By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 10-24-07
Edward Loewenstein.
GREENSBORO, NC – A studio in interior architecture has assembled an engaging exhibit on the work of Edward Loewenstein (1913-1970), a community activist and architect credited with bringing Modernism in architecture to Greensboro.
The exhibition, in three segments, takes place Nov. 6-Dec. 1 in the Gatewood Gallery at UNCG, from Nov. 6-Jan. 31 in the Elon University School of Law building (the former Greensboro Public Library, designed by Loewenstein), and over the next several months in a series of deconstructed [mod] moments placed throughout the community.
An opening reception for “Close to Home: Edward Loewenstein and Modernism in Greensboro” will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 and will include refreshments, door prizes, 1950s games and live music. The gallery is in the university’s Gatewood Building, 527 Highland Ave.
“Visitors to the exhibits will come away with a sense of Loewenstein’s designs as reflections of community values and hopes, poised at mid-century, as well as some of its aspirations and challenges,” said Patrick Lee Lucas, an assistant professor in the Department of Interior Architecture, and the project’s director.
Students are designing and building the exhibit, exploring themes of Modernism in the mid-century. A wealth of source materials – architectural plans, photographs, sketches and building materials – will allow student to recreate models and diagrams of Loewenstein’s work.
“This will not be your typical history museum type of display,” Lucas said. “It will be more of a three-dimensional experience.”
Several other events are tied to the exhibition:
• 10 a.m., Nov. 10, tour of Elon University School of Law, 201 N. Greene St. Loewenstein designed the building, which opened in 1965 as the Greensboro Public Library. It underwent massive renovations before opening as a law school last year.
• 2 p.m., Nov. 10, screening of “Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House,” Weatherspoon Art Museum. Cary Grant and Myrna Loy star in this 1948 comedy of building errors.
• 1 p.m., Nov. 11, the [mod] show + tell, Gatewood Building. Local experts will “appraise” your mid-century furniture and decorative objects. Sink into classic furniture from Knoll and Herman Miller. See furniture by Eames, Saarinen, Bertoia and Jacobsen. John Romano of Knoll and Matt Dorsey of Herman Miller will speak.
Loewenstein came to Greensboro after serving in the army during World War II. He designed homes, schools, churches, libraries, synagogues, factories and office buildings, and became “arguably Greensboro’s most inventive architect in the post-World War II era,” Lucas said.
He balanced his own creative flair with the desires of his clients in a community that treasured continuity. His own home, featured in the New York Times Magazine in 1955, shares with his other early modernist houses a horizontal orientation, expanses of floor-to-ceiling windows affording unobstructed views of the landscape, open floor plans, outdoor living spaces and abundant built-in storage.
He began teaching an innovative course in architectural design at Woman’s College in 1957. Twenty-three students took the yearlong course offered through the art department. They designed a house, oversaw its construction and decorated it.
At the May 1958 dedication, an event broadcast on WUNC-TV, North Carolina First Lady Mrs. Luther Hodges, herself an alumna of Woman’s College, cut the ribbon on the Commencement House. Located at 2207 N. Elm Street in Greensboro, it was featured in McCall’s magazine and sold to a private owner.
Two additional houses, one several blocks to the west, and a second in Sedgefield, followed in 1959 and 1965, respectively. All three of the structures demonstrate what can happen when female students engage in real world experiences of designing and building a single-family home.
The students present “Close to Home” with financial support from the Cemala Foundation, the Marion Stedman Covington Foundation, and several UNCG departments and offices: the Department of Interior Architecture, the School of Human Environmental Sciences, the Office of Leadership and Service-Learning and the Office of Undergraduate Research. Additional project partners include the UNCG Department of Art, the UNCG Division of Continual Learning, Elon University School of Law, Preservation Greensboro, Inc., and Preservation North Carolina.
Additional information about “Close to Home” is available at modernism.uncg.edu.
