In Memoriam: Robert C. Gaede

I just noticed this email from Kerri Broome over at the CRS. Bob was a friend of all of us. My family has worked with him since at least the late 1950s. He is a classy, elegant, articulate, gentle man, the kind they don't make too many of any more, or perhaps ever. We interviewed him at his offices in the 820 Building in a Meet.The.Bloggers session a little over 2 years ago.

I'm grateful to have known him, and to have been fortunate enough to subscribe to the early FACADE Newsletters.

Here's the CRS email:

Robert C. Gaede, FAIA
November 6, 1920 - April 16, 2008

Cleveland has lost it's "senior statesman" for historic preservation with the death of Bob Gaede on Wednesday, April 16. Bob dedicated his life to architecture. He was a founding member and an Honorary Life Trustee of the Cleveland Restoration Society and served as editor of its publication, Facade, for nearly three decades. Bob saved many endangered landmarks through his engaging prose and kind demeanor, always backed by solid architectural ideas and hand-drawn illustrations. He built a successful practice in architecture, both new design and historic rehabilitation. He volunteered extensively over his lifetime for nonprofit organizations and under-funded preservation causes.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 3 at Church of the Western Reserve, 30500 Fairmount Blvd., Pepper Pike. A celebration of life will follow at the Sarah Benedict House, 3751 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Cleveland Restoration Society

Kerri Broome
Development & Communications
Manager
kbroome@clevelandrestoration.org

(going back through The Ferris Construction Company's records, I see that the Church of the Western Reserve at Lander Circle & Fairmount Boulevard in Pepper Pike, Ohio, was our job #624)

heads up on Breuer/Bauhaus eruptions

I'm hoping everybody is following the fantastic dialoghue about Marcel Breuer erupting over at RealNEO as a result of Susan Miller's organizational and educational efforts for explicating and enriching our local artistic, design, and architectural legacies. Go there. Poke around. There's a ton of Breuer content extant this past 7 or 8 months, and Susan seems to be the nexus. Make sure you catch the links, too, to Marc Lefkowitz at Green City Blue Lake.

All in all, I'm very proud of our arts and professional communities for the effort they are putting behind appreciation of our intrinsic wealth, our legacy in architecture, at this point focusing on Breuer and sustainability. Waste not, want not.

Here's a small sample of the massive synergy Susan is bringing together.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007 6:00pm -- Green building and modernism; are they antithetical?

· Guest lecturer, Carl Stein, FAIA, Principal of elemental architecture, llc, of New York City and his late father, Richard Stein, FAIA, have completed numerous historic rehabilitation projects based on their innovative and pioneering research in the analysis of energy use and conservation in buildings and design. He served his architectural internship with Marcel Breuer from 1968-1971.

At Judson at University Circle (free parking available)

Brought to you by Doty & Miller Architects, D.H. Ellison Co., Peter Lawson Jones, Recent Past Preservation Network, Richard Fleischman Architects, Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Robert Maschke Architects, Inc., Process Creative Studios Inc., Jim Rokakis, Schmidt Copeland Parker Stevens with assistance from Cleveland Cinematheque, Cleveland Institute of Art, Judson Manor, The Sculpture Center, Intermuseum Conservation Association, AIA Cleveland, Kent State University Art History, Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Cleveland Artists Foundation, GreenCityBlueLake, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Studio Techne Architects

Denison timeline

Talking about our heritage with d.a. levy and the upcoming show at Art House reminds me there's a good amount of activity swirling around 3117-3119 Denison lately.

Last Friday, August 10th, Steven Litt, the PD art & architecture critic, helped Art House executive director Sheryl Hoffman announce her move to SPACES Gallery. We're grateful to Sheryl for all she's done locally to promote the arts and the neighborhood, and for being a good neighbor over on Mack since she arrived here in the late '90s.

Then, this coming Monday, there's the section 106 review about the proposed treatment of the historic Wirth House, from which Art House originally derived its name and its mission. This second meeting of the consulting parties for the section 106 review will be held at the Cleveland Public Library's Brooklyn Branch at 3706 Pearl Road at 6 PM. The date this coming Monday is August 20th.

Then, on August 21st, Art House hosts a gala d. a. levy reprise, featuring the recently reprinted "UKANHAVYRFUCKINCITIBAK", which I was talking about in my prior post--So much happening--So little time.

Ohio City Named One of America's Top 10 Cottage Communities

I just got this email from some of our friends over in Ohio City. We had been there recently, May 19th, as guests of our other friends, Tom and Kathleen, to go to the Saturday evening house preview tour of the Weekend in Ohio City:

Hot on the heels of its feature story in the March 2007 issue of Cottage Living magazine, Ohio City was named by that publication as one of the top 10 "cottage communities" in the country. The full list of the the 10 best neighborhoods in the nation is profiled in the July/August issue, which hits newsstands on June 26.

Quoting from the magazine's press release: "A victim of suburbia’s post-World War II allure and Cleveland’s industrial decline, Ohio City suffered during the 1960s and '70s, but the residents led a comeback that left Ohio City thriving. By working to maintain affordable housing, they have managed to revitalize without forcing out long-term and lower-income residents.

'Ohio City is very friendly,' says Bernie Thiel, a long-term resident. 'It’s a
real talking over-the-fence community.'" '

Ohio City finished second on the list, just behind Forest Hills Gardens in Queens, NY.

The list includes neighborhoods that Cottage Living editors would like to call home, with charming cottages, a sense of community, and an eye on the future. Both old and new, the neighborhoods use creative ideas to solve common problems. "[T]hese neighborhoods are inspiring role models," writes Cottage Living Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Griffin.

Cottage Living canvassed the country for the 10 best cottage communities. The criteria were broken down into four categories: Homes (30%): Inspiring architecture, unifying design elements, and walkable streets; People (30%): Residents who spark a resurgence or designers and developers who envision change and bring it to life; Bright Ideas (30%): Innovative, positive change on a regional or national level; and Cottage Twist (10%): Something that brings a smile.

So come out this weekend, explore the neighborhood, and see what the excitement is all about. Be sure to visit Open Air in Market Square across from the West Side Market on Saturday, and mark your calendar for the Ohio City Garden Tour on July 22. And as always, check back to www.ohiocity.com regularly for news and upcoming events.

Gloria Ferris on the Breuer Tower: nailing down the dialogue

Gloria Ferris begins to nail the smarmy dynamics of the Breuer Tower deal and throws some light on self-serving motives, and our recourse. What's important here is that she touches on the perilous tactical position in which the City Planning Commission finds itself.

the "skyline impact" and the economics of the Breuer Tower

Meet the Bloggers » Cuy Co Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones and Sustainability Director Joyce Burke-Jones re: Breuer Tower -- I see that our May 23rd session at Webtego about Breuer Brouhaha is posted, and I wanted to acknowledge all the fine community discussion this misstep by Jimmy DiMora and Tim Hagan has engendered.

Yesterday, I got my first glimpse of Thomas Mulready's podcast with PLJ (Peter Lawson Jones), and it's worth spending 20 minutes to see an interview done with tough questions done right; because he is a good friend to Peter and to the community, Thomas stayed on task with the issues, especially the gonzo economics, and stood in the place of many of us who are wondering why something so financially counterintuitive is going forward at all. Two of the three county commissioners are draining our collective community power by wasting our time and our energy, as well as our money. Listen to how the proposal process was compromised and manipulated from the get-go, with the consulting firms being told to address only new construction, not adaptive reuse.

George over at BFD took a unique tack on the Breuer session and broke it down into five snippets, for quick consumption. George is making it easy to do business with Meet.The.Bloggers.

Susan rallies the troops over at RealNEO. She advises us to be there early to sign in and also talks about room 501. I guess we'll just have to sort that out when we get there. Norm in the comments invites us over for lunch afterward.

Gloria over at Save Our Land reminds us to show up tomorrow for the planning commission meeting, Friday, June 1st, at 9 AM, room 514, City Hall, even though I don't see it as a topic on the draft CPC agenda. Let's hope they all pay attention to detail tomorrow and show up on time, or show up at all. Cimperman, I have observed personally, has a habit of staying away when the chips are down.

Marc over at GCBL reminds us as well, gives sage advice and agglomeration, and publishes a letter from Daryl Davis while he shows links to YouTube. The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission reports on the arrival of Davis Brody Bond, the out-of-town experts, to present their analysis at the CPC confab tomorrow. There's a lot of energy swirling around this issue--embodied energy, embedded energy, whatever you want to call it, but it's stirred up a storm.

If you can, be there. Take the time to listen to the entire MTB session, especially the comments I brought in from Bob Gaede about "the skyline impact." This is something that had hitherto been absent from the Breuer community dialogue. Also, hear architect David Ellison on Breuer and LEED standards. There's a ton of great material in the full session.

historic, art deco building available for third-wave business & owner

art deco historic Jednota office building for lease -- Our friend Dennis just let us know that he is ready to lease out his office building on East 55th at Broadway. This is an incredibly attractive property for someone who wants to live luxuriantly above his or her business -- Dennis and Georgia did for years with their medical electronics company. Now, they're in a renovated loft down the street. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity in an unbelievable property. Near I-490, Broadway, Hyacinth Lofts, & I-77, and a short hop to two airports.

the Tofflers, & Janko, & Youngstown

Tribune-Chronicle Editorial: Embrace the insight of futurist--A week ago this past Thursday, Gloria and I hopped over to Youngstown for the day to meet Alvin and Heidi Toffler, who are there because of the leadership initiative and community dialogue being promoted by Congressman Tim Ryan. The Tribune-Chronicle came out with an editorial on the event yesterday, and two articles, one on March 9th and the other on March 11th. Ed Morrison's weighed in yesterday with a comment on BFD. I'm sold on Youngstown.

I've followed Toffler since the late '60s and early '70s, when he came out with the paperback of many colors that everybody had on the beaches for a couple of summers. Back then, his futurism came for us as the logical extension of things like the advertising commentary of Vance Packard and The Hidden Persuaders, the upbeat communications ideas of Marshall McLuhan, and the forward-looking mysticism of Teilhard de Chardin. I fell out of touch over the years, but the Tofflers kept on thinking and writing about the idea of this new Third Wave we have been riding since 1956 and fleshing out the ideas of this transformation, as it became more manifest. Before going to Youngstown, I lined up all the Toffler books I could from the library and skimmed over them, only to find that things I thought were my ideas were actually things the Tofflers had put into my head years ago. Humbled and in touch with basic realities, I climbed into the car and made the pilgrimage. These are exciting times.

At the afternoon session at the Butler Museum of American Art, we ran into Hunter Morrison, Janko of the I Will Shout Youngstown blog, Jim Cossler of the Youngstown Business Incubator, and Allen Hunter of the YSU chemistry department. The main idea I took out of this introductory Toffler talk was that there are people and institutions with vested interests in the old organizations--the unions, the hospital systems, the government, to name but a few--who are going to resist the shift to the new knowledge economy, and have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of their comfort zones. I've been thinking this all along, but it was good to have these thoughts validated, that we as a society are our own worst enemies.

In the museum, we had lunch in Winslow's Thymely Cafe and then got the Cook's tour treatment by preeminent Youngstown ambassador Janko, a cosmopolitan young fellow just returned from the Netherlands and working in Columbus. We ran through the museum, over the YSU campus, through the gardens, into the student center, through one of the world's largest Arby's (world HQs in Youngstown?), down the hill, past a Michael Graves post-modern work, past the square, through the YBI, onto the bus, and back to our cars for the quick hop over to the Stambaugh Auditorium, where we found that, if you're good enough to play Youngstown, you can play Carnegie Hall. Janko's commentary was incredible. Mike Gesing, you have to get him on tape, now.

At dinner, we got a chance to spend a few minutes with the Tofflers themselves before they spoke, and at our table were two Toffler Associates, Bonnie Wald and Dick Szafranski. These folks, the Tofflers, have some momentum behind them, I'm beginning to think. The speech was good, the crowd was appreciative, Stambaugh was a marvel to behold. We left with a great impression of Youngstown; most of my preconceptions were shattered. The people are gracious, they are proud and enthusiastic, they know how to put their best foot forward. They don't understand the bum rap they get. Now, neither do I.

I am now reading Revolutionary Wealth; it's pulling it all together for me; it's dramatically shortening my learning curve; I'm getting lots of wows and ahas and wearing out my yellow highlighter. Gloria is reading another copy simultaneously. I guess we feel this must be extremely important--we've never done this reading-in-tandem thing before. We have always had a growing sense of purpose, but now we have an acute sense of urgency. The Tofflers are catalysts, and quiet leaders.