Oklahoma Modern

Tulsa Roof on Display

2012-04-18T10:37:00.001-05:00

..along with a really cool house.

Modern Tulsa is hosting another super hip "Mod of the Moment" events this Sunday at the Netherton House. If that name doesn't immediately jog your memory maybe the striking roofline of this fabulous house will:
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Modern Desk Designs

2012-04-11T19:51:00.001-05:00

Jackie admires one of the 4x8 entries at S. R. Hughes.

The crowd favorite here on Brookside:

And a pretty cool chair too! Both from local designers. Here are some more of the designs that went on the auction block to benefit local charities.
What's your favorite?

Need a Designer Desk?

2012-04-09T19:46:00.000-05:00

How's that? "What designer?" you ask.

Well, good question. Let's just say- they might be your neighbor. Or your classmate. And they might be the "next big thing."

Last October the 4x8 competition challenged Tulsans to create a desk from a single piece of plywood. Like a 4-foot by 8-foot piece of plywood, in fact. Thus the name.

Letters: Visit to Tulsa

2012-04-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

Oklahoma Modern reader JS from Dallas writes:

Hi Rex and Jackie-
I’m an Okie from Shawnee and I enjoy your Oklahoma Modern blog.
I’m taking a photo trip/family visit to Tulsa in mid-April and want to check with you about what’s still around for me to enjoy.
Here’s a tentative list:

Downtowner Coming Down

2012-03-26T16:26:00.000-05:00

Tulsa's skyline lost another Mid-Century Modern element this week.

Demolition began at the Downtowner Motor Inn this Saturday. The motel at 4th and Cheyenne had been vacant for many years– save for the Coney Island in the ground floor. Oh, it's moving back across the street where it belongs by the way.

It was somewhat surprising to see this boxy example of Sixties roadside Americana coming down after some of the recent developments in Tulsa. The BOK Center has breathed new vigor into the west side of downtown, and two new hotels are currently in the works. Up the street on Boulder Avenue, the Holiday Inn has reopened after teetering close to the edge of seediness for several years. Then just last August the badly neglected Downtowner was one of two buildings featured on a Tulsa Preservation Commission training course on redevelopment tactics for preservation junkies!

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Historic Tax Credits: saving more than history

2012-03-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

Historic tax credits were in the news again here in Oklahoma. Unfortunately.

After placing a two-year deferral on the payments, state legislators revisited the program again last month with an eye on axing it entirely. This short-sighted approach has left developers in a quandary and projects on hold. Politicians claim they have no "hard evidence" of the benefit these incentives provide. But the proof is all around them.

The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture has compiled a compelling case for historic tax credits. A wide variety of properties across the state have been restored, updated and rescued by virtue of these funds. In Tulsa the benefits are evident on most any weekday evening. See all those people? Yes, there are people downtown after 5:00 pm. A scant ten or fifteen years ago that would have been unusual.

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Braniff Exhibit in Palm Springs

2012-03-10T11:03:00.001-06:00

Here's a short video we shot in Palm Springs during Modernism Week last year.

One of the highlights in 2011 was a Braniff Airlines exhibit. This intrigued us since Braniff was a "local" airline that started in Oklahoma City, later headquartered in Dallas.

But that didn't interest the crowd in Palm Springs. They were there to see the colorful uniforms and far out paint schemes that Braniff introduced in the Sixties. And a few of those in the crowd came to reminisce.
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Rejuvenated Tulsa

2012-02-28T16:25:00.001-06:00

Modernista enjoy a Modern Tulsa
home tour through Lortondale in 2009.

Tulsa has many beautiful historic neighborhoods. Over the years we've seen some of them severely decline, but fortunately many returned to become more vibrant than ever.

One neighborhood that came close to the brink was Lortondale. The resurgence of this svelte subdivision is documented in a recent article in Tulsa People (see link below).

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New Plans for Tulsa Autobank

2012-02-15T15:17:00.001-06:00

Great news for drive-through banking fans...

The First National Autobank in downtown Tulsa will soon become a new eatery!

Libby Auld, the proprietor of Elote plans to open a new restaurant called the Vault. The futuristic 1958 bank has been vacant for many years and was most recently being remodeled as a lounge/sushi bar. Located at 7th and Cincinnati the complex features upstairs parking and a small meeting room called the Tom Tom Room, where Central High School alumni once met.

No word yet on plans for the drive-thru lanes.

More from the Tulsa World...

Tulsa's Interstate Temple Remembered

2012-02-10T10:36:00.002-06:00

Remember the World Museum?

Also known as the Interstate Temple, the zany thin-shell concrete rotunda was razed in 2009 to make way for the I-44 widening project in Tulsa. Sniff, sniff.

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Unknown Places

2012-02-01T18:27:00.001-06:00

One of the more amazing collections available through the Tulsa City-County Library is the Beryl Ford Collection. Ford collected thousands of images of Tulsa right up to his death in 2009. The Rotary Club of Tulsa purchased the collection and, with the help of the Tulsa City-County Library and the Tulsa Historical Society, began the monumental task of preserving and digitizing the collection.

An unidentified bathing beauty, just one
of hundreds of unknown images from the
Beryl Ford Collection.

Today you can browse the Beryl Ford Collection online, search the database and even purchase prints. It's a fascinating peak into our city's past.
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Ranch Style Razed

2012-01-29T10:32:00.001-06:00

Earlier this week I got a depressing call from a friend who was watching a bulldozer mow down the Ranch Acres Medical Building. For many years this ranch-style building has been a fixture on the corner of 31st & Harvard in Tulsa.

I knew the building had been empty for a while. But outwardly it appeared to be in solid shape, despite the beautiful brick being molested with paint several years ago. Today the two-story structure is laid bare and it appears it was inwardly pretty solid also. Watching all that nice hardware head to the landfill just makes my heart sink.

Most of the original retail and commercial structures at this intersection were built alongside the residential development of Ranch Acres neighborhood. Principally bounded by 31st and 41st Strreets between Harvard and Delaware, this well-preserved area was built during a time when commercial and residential buildings shared a look and feel. The corner store looked like your house. They matched.
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Ranch Acres Time Capsule

2012-01-24T19:15:00.003-06:00

I just discovered a unique home only a few blocks away from us. And I discovered it on a blog published halfway across the country. So amazing, this Internet thing.

The house is a 3200-foot, 3 bedroom in Ranch Acres. It's one of those cool floorplans with two main wings that make a flying V. Inside it's full Zsa Zsa Colonial with harvest gold appliances and mysterious woodgrains. The fireplace set into the curved sandstone wall is also noteworthy.

But don't take my word for it- here's a link to the article on Retro Nation about this awesome find:
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Save the Date for Dallas Mods

2012-01-19T17:27:00.000-06:00

One of our favorite events isn't in Oklahoma, but it is modern.

The White Rock Home Tour is an annual tour showcasing some of Dallas' nicest Mid-Century Modern homes. This area is northeast of downtown Dallas, near White Rock Lake, and features ranch-style and minimalist homes from the Fifties and Sixties.

Each year the tour highlights 5 or 6 homes, some vintage and some new construction. The weekend also features architectural lectures and exhibits. Proceeds from the event benefit Hexter Elementary, a nearby public school. For 2012 the tour will be held April 21st and 22nd.

So mark your calendars, Okies! We'll round up the wagons and make ourselves a convoy. Breaker, breaker. Headin' down to Big D. 10-4.

More

Photo Tour: Broken Arrow Moderns

2011-12-30T12:02:00.000-06:00

Just a few random images.

Tulsa's largest suburb isn't usually associated with modernism, but if you look closely there are some unique examples of Mid-Century Modern. Here's a random sampling I snapped on a cloudy day in December...

By far the best known modern structure in BA would have to be this white building on the hill. For decades this former church has been turning heads near the Broken Arrow Expressway. Some people describe it as a covered wagon, others see a cornucopia. But Jackie's nickname for it my favorite is. She has called it the "chicken church" since childhood.

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Thoroughly Modern Getaway

2011-12-26T17:52:00.000-06:00

We had been hearing about the unique hideaway called the Canebrake for years. I decided Jackie's birthday would be the perfect occasion to get out of town to sample their gourmet menu and spend the night in a cabin in the woods.

The Canebrake is located just east of Wagoner, OK on a peninsula overlooking Fort Gibson Lake. It's miles away from the city lights so it's a great place to "get away from it all."
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Timely Wallpaper

2011-12-22T07:29:00.001-06:00

Here's a holiday freebie from our friends at Design Within Reach.

Download a free 2012 calendar for your virtual desktop. Choose the size below and set it as your background wallpaper. Cool huh?

News Anchor Crashes Parade Float

2011-12-16T11:23:00.003-06:00

No injuries reported.

Mechanical Snowman is a Local Favorite

Local modernista may be familiar with Shane Hood, he's quite active with Modern Tulsa, the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture and the Lortondale neighborhood. He also happens to be involved with another really cool non-profit called Fab Lab.

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Tulsa's IPE Building Deserves Better

2011-12-09T11:23:00.000-06:00

Orange You Glad They Painted it Grey?

IPE Building during construction.
Courtesy Modern Steel

Not me.

Long before it was known as the Quik Trip Center, the immense building at Expo Square behind the Golden Driller was known as the Tulsa Exposition Center. Built in 1966 to provide an indoor space for the International Petroleum Exposition, the building featured a cable-supported roof covering more than 10 acres. Distinctive orange steel supports rose up from the prairie to hold the cable system.

The architect for the project was Bert E. Griffin and David R. Graham and Associates were the structural engineers. The clever cable system floating 3,500 tons of structural steel above the exhibit floor was so unique several patents were filed. The visual impact of the building was modern, but very business-like. The wide stance of the outermost support pillars echoed the "spider legs" of architect Richard Neutra. Giant beams rose up from the roof to grasp cables, almost like a giant bridge had been covered.

The structure and its eight-story tall doorman, the Golden Driller, became symbols of Tulsa- then known as the "Oil Capital of the World." Most Tulsans knew it as the IPE Building, though the oil show was only one of the many events hosted there. The unique design offered 8 acres of uninterrupted floorspace- the largest in the world. Through the Seventies the building was marketed as a venue for car races, gun shows, boat expositions and even the national BMX championships.
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Carpet City Annexed

2011-12-05T07:34:00.001-06:00

Oklahoma's Largest Carpet Co.

For decades the neon sign at 15th and Delaware made this claim. Or variations thereof as certain letters burned out. But the Carpet City building recently changed hands and is currently being renovated for use as medical offices. The sign was one of the first things to go.

Unfortunately the sleek sandstone building is also losing some of its most unique characteristics. Namely, the swooping triangular carport that has been a landmark since 1948. Yesterday we drove past and saw the front of the building stripped of its Mid-Century charm.

Here's a photo of the building a from a few weeks ago. Today it's not quite as cool.

Sniff, sniff.

Photo Scavenger Hunt II

2011-11-25T09:08:00.000-06:00

Where Am I?

Here's the second installment of the exciting game show that's sweeping the country!

Congratulations to Derek Lee who correctly identified the super-sleek columns of the Stillwater National Bank building in Stillwater, Oklahoma. An official Oklahoma Modern t-shirt is headed your way!

The 1967 Stillwater National Bank Building
at 6th and Main in Stillwater.

Now, let's start the next round!
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Plywood Challenge

2011-11-22T11:59:00.001-06:00

I've been shopping for a new desk.

Then I read about a design competition sponsored by More Branding to design a desk from a single sheet of plywood.

Thus the name: 4 x 8.

It was so much fun they decided to invite others from the Tulsa design community to participate. Fifteen entries were received the first day. What started out as a simple office project to replace some desks has turned into a full-blown, hard-core, design throwdown. The call for entries has gone out (and reprinted when they ran out) and come January we'll see just how creative T-Town really is. But wait...

There is more.

To top it off a showcase and silent auction will be held March 2012. The proceeds from each desk will benefit the school of each designer's choice! As of yet the location is yet to be determined- but if the pace of entries continue I'm thinking airplane hanger.

So now I'm thinking it's time to design my own desk. Or maybe I'll wait and see what turns up and just buy one at the auction in March. Either way it sounds like a win-win.

Learn more about the 4X8 Design Competition

Photo Scavenger Hunt Contest

2011-11-02T10:10:00.000-05:00

Where Am I?

Here's a fun idea: We'll post a photo, and you guess the location!

The photos will be an architectural detail located within Oklahoma. If you think you know the location submit your guess on the Oklahoma Modern Facebook page. We'll pick a winner at random from the correct answers submitted (assuming there are more than one) and you'll receive a fabulous prize from one of our wonderful sponsors!

Ready?

Here's our first round...

Go!

Where Am I?

If you know where this is visit us on Facebook, look for this post and click "Comment" to submit your answer!

PS- If you have a cool photo you think might be appropriate let us know!

Vitra. Save. Now.

2011-10-06T19:00:00.000-05:00

We love deals.

And we love sharing deals with our friends and readers. So read- and save 15% on Vitra now through October 14th at All Modern.com!

Mod in the USA

2011-09-27T18:34:00.001-05:00

Jackie and I were asked to contribute to Dwell magazine's blog in conjunction with their Made in USA issue.

We were tickled that they asked, and told them we'd be more than happy to submit some articles. We asked them what they had in mind and they told us to offer up something from Oklahoma that was uniquely American. That sounded easy. The first thing that came to mind for me was the unique assortment of works by Bruce Goff located in the Sooner State. So here's our brief slideshow of Goff in Oklahoma...

Bruce Goff in Oklahoma

Enjoy.