Issue 35  June 30th 2024

OA+D Monthly Updates

Despite containing more than 10,000 collection references, index name values, geographical locations, and facsimile images, the OA+D Archives online catalog is scarcely three years old. We are still continually adapting the open source code of the collection management software that produces what you see when you consult our website.

Our goal at OA+D Archives is to offer online access to as much of our collections as is practically possible. While some things can’t be digitized without damage to them, OA+D holds many kinds of document objects that are not usually shown online by most archives but which can be very helpful to researchers – if the database software can be persuaded.

Two developments in the catalog installation over the past month have explored ways for these sorts of records to be presented. Architects often produce forms of extensive documentation for a current project that can later themselves become significant historical records. One excellent example in OA+D holdings is found in the Wiehle-Carr Architecture Records acquired in 2022.

In 1996, the services of A. Louis Wiehle and Christopher Carr were engaged by the then owner of the Estate of Arch Oboler designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1940s. Although the larger goal of the client was to add a new house, there was an interest in overall planning for the restoration of existing structures designed by Wright.

As part of the masterplan process, a photographic survey was done of the entire property. This documentation included detailed views of the main residential dwelling complex. In addition to the gate lodge, children’s wing, shop wing, and stable wing, the survey documented thoroughly the landscape, site positioning, and conditions of all structures on the estate. This resulted in two thick binders containing hundreds of photographs. Most of these were organized by a complex indexing system to reflect perspective, date and time of photography, and other informative details.

A test case for proceeding with work on the estate was to be the restoration of the accessory building known as “Eleanor’s Retreat”. A small cabin-like structure of masonry and wood perched high on a rocky outcropping, the building would require substantial structural remedy and refreshment of utilities and material finishes. One volume of the photographic survey contained extensive examination of the existing conditions outside and inside the building in July, 1996.

Because this small but elegantly formed structure was on a private estate, relatively few people may have had a chance to see it in person. In 2018, the Woolsey fire in Malibu reached the Oboler property and burned every building to complete loss. Only the gravestones of masonry walls and a few steel beams remain today. However, the discovery of the Oboler estate photographic survey in our collections presented an opportunity to see if and how the catalog software could be coaxed to present unseen historic imagery of the “Photo Data Files” volumes in an online version.

One of the two volumes is now available for those who would like to gain an intimate and detailed awareness of the now vanished charm of the retreat built for Eleanor Oboler in 1941. 181 images, consisting mostly of photographs but also topographical and site maps, have been added to the OA+D catalog. Some of these show the environs of the estate, but most are related to “Eleanor’s Retreat.” This remarkable body of materials allows everyone an unexpected opportunity to visit and appreciate a place that no longer exists. The other volume illustrating the gate lodge and other structures will be added over the following month.

Just a hint, don’t be fooled by the record count shown by the collection references as always indicating the number of images available. This number is not always indicative of what can be seen by following a link, but is a built-in — if occasionally deceptive — feature of the open source software we use. Usually it is correct, but in the case of the Eleanor’s Retreat images the system says “3 records” where over 70 images are actually presented.

The second improvement to emerge in the catalog is related to an unfortunate recent hardware problem with our dedicated server. A cable burned out and the hard drive had to be replaced. While our database and image files were backed up, the entire software installation had to be rebuilt and OA+D Archives was offline entirely for five days.

However, the silver lining was renewal of the system in a way that resolved longstanding problems with the presentation of PDFs. OA+D holds many marketing materials, brochures, and other forms of presentation that cannot be effectively examined if added page by page. However, such records can be scanned and made into PDFs that retain continuity, graphical layouts, and intellectual control structures. The reconstruction of the underlying software platform with newer components now allows us to add PDFs to the catalog. The first example we present is the design development presentation devised by Taliesin Architects for the Fine Arts Center for Centre College, a building designed by William Wesley Peters in 1966.

This beautifully composed document presents in a fine graphic layout drawings and program information about the project. Our collections hold many such records, and we are very pleased with the prospect of now being able to add them for the use of researchers.

Your donations and journal subscription purchases directly support our efforts to preserve, digitize, and bring this type of material to the public. If you believe in the mission of the OA+D Archives and all that we are accomplishing, please consider additional tax-deductible financial support!

From The Archives

Earlier in the month, the dedicated folks that make up the OA+D Archives Volunteer Corps worked to save several unique items from the soon-to-be-torn-down Ascension Lutheran Church in Paradise Valley, AZ, designed by the Taliesin Associated Architects in 1960.

OA+D worked with the congregation to identify and remove many of TAA-designed items to ensure they would be preserved after the building is gone. Items such as the altar, podium, light fixtures, railings, representative pew, vestments, the massive lighted Eugene Masselink-designed cross, and more all feature a 5-sided pentagon design module--which is the geometric basis for the entire building.

In addition to saving these salvaged elements for the Archive, OA+D has made sure to also document the entire building — both exterior and interior — before its imminent demolition. These image records will not only serve as a historical record, but help us publish on the history and design of the building in an upcoming issue of the Journal OA+D.