Archinect - News

Editor's Picks #298

2013-01-15T11:43:00-05:00

The 14-year battle over the fate of the modern structure at the heart of Gettysburg National Military Park is over, as the National Park Service will begin demolishing the Richard Neutra designed Cyclorama building as soon as February. A disappointed Donna Sink argued "How can destroying what is truly a unique piece of art while allowing KFC to be visible from the battleground furthering our appreciation of the tragedy of this battle?"

News
Amy Worden explained that the 14-year battle over the fate of the modern structure at the heart of Gettysburg National Military Park is over, as the National Park Service will begin demolishing the Richard Neutra designed Cyclorama building as soon as February.

A disappointed Donna Sink argued "I've said this elsewhere but I want to say it here too: Detractors claim that this building is insensitive because it was built on the actual battlefield where soldiers died. I can't disagree completely with that sentiment...How can destroying what is truly a unique piece of art while allowing KFC to be visible from the battleground furthering our appreciation of the tragedy of this battle?".

Bustler.net reported the young Slovak firm, Nice Architects, has won the first prize in the architectural/urban design competition "Parkhill" aiming to transform the area of a former open air amphitheater in Bratislava, Slovakia. Nice Architects' winning entry is a collaboration ...

Cyclorama building at Gettysburg will be demolished

2013-01-11T13:58:00-05:00

The National Park Service said Thursday that it would begin demolishing the Cyclorama building as soon as February, clearing the site ahead of the 150th anniversary commemoration of the battle. The site will be restored to its 1863 appearance, complete with a period apple orchard and replicas of the wood fences that once crisscrossed the fields, park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon said. The massive painting that the building once housed has been separately preserved.

Fight over Gettysburg’s Cyclorama building may be near end

2012-09-04T19:43:00-04:00

The National Park Service, which first announced plans to demolish the Cyclorama in 1999, has complied with a judge's order to complete a comprehensive review of the building and possible alternative, and has again arrived at the same conclusion: Tear it down.

Sayonara Cyclorama?

2012-01-05T09:02:43-05:00

Some have described the Cyclorama building on the Gettysburg battlefield as an eye sore and called for it to be demolished. But a group of architectural historians is organizing to preserve the building

Tim Prudente examines the fate of the modernist Cyclorama building in Ziegler's Grove, designed by architect Richard Neutra. The National Park Service is set to make a final decision on what to do with the building early this year. The Park Service wants to remove the building to restore important views of the battlefield, which could help visitors interpret the historic events. However, the Cyclorama building has been hailed by architects as one of the flagships of the "Mission 66" program, launched in the 1950s by President Eisenhower to modernize national parks and is one of the few still standing Neutra buildings. Therefore architectural preservationists and scholars have tried, without much success, to save the building.

Neutra's Cyclorama saved... for now...

2010-04-02T17:44:00-04:00

A judge has sided with architecture in the latest battle to save the Richard Neutra-designed Gettysburg Cyclorama and Visitor Center.

A judge has sided with architecture in the latest battle to save the Richard Neutra-designed Gettysburg Cyclorama and Visitor Center. Philly.com

In a ruling Wednesday, [U.S. District Court Judge Thomas] Hogan wrote that the National Park Service failed to comply with federal law requiring that it analyze the impact of the Cylcorama demolition and alternatives to destroying the building.

"This is another chance to take another look at it," said [Dion] Neutra (Richard Neutra's son), who along with the group Recent Past Preservation Network sued the government to save the building. "Narrowly speaking, the park could jump through some hoops and tear building down, but we hope they revisit the idea of reusing it."

Previously on Archinect:

Objections filed in Cyclorama building lawsuit
Richard Neutra's Cyclorama at the Gettysburg National Military Park ...

Objections filed in Cyclorama building lawsuit

2009-05-07T19:32:00-04:00

Richard Neutra's Cyclorama at the Gettysburg National Military Park is slated for demolition. Has the park done enough to save it? read more

So open, so Neutra

2006-04-03T00:22:00-04:00

"I got a letter from the Swiss ambassador to Cuba, who lives in a Neutra house in Havana" says Dion Neutra, 79, head of the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and son of the pioneering Modernist. via and updated neutra.org.

Cyclorama Efforts

2004-09-01T20:33:00-04:00

Chad Clark at Burnlab alerts us of the presence of a Save the Neutra Cyclorama Petition and a letter you can send. Previously: Another Endangered Neutra

Another Endangered Neutra Building

2004-06-28T11:15:00-04:00

The National Park Service has decided that L.A. Architect Richard Neutra's Landmark Cyclorama Center--which has stood at the Gettysburg Battlefield for more than 40 Years--now detracts from history. The shrine-like battlefield visited by nearly 2 million tourists a year, is perhaps Richard Neutra's greatest public commission and the finest example of his work east of the Mississippi.
-LATimes
(Los Angeles Times)
Who Chooses History?

By Mark Rozzo,
Mark Rozzo is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a regular contributor to The Times' Book Review.

Sitting at the dining-room table of his Silver Lake home, 2,300 miles from the hallowed battlefield where part of his father's legacy is under siege, Los Angeles architect Dion Neutra, still sprightly at 77, allows his voice to escalate in mild exasperation. "There should be a national will to save these buildings," he says. "It shouldn't have to be a one-man crusade."

SilenceÃ¢â‚¬â€punctuated by birdsongÃ¢â‚¬â€fills the ...