It’s a state that the leaders of Preservation Maryland, a statewide advocacy group, wouldn’t want to see. They have included the amusement park, the skipjack and the cottage on a list of 11 "Endangered Maryland" sites that they want to see protected so they don’t disappear from the landscape.

The directors of Preservation Maryland announced the list this week in partnership with Maryland Life magazine to call attention to historic buildings, places and objects that need protection. It’s the second year for the list, which mirrors a nationwide program sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Other places on the 2008 Maryland list include: the Bel Air Academy and Grade School in Harford County; Camp Ritchie Historic District in Washington County; Carver Heights United Services Organizations (USO) in St. Mary’s County; Double Mills in Wicomico County, and the village of Linwood in Carroll County.

Also, Loving Charity Hall in Montgomery County; Big Shade Run Bridge and Little Shade Run Bridge in Garrett County; and the former Sinclair Gasoline Service Station on U.S. Route 1 in Prince George’s County.

"There are so many threatened historic properties in Maryland that are worthy of preservation. It was difficult to narrow down the sites most in need of protection," said Tyler Gearhart, Preservation Maryland’s Executive Director. "But these 11 sites really stood out as both threatened and having a potential solution. We hope that by spotlighting these sites, we’ll strengthen local efforts to protect and preserve these truly significant historic places for future generations."

More information about the endangered sites is available in the March/April issue of Maryland Life magazine or the web site www.marylandlife.com.

(Photo of Ernest Lewis, manager of Trimper's, from Sun staff, 1968)

Posted by Ed Gunts at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

When Peter Fillat opened his architectural firm in Baltimore in 1992, Kurt Schmoke was mayor and Oriole Park at Camden Yards was in its infancy. Fillat had won a national competition to design affordable housing and had a few promising clients, including Baltimore businessman John Paterakis.

Fifteen years later, Fillat has amassed a large portfolio of work, including hotels, office buildings and housing in Maryland and beyond. The highlights of his work, from a home for his parents in Delaware to master planning for the Harbor East renewal area, can be seen in an exhibit on display through Feb. 29 at the AIA Baltimore Gallery, 11½ W. Chase St. in Baltimore.

Among the many drawings, photos and scale models are representations of certain projects that never got built, including a high-rise office and hotel tower planned for Light and Baltimore streets and a convention hotel that would have risen on Conway Street. Other large-scale projects are now up and occupied, including a hotel in St. Louis, the original Baltimore City headquarters for Sylvan Learning Systems, and a mountain retreat in Pennsylvania. The gallery full of work shows the wide range of design challenges one firm may be called on to address and how much influence it can have in a relatively short time.

To mark its 15th anniversary and close the exhibit, Peter Fillat Architects will have a reception at the gallery from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Feb. 29. A vitual tour of the exhibit is available on the web at www.pfarc.com.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

It's the Ritz Carlton Residences at 801 Key Highway, where a model is being furnished by eight well-known designers, each focusing on a different area or space.

Residence 255, a two-bedroom, 2,686-square-foot condo that has been dubbed the House of Style, is a collaboration between the Ritz-Carlton’s developers and Style Magazine, which will use the furnished model to host events and receptions once construction is complete.

The participating designers are: Patrick Sutton of Patrick Sutton Designs, the firm responsible for the dining room; Tiffany Zappulla of TAZ Designs, the powder room and balcony; Mona Hajj of Mona Hajj Interiors, the guest bedroom and bath; Henry Johnson of Johnson Berman, the family room, breakfast area and kitchen; and Jay Jenkins of Jenkins Baer Associates, the owner’s suite.

Also Daniel Proctor of Kirk Designs, the living room; Sean Weiner of Starr Systems, the lighting, control and entertainment systems; and Michelle Miller of Jenkins Baer Associates, the foyer and wet bar.

The results of their work will be published by the magazine later this year. The residence also will be available for prospective buyers to tour as one of several furnished models in the building.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

From Sun Architecture Critic Edward Gunts ...

 "Green design" is a popular concept in architecture these days, but for many people the phrase suggests a limited number of strategies for saving energy and protecting the natural environment, such as planting "green roofs" to limit stormwater runoff and using construction materials made from renewable resources.
  A provocative new exhibit at the Maryland Institute College of Art shows that green design strategies don't have to be confined to ideas that have made their way to the architectural mainstream. 
 Anxious Climate: Architecture at the Edge of Environment features the work of three European firms that have come up with new ways to combine architecture and environment, and in the process blur the lines between society and nature. A plant-covered power generator that becomes a nesting place for birds and butterflies. A street lamp that harnesses moon beams to light the city at night. Buildings with the musculature of an elephant and skins made of mosquitoes. A house whose rooms automatically change temperature based on how clothed or unclothed its occupants are.
 The designers are R&Sie of Paris, Philippe Rahm of Lausanne and Paris, and Amid [Cero 9] of Madrid. In each case, they define the problems they want to address and set about to come up with the answers.

Anxious Climate runs through March 9 in the Fox Building's Meyerhoff Gallery, 1303
Mount Royal Ave.

Posted by Tim Swift at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

From Sun architecture critic Edward Gunts:

 Glassblowers, metal workers, painters and other artists in Baltimore's Clipper Mill community will open their studios to the public from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, during the community's second annual "Mingle at the Mill" holiday event. It's a good chance to tour one of Baltimore's more cutting-edge renovation projects and meet some of its artisans, including Anthony Corradetti, Paul Daniel, John Gutierrez, Les Harris and others. Cho Benn Holback + Associates, SMG Inc., and Alexander Design Studio are among the architects who have worked at Clipper Mill.
 Clipper Mill is at 2010 Clipper Park Road in Woodberry, a short distance from the Woodberry light rail stop. The tour is free and includes live music and refreshments. More information is available from www.clippermill.net or 443-573-4460.

Posted by Anne Tallent at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

This month the building was one of three to win the first-ever "Livable Building Awards" from the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment. The award was established to recognize buildings with superior operating efficiency, architectural design and occupant satisfaction. It’s considered unusual in the building industry because the award judges take into account the building users’ feelings about features such as lighting, acoustics and thermal comfort.

Other winners were the laboratory and offices of the Global Ecology Research Center for the Carnegie Institution of Washington at Stanford University and the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Topping out ceremonies are held when the structural frame of a building is completed and it’s as tall as it’s going to get. The city of Baltimore is constructing the 20 story, 757-room Hilton at 401 West Pratt Street, just north of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, to support the Baltimore Convention Center. Designed by RTKL Associates, the project is expected to open in the fall of 2008.

Others expected to gather for the event include City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore Development Corp. president M. Jay Brodie, members of the Baltimore Hilton Hotel Corp. Board, executives from Hilton Hotels Corporation, representatives from Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Doracon Contracting Inc., Banks Construction Company and members of Baltimore’s tourism industry and business community.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

CSD of Baltimore, one of the architects of the Baltimore Convention Center, will be the architecture of record. The Freelon Group of Research Triangle Park, N.C., one of the designers of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture in Baltimore, will be the design architect. The two firms have not worked together before but sought this commission together and will be working "in association," according to CSD spokeswoman Sharon Pula.

The 125,000 square foot building will mark a northern gateway to Morgan’s campus in northeast Baltimore and will house its Institute of Architecture and Planning, Department of Civil Engineering and Institute of Transportation, as well as other shared facilities. It will also be the  designed to receive Silver certification from the U. S. Green Building Council.

Phil Freelon, founder and president of the Freelon Group, is one of the country’s leading African American architects. This is his first major project in Maryland since Baltimore's African American museun opened several years ago. With this project, Morgan will be the first traditionally black campus in America to build a new architecture school in more than 50 years.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Smith’s talk is the first in the series of free lectures on architecture and urban design that will be held this fall at Hopkins’ downtown center on Wednesdays at noon. Following is the lineup:

• Sept. 19: Tom Noonan, the new chief executive officer of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, discussing his organization’s strategies for attracting conventions and tourists to Baltimore.
  
• Sept. 26: Gay Vietzke, superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine, and Alan Reed, president and design principal of GWWO, Inc.Architects, discussing the recently unveiled plans for a $14 million Fort McHenry Visitor Center.
  
• Oct. 3: To be determined.
  
• Oct. 10: Local architect Michael Murphy, a member of Baltimore’s commission on Historical and Architectural Preservation, discussing recent changes with the commission and the issues related to designating Modern buildings city landmarks.
  
• Oct. 17: Jane Shaab, Vice President for Economic Development for the University of Maryland, Baltimore, discussing the University’s Biotech Park on the west side of downtown.
  
• Oct. 24: Baltimore City Planning Director Doug McCoach discussing the Comprehensive Rezoning process in the city.
  
• Oct. 31: Adam Gross, a partner of Ayers Saint Gross in Baltimore, giving a talk entitled "Musings about urban design in Baltimore – Pratt Street and its environs."
  

Posted by Ed Gunts at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Besides being known as the birthplace of the National Anthem, Baltimore’s Fort McHenry is considered one of the finest examples of fort design in North America.

In 1939, it was designated a national monument and historic shrine, the only park in the country to have that double distinction.

Now it appears the fort will finally be getting a visitors center worthy of the attraction it promotes.

Drawings unveiled this week by the architect, GWWO Inc. of Baltimore, indicate that the $14 million visitor center will be a vast improvement over the nondescript brick box that has been on the site since the 1960s.

The exterior will make an architectural statement about the place that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, with walls that curve outward like a flag unfurled and a sweeping roofline that draws the toward the fort itself and the flag flying overhead.

Inside will be an "immersive experience" theater that will relate the story of the 1814 Battle of Baltimore, and the bombarding of the fort, as if seen through Key’s eyes.

The chief disappointment is that construction isn’t scheduled to begin until 2009, which means that the visitor center won’t open until 2010, because of the way federal funds are being allocated. Still, this is one addition to Baltimore’s tourist lineup that promises to be worth the wait.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

A lighthouse and a lightship in Baltimore are two of the 10 attractions that will be featured in the fifth annual "Maryland Lighthouse Challenge" that will be held Sept. 15 and 16 around the state.

The Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse on Inner Harbor Pier 5 and the Lightship Chesapeake at Inner Harbor Pier 3 are the Baltimore stops in the two-day challenge, which encourages people to visit land-based lighthouses and other attractions in Maryland.

The event is sponsored by the Chesapeake Chapter of the U. S. Lighthouse Society and individual lighthouse organizations of Maryland. Others lighthouses that will be open are in Cecil, Harford, St. Mary’s, Talbot and Anne Arundel counties. The non profit Living Classrooms Foundation operates the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse and the Lightship Chesapeake.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Grand Honor Award went to Outlook on the Severn River, in the Sherwood Forest section of Anne Arundel County, with Donald Lococo of Washington as the architect.

Honor awards went to: Wayne Good of Good Architecture in Annapolis, for a house in Crownsville and a house on St. George’s Island; Charles Alexander of Alexander Design Studio of Ellicott City, for a house in Clarksville; W. Ronald Morgan of the Becker Morgan Group in Salisbury for a house in Bishopville and a "grand cottage" in Ocean City; and Rob Brennan of Brennan + Co. architects in Baltimore for a house in Frederick.

Also, J Broadhurst of Broadhurst Architects in Rockville for a house in Bethesda; David Jones of David Jones Architects in Washington for a house in Potomac; Thomas Monion of Manion and Associates in Bethesda for a house in Bethesda; Peter A. Fillat III of Peter Fillat Architects in Baltimore for the Ridgely Commons houses in Baltimore; and Gregory Wiedemann of Wiedemann Architects of Bethesda for a house in Bethesda.

The winners were selected from among 60 entries submitted by 27 architects registered to practice in Maryland. Awards will be presented to the architect, contractor and owner of each project at the Potomac Valley chapter’s Awards Celebration on Oct. 21 at the new Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney. The winners will also be featured in the November/December issue of Maryland Life magazine.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The USS Constellation appears to be back in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for good.

Architects charting the future of the Pratt Street corridor presented revised drawings to an advisory panel this week that show the Constellation back at Constellation Dock, 301 E. Pratt St., after they showed a drawing earlier this year with the historic vessel missing from the Inner Harbor.

The designers, from the firms of Ayers Saint Gross in Baltimore and the Olin Partnership in Philadelphia, had suggested moving the Constellation from its present location as a way of showing more of the water’s surface. That suggestion drew objections from representatives of the nonprofit group that operates the ship as a tourist attraction and artifact and relies on its prominent location to draw visitors.

Built in 1854, the Constellation was the last all-sail warship built by the U. S. Navy and was restored to its Civil War appearance in the 1990s. It has been located by Constellation Dock on and off since 1969 and is considered the sculptural centerpiece of the Inner Harbor.

One issue with the latest drawing: It shows the Constellation moved to the east side of Constellation Dock, rather than being on the west side of the dock. That means anyone standing on the plaza between the two Harborplace pavilions would have his or her view of the Constellation partially blocked by a two-level visitor center that was erected in 1991.

The architects’ final design recommendations for Pratt Street will be presented to city officials in about six weeks.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

A writer, researcher, designer and lecturer, Urban is well-known for innovations that enable trees to thrive on downtown streets and other hard-to-grow sections of cities. He has worked on many architecturally and historically significant properties, including the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art and the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials in Washington. He is the only Maryland-based landscape architect to be singled out for an award this year from the ASLA.

Posted by Ed Gunts at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

 Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's lasting contributions to Baltimore parks and open spaces will be the focus of a public forum at 7 p.m. May 30, at the Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park. "Protecting the Olmsted Park Legacy -- Constituency Building and the Role of Friends Groups" is the title of the event, which will feature presentations by park planner Myra Brosius, who is the "TreeBaltimore Coordinator" for the city's forestry division, and Christopher Carroll, chief of parks for the city's Department of Recreation and Parks. More information is available from the Friends of Maryland's Olmsted Parks & Landscapes Inc. at 410-235-9149. 

-- Architecture critic Ed Gunts 

Posted by Anne Tallent at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Since ancient times, artists have decorated buildings with mosaics -- pictures or designs made from small, colorful pieces of stone, glass or tile set in mortar. That tradition lives on in a community art project that has transformed the appearance of the American Visionary Art Museum at 800 Key Highway in south Baltimore. For more than five years, museum staffers have been working with students from Baltimore's Digital Harbor High School and others to create glittering panels that now cover much of the building's exterior, creating the largest outdoor mosaic of its kind in Maryland.

The museum will mark the completion of that endeavor during a "Community Mosaic Wall Project Celebration" starting at noon on Saturday, May 19. The idea is to recognize everyone who made the mosaic project a reality, including the artists; their mentors; the museum's architects; individuals and companies that donated the broken china, glass, and mirror used to create the mosaic panels; and local, state and federal officials who helped pay for it.

In many ways, the mosaic wall project is an ideal expression for a museum that showcases creations of self-taught individuals who work outside the mainstream -- and have a gift for transforming found objects into works of art.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

From architecture critic Ed Gunts:

One of Baltimore's newest attractions just won a national design award. The Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park, which opened last year in Fells Point, received an Award of Excellence in the 2007 Educational Facility Design Awards program, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects' Committee on Architecture for Education. Ziger Snead Architects of Baltimore deisgned the maritime park for the Living Classrooms Foundation. It was the only project in central Maryland to be singled out for recognition during the National AIA convention this month in San Antonio.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Baltimore architect Ed Hord will talk about "green architecture" and projects that his firm is working on during a free noontime forum Wednesday at the Johns Hopkins University's Downtown Center, Charles and Fayette streets.

Edward Blakely, executive director for "recovery management" for New Orleans, will discuss the challenge of rebuilding that city after Hurricane Katrina. He'll give the 2007 Garrett Lecture on Urban Issues at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 10, at the Evergreen Carriage House, 4545 N. Charles St. The talk is free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, call 410-516-0341 or e-mail urbanlecture@jhu.edu

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)