Hi, Folks
That conference sounds very tempting, especially since I've just "freed-up" my March, by giving-up a long-standing annual commitment in March.
For decades, I've been fighting the up-hill battle of advocating for the "recent past". Early this year, I "lost" a mid-'60s service station. Remember "service"?
The building was the classic type, with the all-glass office on one end, with its low, flat roof with the wide cantilevers (and, not drooping!). Behind that was the pair of cute little, miniature "rest rooms", entered from outside-only. Next to the office were 2 moderate-height service bays, and beyond those was a clearly added-on high-bay. And finally, the gas-island (w/o pumps) was still there!
The owner was absolutely not interested in the building's history or its existing appearance. From another Architect, who confirmed he was off that project, there was a sketch-elevation of the front. It was a tall, straight wall across the front, with champfered corners at its ends. I called it the "Western front".
Since this location was subject to Historic Commission approval, through a sign-off by the local neighborhood group, I went to make my pitch at the local meeting, with a "gallery" of 6-8 people. It was the area I grew-up in; they'd been defending history for decades.
My pitch was that '60s contemporary buildings are still in the "Rodney Dangerfield" phase of their lives; "Can't get no respect!" I said, remember when the only good things you could do with Victorian buildings were, "modernize" 'em or tear-'em down? Now they're vigorously defended, cherished, with the "landlord white" painted-over in 8-or-12 colors... Well, this is a handsome, intact example of a '60s (I even said the buzzy "mid-century" a couple of times) service station, now one of the last ones in the whole area. [We do have an intact, well-maintained gable-on-gable Texaco station, w/ retail tenants.] They were once built "every few blocks", right when auto manufactures were improving fluids-management, extending oil changes from 200 miles to 500 or more, etc., resulting in a surplus of service stations, also at the time when labor started to have higher overhead, leading to reductions in staff. Remember, I think it was the opening scene in "Back to the Future", where the car drives-up to the pump at a Texaco station ("You can trust your car to the man with the star".), over the bell-cord ("ding-ding!"), and 4 guys come swarming out, w/ Squeegee, wiping-rags, etc...? Well, the most-common elements of one period tend to become the rarest, later on; "We've got plenty / too many, of those."... "Who's gonna miss one more?!"
Due to the small site's odd shape, and parking requirements for retail, the gas island did have to go.
Clueless, just clueless. The building had been empty for many years, so its butchering was approved, and is now nearly done. It's an innocuous blob, w/ generic gridded storefront glazing.
Oh well, I tried... After that "historic" sign-off, for the above + other issues, I left this project. At that time, its volume was a bit-under the 35,000 cubic foot volume which triggers the legal requirement to have an Architect involved... So, they went ahead, and there it is.
Better luck next time, yes?
Bill