

 

Our amazing tour planning team!

Our Nation's Capital!

Washington, D.C. has always fascinated me...from visiting the Museum of American History and the Air & Space Museum with Aunt Carole and Uncle Chuck as a child, and then returning for a short internship stint in 2002. On my most recent trip in September, I managed to visit nine of the  Smithsonian museums in just two days. There is something so motivating about being able to go for an hour or two to each museum, paid for by our tax paying selves. I was so inspired by all of the treasures these amazing buildings hold (Julia Child's kitchen at American History, the Archibaldo show and  the German Expressionist paintings at the National Gallery East Building,, the music exhibit at the Museum of the American Indian, the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery, and others). I was especially enamored by the new Museum of the America Indian (their cafe is the best on the mall).

 

Washington Monument and the Mall.

 

National Museum of the American Indian.

FDR Memorial

 

I first visited the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial while attending Model Congress in Washington, D.C. in 2000. The memorial was only 3 years old at the time and I vividly remember the impression it made on my 18-year old self. I was eagerly trying to figure out what direction to take my life in, embarking on the adventures of college later that year. I had just decided to study history, but wasn't sure yet what kind would be my focus. I'd like to think that my experience at FDR, which was my very first impression of a Halprin landscape, helped me realize that design is not just buildings, but the landscapes and places that evoke powerful emotional through exceptional place making. Fast forward 10 years to September 2010, and I felt like I was experiencing the FDR memorial in much the same way, only through new eyes. 

Halprin's design has weathered well over the past decade, and is far from dated. his innovative incorporation of art (by several commissioned sculptors) into the memorial's "rooms" continues to move viewers. I especially found the wall with playful, yet serious, braille impressions and 2-dimensional sculpted stories to be fascinating....drawing in the viewer to touch the piece. Many have experienced this wall in the last 10 years, as evidenced by the shiny lack of patina on certain areas.

Just for fun, I re-enacted a photo I had taken of me with Roosevelt and his Scottie dog back in 2000. Now I just need to find that photo and see what else has changed besides my understanding and impression of this place.

Devil's Gulch Ranch--Nicasio, CA

For a link to the full article I wrote about Devil's Gulch Ranch for Heritage News click here (page 10): Heritage News Vol 38, No 2

The mission...to attend one of Outstanding in the Field's farm to table dinners. The reward...an amazing outdoor culinary experience that guests called "inspired". It all started off with a whim of an idea, to figure out this sense of place thing and see what is already being done. I contacted the press coordinator for the organization and they readily accepted my offer to write an article about how their events encourage urbanites to experience the agricultural landscapes they are otherwise completely disconnected from as a means of connecting to the landscape and to understand essentially where their food comes from.

The event was held at the Devil's Gulch Ranch, a pig and rabbit farm/vineyard in the hills above Nicasio. What a place!  The view actually says it all:

I attended the event with a few hundred other guests, but was lucky to not only act as a guest, but also as an astute observer; talking with the winemakers, the farmer, the guests, the OitF staff, the chef and his assistants, the waitstaff and others. Everyone I met was not only 100% enthusiastic about the event and its overarching concept, but also very open to discussing food and how they came to be connected to OitF. It was wonderful to be engaged in a whole new world of people, who not only enjoy and appreciate food, but also are making great contributions to the sustainable food movement.

Is Devil's Gulch Ranch a cultural landscape?  absolutely. So then what did I learn that was a new concept or discovery?  The most important lesson was just seeing so many different types of people come together to put on an event like this, as well as who the guest were (the type who had no issue paying the $200 pricetag), and how everyone was connected via this intricate web of professional connections and personal relationships.

Now I must work on the actual article, but in the meantime...here are a few photos.

The vineyard

 

The Farmer (Mark Pasternak)

 

The residents

The guests and the table

The outdoor kitchen

                       

A small sampling of the food

The "Birth" of Senses of Place

This idea has been swirling and whirling for a long time, and now it has become a reality. Sense of Place will explore cultural landscape through experiences, in order to help us understand and appreciate the importance of the tangible places that are part of our collective history. Check back often for new posts and information on the schedule of events, tours, talks, and other interactive experiences.

Portland, Oregon

I visited Laurie is Portland a few weekends back and had such a fun time. When the high cost of living in San Francisco starts to outweigh my love of this place, then I could see myself moving to Portland someday. It's a city of parks, murals, food, cafes, books, rivers, and great farmer's markets...many of my favorite things in the world. Laurie was an A-plus tour guide, taking me to just about every park in the city. The highlight was seeing Halprin's Portland sequence, which Laurie is currently working on nominating as a National Historic Landmark. It's an amazing series of fountains, which are fascinating even when not turned on.  Some pics below of the highlights of my trip.

Halprin's Ira Keller Fountain

Farmer's bounty at the Saturday Farmer's Market

Plenty of modern architecture!

Lion guarding the Chinatown gate.

Which way to go? Like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.

The Chinese Garden, a serene place, tucked away in the urban fabric.