Historic Resources Committee

 View Only

Community HTML

Renaissance Schallaburg Figures in a facade

Quick Links

Who we are

The mission of the Historic Resources Committee (HRC) is to identify, understand, and preserve architectural heritage, both nationally and internationally. HRC is engaged in promoting the role of the historic architect within the profession through the development of information and knowledge among members, allied professional organizations, and the public.

  • 1.  Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 05-29-2020 11:30 PM
    The Memphis City Hall was designed by A.L. Aydelott and Associates in 1966. The building is the most prominent face of the City’s Civic Center Plaza and has been so over the past 44 years.

    The building has experience the failure of a number of connections between the exterior Marble cladding and the supporting structure. The City has engaged a local Architecture/ Structural Engineering firm to remove all of the marble cladding and install a yet to be designed cladding metal system system. The existing building is a significant example of Mid-Century Design and should be repaired and saved , not altered.

    Sent from my iPhone
    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 2.  RE: Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 06-01-2020 05:22 PM
    I agree!

    But I think you mean 54 years, not 44.

    Thanks for the heads up.

    ------------------------------
    Anne Weber FAIA
    Mills + Schnoering Architects, LLC
    Princeton NJ
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 3.  RE: Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 06-01-2020 06:12 PM
    Yes, 54 years is correct,
    Thanks, Keith 

    Sent from my iPhone



    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 4.  RE: Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 06-01-2020 05:45 PM
    Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I am the Executive Director of Docomomo US, the national organization dedicated to preserving modern architecture and design. 

    If you have any additional information you can share on the proposal, we can look into it. We maintain a number of contacts in Memphis and the state of Tennessee and could put the city in touch with them.

    There are no doubt many examples of marble recladding. Pei's East Building of the National Gallery of Art is one recent project that comes to mind.

    ------------------------------
    Liz Waytkus
    Executive Director
    Docomomo US
    New York NY
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 5.  RE: Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 06-01-2020 06:17 PM
    Thank you, please correct the years to 55,

    Sent from my iPhone



    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 6.  RE: Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 06-02-2020 12:44 PM
    Raise Hell anyway you can...social media, the newspaper, City meetings, etc.  It will not hurt your reputation nor your firms.  People will appreciate your standing up for the history of the building and the area.  Your reputation will go up.  Get your picture in the paper saying to save it.  Get with the Preservationists and the AIA.

    ------------------------------
    Nelson B. Nave AIA
    Owner
    Nelson Breech Nave, AIA Architect
    Kalamazoo MI
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 7.  RE: Mid-Century Modern

    Posted 06-03-2020 06:29 PM
    Edited by Marsha F. Levy AIA 06-03-2020 11:17 PM
    As Ms. Waytkus note, there are many instances of marble recladding.  The National Gallery is a more successful example, because existing stone was salvaged.  However, there is a extraordinary history of failure of thin marble cladding systems on Mid-Century Modern buildings.   One of the most notable was the Amoco (now Aon) Tower in Chicago, one of the costliest construction failures in U.S. history.  Thin marble slab systems were marketed without adequate testing.  There are metal strut support systems with a history of failure, along with epoxy adhesives and anchors that split or spalled the stone.  Over time, thin marble and other stones can bend, twist or fracture, almost like plywood.  In many failure cases, the marble was beyond salvage, and repairing the building required new materials.  Thin marble slabs, along with thin granite and limestone, were designed as lighter weight cladding systems, and retrofitting traditional stone is not an option for existing structural systems designed for lightweight systems.  Thin marble was especially problematic, and subject to thermal hysteresis - movement from cycles of moisture exposure and temperature changes.  Failure and cracking can also occur along the grain.  Thin marble deformed permanently in many instances.  Such failures were not limited to marbles from one source.  Other thin marble failures were from unanticipated loads, when panels imposed loads on panels below instead of "floating" on their anchors.  These systems have failed dangerously, and can potentially cause loss of life.  The National Gallery marble was thick enough to allow salvage of many pieces, but many other examples do not permit removal and reinstallation of existing marble - it is too thin and permanently deformed. 

    Although thin marble veneer was used by the Romans, those installations were supported on all sides and mortared in back to solid masonry.  Thin marble facade systems marketed in the 1960's were often anchored to metal struts, and were not fully supported.  As an aside, I went on a tour of a prominent U.S. marble quarry in the 1970's that marketed these systems, and all of the buildings in the marketing and design literature that I saved later failed. 

    I have no involvement in the project in Memphis, but these marble veneer systems are a real challenge for anyone involved in preservation.  Changing the aesthetic may be inevitable, depending on the thickness of the marble, its support system, and the structural system of the building.  As new technologies were introduced after WWII, there were failures in many types of cladding systems.  It isn't easy to find a solution that preserves the original aesthetic.

    ------------------------------
    Marsha Levy AIA
    Boca Raton FL
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West