Sign The Petition: A Plea For Preservation

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To: The Fulton County Board of Commissioners

To: The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System, Director John Szabo
To: Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Chairman John Eaves
To: The City of Atlanta, Mayor Shirley Franklin

We call to you attention that any and all attempts to obscure, defund and otherwise, with willful intent, delegitimize the great, historical significance of the currently standing and fully functioning, 28 year-old Atlanta-Fulton Central Public Library, are now being met with resistance; as witnessed in the formation of this petition, operating in tandem with other forms of collective civic action.

We call to your attention that this declaration makes no assumptions about what may become, as we are most concerned with what we feel should be.

We call to your attention that the architectural site that we seek to protect and preserve was designed by legendary architect Marcel Breuer, who counts among his more than 300 public and private commissions, with being credited for the design of The Whitney Museum in New York City, the HUD and HEW buildings in Washington D.C. and (in a partnership) the UNESCO building in Paris, France.

We call to your attention that it is our desire to work with, not against, the leadership and stewardship of this collective civic investment, in that we believe that "to remove a significant modernist monument -- important in and for its time and still satisfactorily fulfilling its original function to serve the community -- designed by a major architect of historical importance and world renown, would be a serious civic blunder in the cultural history of Atlanta"

So let it now be known that all who sign herein speak peacefully, in a unified spirit of service, cooperation and preservation with the hope that our voices shall be known, counted and heard. As we ask that the leadership attributed to deciding the fate of this site, regard this petition as a formal request that said leaders make a sincere and honest pledge toward instituting a policy of site renovation and preservation in respect to Marcel Breuer's enduring legacy as expressed in his final epic work, the iconic Atlanta-Fulton Central Public Library.

Sincerely,

(click here to sign)

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Flashback: Addressing The County Commissioners

July 2, 2007
Prepared Remarks:

To the Board of Commissioners, my esteemed colleagues and the citizens at large:

I'm here to talk about history, prudence, practically and reason; on an issue that should be an absolute no-brainer.

No offense to the honorable leadership of the Fulton County commission. But people, let's not make a mockery of ourselves.

We cannot afford this. We cannot afford this. Neither can we afford the financial cost, nor can we afford the cultural implications. Because, hastily cobbling together a last minute amendment to build the largest, most expensive public library the city has ever seen, might be a bit misguided.

We should move forward with the existing Library Master Plan, to first take care of the existing business at hand. Because, when it seems as if we can't even afford to wash the windows of the Central Branch we've already got? Does it make sense to be building a new one? Really, has anyone looked at those windows lately?

So the question should be, why are we neglecting our public institutions, and if we are already showing a pattern of this, what's to say we won't just continue this pattern of neglect once we build something new. More debt, more neglect.

And now a bit of history.

Marcel Breuer, the designer of the current central branch...was nothing short of a genius.

He was the Rosa Parks of industrial design. He was the Ray Charles of architectural engineering

Marcel Breuer was a pioneer of the modern aesthetic and he and his colleagues at the Bauhaus school are almost entirely responsible for laying down the architectural foundation of all the great creative minds since, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, I.M. Pei, Roberto Piano, David Adjaye, Phillip Johnson and Frank Lloyd Wright.

So, let's not commit cultural suicide. And let's not waste hard earned tax dollars.

Let's go back to the original Library Master Plan.

Let’s preserve The Central Branch


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Max Eternity © 2008

Scrunity & Temptation: While Avarice Has Its Way

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"A lollipop can be oh so nice
Especially when covered with sugar and spice
Though when secretly filled with fish eyes and lice
Joy and delight turns to horror and fright"

(Scrutiny and Temptation, a limerick by Max Eternity)

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Marcel Breuer's iconic Atlanta-Fulton Central Branch Library is at risk. And with yesterday's passage of Fulton County's Library Bond Referendum, the public has unwittingly been sold a civic investment package based on hollow rhetoric and gross manipulation that was supplied by an outright campaign of misinformation, courtesy of County Commissioner Robb Pitts, Library Director John Szabo and Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer David Bennett.

We all want better libraries. No doubt about that. But in a quest to inspire, ensure, upgrade and improve, whether individual or collective, it behooves us all to make sure that what we wish to pursue passes the almighty "smell test".

Here's a comparison. Just think of all the people who have recently lost their homes. It is an unfolding tragedy, mostly because the homeowners signed on the dotted lined, entering into a legally binding arrangement, without fully understanding what they had agreed to. These individuals were boondoggled by finely dressed, smooth-talking loan officers who promised all sorts of pie in the sky, but in the end, what they ended up with was a bloated budget, in the form of an unsustainable mortgage loan which proved itself to be more trouble than it's worth. We've all heard about this in the recent months and years. Some readers may even have a personal testimony? But if one is to learn from such a painful lesson, the question to be asked is, did things have to happen this way?

I don't think so.

And again, we've all heard about the federal governments $700 billion dollar bailout, taxpayer money that is being used to rescue private investment banks who's interconnected debts threatened to swallow us all. But did this have to happen?

I don't think so.

There are countless other examples that could be put forth...truly. Yet, self-evident accountability comes through transparency and sober analysis. I wrote about this in a 4 paged letter (found here). And further still, the bottom line is this. Haste makes waste. Just think of Iraq. And just like Iraq (war) Fulton's Library Bond seemed to make sense, at first glance.

But does it really?

We trust our leaders instinctively, sometimes to our own peril. I say this because, based on staggering list of soundly based facts, I felt compelled to craft said letter which was addressed to our local leaders and the local press. That letter was presented as a collection of common sense questions which one would expect to be standard issue. Nonetheless, these questions were never answered. Not by the press, not by the politicians.

Again, the letter that I speak of can be found here.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news and from the start, it has not been pleasing to go against the grain in order to speak truth to power. But worst than that, in my heart of hearts, I earnestly feel that knowing what I know about what has transpired, it would have been absolutely unconscionable to stand by idle while avarice has its way.

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Buono & Bergdol Discuss The Central Branch

On September 18^th 2008 at DOCOMOMO’s International Architectural Conference (held in Rotterdam, Netherlands), preservation advocate Jon Buono spoke on the current threats facing Atlanta’s under-recognized historic modern architecture; of which includes The Central Branch Public Library. Also speaking at the multi-day event was Barry Bergdol, Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). In his lecture, Bergdol discussed the challenges and threats that often confront preservation efforts for 20^th-century architecture; highlighting in his talk, the uncertain future of the The Central Branch Public Library, designed by legendary architect and designer, Marcel Breuer…(more)

Coming Soon: Isabelle Hyman @ Georgia Tech

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Isabelle Hyman Lecture: Marcel Breuer and The Downtown Library

DATE: October 28, 2008
TIME: 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
LOCATION: Georgia Tech Architecture Library
FEES: none

At a public lecture co-sponsored by the Georgia Chapter of DOCOMOMO and Georgia Tech College of Architecture, Isabelle Hyman will explore the 28-year-old Central Library of the Atlanta-Fulton County Library System designed by Marcel Breuer.

Hyman is Professor Emerita of the Department of Art History at New York University. An accomplished historian of art and architecture, she has published a number of works on Marcel Breuer, a preeminent figure of the modern movement.

Hyman was educated at Vassar College and Columbia, and received her PhD in Art History at the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU. Most recently, she received the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award for "most distinguished work of scholarship in the history of architecture" by the Society of Architectural Historians.

About: DOCOMOMO

DOCOMOMO stands for DOcumentation and COnservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the MOdern MOvement.

DOCOMOMO promotes the study, interpretation and protection of the architecture, landscape and urban design of the Modern Movement. It promotes the exchange of knowledge about this important legacy which extends from the planned city and the iconic monument to the house next door. DOCOMOMO is an international organization. Founded in 1988 in The Netherlands, today it has national chapters or working parties in 54 countries and over 2000 individual members. It is an important presence in conservation and in architectural culture, worldwide, working in partnership with other international organizations, national governments, and regional and national associations. Click here for DOCOMOMO International.

Visit the Georgia Chapter of DOCOMOMO at http://docomomoga.org

EVENT CONTACT:
Teri Nagel, College of Architecture
Contact Teri Nagel
404-385-2156

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Marcel Breuer: Architect of The Central Branch

Born in 1902 in Pecs, Hungary, Marcel Breuer, is remembered as one of the most influential architects and designers of the 20th Century. Early in life he developed an interest in art, which led him to Weimar, Germany where he studied and taught at the famed Bauhaus school. Once there he participated first as a student from 1920 til his graduation in 1924. Thereafter, he became a faculty member or "Bauhaus Master" from 1924 to 1928; by which time the school had relocated from Weimar to Dessau.

From the outset, Breuer had a clear understanding of the "form follows function" principle. To this, he embraced the concept of unit construction, and in 1925, with his innovative use of raw materials, Breuer was credited with being the first to use tubular steel in furniture; a now ubiquitous, modernist technique applied around the world. As well, Breuer was also one of the pioneers of minimalism.

In Europe, from 1928 to 1937, Breuer enjoyed a flourishing architectural practice. However, because of the outbreak of The Second World War, he made a decision to relocate in America. It was during this time when Harvard University offered him an Associate Professorship at it's School of Design. Simultaneously, many of his other colleagues were migrating to the U.S. including Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Bauhaus (faculty) colleagues Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. At Harvard Breuer was joined by Gropius, who taught at the school as well. Breuer continued to teach at Harvard University until 1946. And in 1970 he received the only Honorary Doctorate in Architecture ever awarded by that school.

Throughout his illustrious career, Marcel Breuer was commissioned for numerous, monumental civic structures, with some of the more notable being The UNESCO World Headquarters (Paris), The Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC), The University of Massachusetts Campus Center in Amherst, the headquarters of The Departments of HUD and HEW in Washington D.C., St. John's Abbey (Minnesota) and The Atlanta-Fulton Central Branch Public Library (Atlanta). In addition to his civic commissions, Breuer also received many residential commissions, including The Wolfson House, Breuer House and The Frank House, which he created in collaboration with Walter Gropius.

A major Exhibition of Breuer's work was shown at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in November 1972, and at Paris' Louvre Museum in the summer of 1974. More recently, in 2002 The Smithsonian Institution created an exhibition entitled Marcel Breuer: A Centennial Celebration

Marcel Breuer 1902-1981

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Sources:
AFPL Central Branch - Special Collections
Archives @ The Smithsonian Institution
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The Whitney NYC: A Letter From John Stanley

From: John_Stanley@whitney.org
Sent: Mon 9/22/08 2:31 PM
To: maxeternity@hotmail.com

Dear Mr. Eternity:

Thank you for your thoughtful e-mail, which the Director's Office forwarded to me. As I hope you can understand, it is difficult for The Whitney to take an institutional stand, one way or another, on a subject that is in another city with issues and players that we cannot begin to know or understand. Having said that, however, as one who works with a Breuer building, and has had the privilege of working with many world-class architects over the years, I would like to send my personal hope that all possible uses might be examined and exhausted before this building is torn down.

As a frequent visitor to Atlanta, I can appreciate the desire for those there to try to preserve its architectural heritage. The sort of 60's concrete brutalism is much unloved, as I can attest having lived in Boston for a long time, witnessing the attacks on its Kallman, McKinnel City Hall building. Long term gain can sometimes be lost with short term thinking. I suspect at some point in the future this style architecture will be embraced for what it is, a raw, beautiful art form.

Best of luck in your quest. Regards,

John


John S. Stanley

Deputy Director

Whitney Museum of American Art

945 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10021

212.671.8354 office

212.535.6186 fax