From left: Heather Chapell, CFAS board members Wilson Stiles and Cindy Peterson, and Lily Chapell. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 10-20-2013.
The Center for Architecture Sarasota, during an Oct. 20 reception at the Spencer Home in Sarasota, received an $ 85,000 gift from Heather Chapell and her daughter, Lily, 17, for CFAS' headquarters in downtown Sarasota.
The gift will help CFAS renovate the 1960 modernist building on Orange Avenue. A museum space in the building will be named after architect Don Chapell, Lily's father and Heather's late husband.
The Center for Architecture Sarasota held an inaugural reception at the home of Gary and Beth Spencer on Prospect Street in Sarasota Oct. 20. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 10-20-2013.
The reception was the inaugural event for CFAS, which will partner with the University of Florida as its Department of Architecture opens CityLab-Sarasota in the 1960 building, which was designed by Bill Rupp and Joe Farrell. It was followed the next day with two sold-out tours of the Spencer Home, which was designed by Guy Peterson, FAIA.
Cynthia Peterson is board chair of CFAS. She said CFAS will emphasize "education and looking forward at what architecture can be.”
The plan is for CFAS to offer community programs, lectures, exhibits, films and conferences.
Peterson said CFAS will foster public understanding of the role architecture has played, and will play, in the community. CFAS will seek to gather students, designers, community leaders and the public to “admire, discuss and debate” the built environment.
On Wednesday, the Sarasota Architectural Foundation celebrated the late Paul Rudolph's 95th birthday at the Umbrella House, which he designed on Westway Drive in Lido Shores in 1953.
The house is now the home of Vincent and Julie Ciulla. They have restored part of the original shading structure in their eight years of stewardship of the famous modernist residence.
SAF President Janet Minker organized the party and cut the cake -- a vanilla sheet cake with white frosting and an edible image of a young Paul Rudolph.
Janet Minker cuts a birthday cake honoring the 95th birthday of the late architect Paul Rudolph. In the background are architects Tim Seibert and Carl Abbott, right. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 10-23-2013.
Your Herald-Tribune real estate editor then offered a toast for the crowd of more than 1o0 guests, saluting the late legend for inspiring generations of architects, homeowners, architectural buffs and at least one journalist.
Architects Tim Seibert, FAIA, and Carl Abbott, FAIA, participated in a mini-panel discussion with the editor. Seibert worked for Rudolph in the 1950s and Abbott was his student at Yale in the early 1960s. They shared their recollections of Rudolph, recalling a man who was a tough critic and taskmaster, but also a teacher who encouraged his students to go their own way and think for themselves.
"Rudolph was an amazing instructor," said Abbott. "He was a terrifying person, and we were all frightened of this man when we first met him, especially when he came and sat at your board to look at your designs. He had the ability and the reputation at Yale of throwing students out of the school, not just holding you back.
"He would come in at night and expected us to be working into the night when we had a project due. He was one of the most driven people I have ever met in my life. His goal was to push us to do what we were doing. Most professors want you to follow the track that they are taking."
Architects Tim Seibert, left, and Carl Abbott at the 95th birthday celebration for the late Paul Rudolph at the Umbrella House, Sarasota, Fla., Oct. 20, 2013. Photo by Cheryl Bubil.
Seibert recalled working in Rudolph's office in 1953, just after Rudolph split from his partnership with Ralph Twitchell.
Rudolph's office was where the Coffee Carrousel restaurant is today, at 1644-B Main St.
"There was not much work," said Seibert. "He was working on tiny projects. I remember him saying my working drawings were too neat -- that they were a means to an end and not the end in and of themselves.
"He could get pretty upset sometimes, and his critiques were scathing."
I asked Seibert if Rudolph was a happy person.
"I think he was, in his own way. All he thought about was architecture; that's all he ever did. The best times were when we had lunch at the Plaza. He was very generous with the famous architects who came to town. I remember the day I met Philip Johnson. I was working for Phil Hiss then. We were expecting a vacuum cleaner salesman, and I opened the door and there was this well-dressed guy, and I thought it must be the salesman. Well, it turned out it was Phillip Johnson.
"He called Paul l'enfant terrible.
"This was an incredibly beautiful place, and a place of artists, writers, sculptors, craftsmen, and you got to meet them because the town was so small."
Herald-Tribune Real Estate Editor Harold Bubil offers a toast at the 95th birthday celebration for the late Paul Rudolph at the Umbrella House, Sarasota, Fla., Oct. 20, 2013. Photo by Cheryl Bubil.
Seibert said Rudolph's dramatic evolution from simple beach houses to concrete structures like Sarasota High School and the Yale Art and Architecture building, to articulated skyscrapers in Asia, happened because he was "always thinking." Rudolph explored the concept of the "20th-century brick" -- prefabricated units that could be stacked or integrated into a tall building, giving definition to each office space or apartment.
"He was one of the most imaginative architects that has ever lived," said Abbott. "Was he a happy person? I can't say. But he did think of his students as his family. He really cared about students, even when he ripped them apart. Again, he was one of the most focused people I have ever met.
"Rudolph had three areas of expertise. No. 1, he was an amazing architect, always exploring. No. 2, he was a great teacher. Some of the most foremost architects in the world today were students of Rudolph. It is amazing the influence he has had around the world as a teacher.
Homeowners Vincent and Julie Ciulla at the 95th birthday celebration for the late Paul Rudolph at the Umbrella House, Sarasota, Fla., Oct. 20, 2013. Photo by Cheryl Bubil.
"The third thing, and the thing people don't give Rudolph credit for, is Rudolph is one of the first architects who stressed the need to be concerned with urban design. In the early 1960s, city planning was one thing and architecture was another. Architects painted their buildings white and did not care what was around them. Rudolph said, 'That's not the way you build a society. Your buildings should respect each other, and the way they work together is extremely important.' "
Rudolph was born in 1918 in Kentucky and died in 1997 in New York.
More architecture events are coming up. The SAF is offering tours of the Seibert-designed Bay Plaza building on Sunday. Registration is closed for that event, with 32 attendees.
But on Nov. 1-2, the SAF will host New York architect Jifat Windmiller, a champion of Warm Mineral Springs, for a lecture and tour.
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The lecture is Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Herald-Tribune's Community Room, 1714 Main St., Sarasota, FL 34236.
The bus tour is from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, leaving from the Sarasota Visitor Information Center, 701 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34236. There are 35 spaces left. Says the SAF website:
"Take the 45-minute, air-conditioned bus ride with other midcentury modern enthusiasts from Sarasota to Warm Mineral Springs -- one of the most intriguing natural features in the continental United States. This tour is SAF’s first to the North Port area, and promises to be special in many ways. Architect Jifat Windmiller, RA, of the NY firm Penta Windmiller Architecture, will present an in-depth look at the midcentury modern architecture of North Port (NoPoMo), highlighting Warm Mineral Springs and its unique “Cyclorama.” Although the facility is currently closed to the public while negotiations with a future facility operator continue, SAF has been granted special permission to privately tour the site and see first-hand what everyone has been talking about."
Information: www.sarasotaarchitecturalfoundation.org.
