Loewenstein's Commercial Buildings

Non-residential commissions for Loewenstein-Atkinson Architects ran the usual gamut of buildings for a prospering architectural practice of the post-war period and many of the firm's buildings found their way onto the landscape of the Piedmont region. In some ways, the commercial buildings reflected Loewenstein's own belief in the community and his acts of civic engagement with disenfranchised populations. Beyond the Bennett College plan, Loewenstein embraced the African-American community and some of the inequities in facilities existent among segments of the population. Before his death, Loewenstein designed the YWCA building (it opened in 1971) to bring together membership from the black and white branches that had existed through the 1960s. His involvement on the building commission of the Beth David Synagogue led to much service work, but never the full commission for the facility.

With his commercial buildings, Loewenstein provided spaces for the community to come together. He gave Modernism a more gentle approach and thus settled it within the existing community. In the 1950s, with schools, hospitals, religious buildings, and public facilities, he took pride in the sense of community that Greensboro moved toward—a progressive place that celebrated openness and inclusion—and helped the community to see that good design was a valuable commodity that defined the quality of life in the southern town. The award-winning Coleman Gym at Woman's College (1952) provided a home to the dance program and intramural sports, as well as a symbolic community meeting space for both the university and the surrounding neighborhoods.

In the more tumultuous 1960s, Loewenstein remained true to his open-minded spirit and sense of civic engagement as he forged additional avenues for commercially based work. The firm designed the Golden Gate Shopping Center (1961) to provide an easily accessed store east of Elm Street for the growing populations on that edge of town. Through the Bessemer Land Company, Loewenstein and the firm's employees still worked in traditionally African American neighborhoods in east Greensboro. Several commissions came through Cone Mills and its related institutions, including the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church (ca. 1965) and school complex near the mill.

The Greensboro Public Library (1964), the most lasting community building and the symbol for the progress of the town, demonstrated that the library emblematically remained an important landmark. On a tour as an architecture student at North Carolina A&T, Major Sanders noted that Loewenstein "wanted the sidewalk to be a reminder to those approaching the library that they were about to enter a special place."

Selected Commercial Work of Loewenstein-Atkinson
Hayes Taylor YMCA (1951)
Cerebral Palsy School (1954)
David D. Jones Elementary School (1954)
Beth David Synagogue (1960-66)
Archer Elementary School (1962)
Greensboro Public Library (1964-1965)
Golden Gate Shopping Center (1965)
Greensboro YWCA (ca. 1965)
Southern Optical Company (1966-67)
Ben L. Smith High School Auditorium (1969-70)
Benjamin Branch Library (1970)
Fireman's Fund American Insurance Building (1970)