Johansen won an award from The American Institute of Architects for his work on the building in 1972. Kestrel Investments Inc. paid $4.2 million to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation for the theater last July and has plans to build a 14-16-story office tower (which will be home to the new OGE Energy Corp. headquarters) […]
architecture
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Crumbling Capitol
Oklahoma State Capitol Credit: Shannon Cornman That’s why they’ve been included on this year’s list of Oklahoma’s Most Endangered Historic Places. Preservation Oklahoma Inc., a private nonprofit, unveiled its 2013 selections April 10 during a presentation at the Capitol. Gov. Mary Fallin attended the event, thanking Preservation Oklahoma for including the Capitol on its list. […]
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Boxed in
Box, a developer and owner of The Greens Country Club, said he has has few alternatives in connection with the sacred dome, which long ago lost its glistening golden look of yesteryear. His top options include the sale of the property or its demolition. Box is losing $10,000 a month on the old, vacant bank […]
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Exit Stage?
Built in 1970 by renowned architect John Johansen, the building at W. Sheridan and S. Hudson avenues has been empty since it sustained significant flooding damage in 2010. Afterward, the Arts Council of Oklahoma City transferred ownership of it to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. Groups such as the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American […]
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Earthy digs
Brad Gregg They’re pigs, after all, and just don’t know any better. Architecture students at the University of Oklahoma know that the sturdiest houses are made of earth. Five OU students and two professors recently won a $90,000 grant for merging architectural genius with environmental consciousness when they introduced compressed-earth block building technology. The grant […]
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Urbanized
Having previous explored how our life is affected by typefaces (Helvetica) and manufactured objects (Objectified), director Gary Hustwit provides the final chapter of a trilogy of sorts by exploring the language of urban city design. More thought is put into it than you realized, by more people than you would have guessed. An early observation […]
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Falling down
Falling chunks of limestone on the building’s southeast side have forced workers to set up scaffolding and fencing. That exterior damage, coupled with needed electrical wiring and plumbing repairs, has an estimated price tag of $130 million, according to state Department of Central Services officials. Gov. Mary Fallin, for one, has floated the idea of […]
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Save the stage
Interviews with several theatrical professionals and academics reveal that its unique and artistically exceptional performance spaces — the 210-seat, in-the-round Arena Theatre and the 580-seat Mary Noble Tolbert Theatre — will be a major loss if razed or altered for other uses. “The building itself is an architectural marvel that encourages people to dream boldly […]
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R.I.P., The Bavinger House: 1955-2011
Local architecture nerds decry the move as a travesty; the Bavinger House Conservancy sees it as “an opportunity for everyone to own a part of history,” per its website, “for this holiday season.” It’s another strange chapter in the home’s storied history. Designed by University of Oklahoma College of Architecture then-chairman Bruce Goff, the abstract […]
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R.I.P., The Bavinger House: 1955-2011
Local architecture nerds decry the move as a travesty; the Bavinger House Conservancy sees it as “an opportunity for everyone to own a part of history,” per its website, “for this holiday season.” It’s another strange chapter in the home’s storied history. Designed by University of Oklahoma College of Architecture then-chairman Bruce Goff, the abstract […]