All Things New Are Old Again

A virtual tour presented as part of Docomomo Tour Day on the theme “The 70s Turn 50”

By Elizabeth Holt

The word “modern” is often used interchangeably with “new,” but “Modern” architecture represents a specific period, a moment in history that is growing ever further distant with each passing year. Modern architecture isn’t really new anymore. The familiar saying goes, “all things old are new again,” but when it comes to Modern architecture, the opposite is true.

How do we address these aging structures? Issues of both preservation policy and preservation practice must be tackled. As we enter a new decade, preservationists are facing the challenge of honoring and saving modernist buildings of the 1970s whose construction was often seen by their preservationist predecessors as an unwelcome addition to the urban landscape.

When compared to older, more intricate architectural styles, Modern architecture may strike the more casual observer as overly simple, unnecessarily harsh, and uncomfortably imposing. But a closer look at these buildings reveals references to classical styles and forms and ways they can be adapted to 21st-century life.

Our map of 1970s architecture includes a suggested driving route for the tour.

All buildings inventoried on our New Haven Modern website and completed between 1970 and 1979 are included on the map. Buildings featured in this tour are marked with a green icon. All points have a link to the relevant Historic Resource Inventory pages for further reading.

If the above link does not open the interactive map, please copy and paste the following link in your browser: https://bit.ly/36Ob8Kv

New Haven Register Building

We begin our tour at the New Haven Register Building. Large rectangular windows with rounded corners and tapered sides are the focal point of this industrial structure. The street-facing section of this building is surrounded by a modernized loggia. Architectural historian Elizabeth Mills Brown described the former Gant Shirtmakers Factory, constructed in 1970, as a “model modern, suburban factory.” Its large, windowless rear addition made it unusually ideal for the current tenant, although one might argue that the chair display and advertising detracts from the original sleek design.

From the Register Building, we make our way to Wooster Square.

New Haven Register Building, 40 Sargent Drive. Architect: Associated Construction & Engineering Co., 1970.

Henry and Janette Parker Residence

Lying just outside the boundary of the Wooster Square Historic District is the Henry and Janette Parker Residence. The asymmetrical, abstract Parker Residence is divided into three main sections. The covered entry porch on the northernmost side of the structure mimics a traditional carriage entryway to an estate; a recessed vertical strip at the center is accented by two windows; and a tall southern section extends back into the site. Designed by New Haven-based architect Caswell Cooke, the 2-family (later converted to 4-family) residence was home to Henry and Janette Parker until 2002. Henry Parker moved to New Haven from Maryland in 1957 and within a decade had founded New Haven’s Black Coalition. In 1974, Parker was elected State Treasurer, making him Connecticut’s highest-ranking African American politician.

Now we head west into downtown New Haven. Feel free to park your car and walk for our next stops!

New Haven Savings Bank

Sitting at the intersection of Church and Elm Streets, the New Haven Savings Bank dominates this section of the Green. The beveled corner of the existing Union Trust Company building across Elm Street presented a unique design challenge. A clean right angle, the expected solution for a corner lot, was rejected in favor of a design that mirrored the neighboring building. Although the straight lines and lack of ornamentation contrast with much of the surrounding architecture, the building’s massing and street frontage create a noticeable cohesion at this junction. The original plans for the bank had included reflective glass curtain walls and additional height. The developers appropriately modified those plans after discussions with New Haven Preservation Trust.

Continue northward on Church Street for our next stop.

New Haven Savings Bank, 195 Church Street. Architect: William F. Pedersen and Associates, 1972.

New Haven County Courthouse

With two classically designed courthouses within two blocks, the New Haven County Courthouse is a distinctive addition to this prestigious neighborhood. As a whole, the building is visually heavy, but the mass is broken up by a variety of openings. The façade is accented by recessed entries and balconies, half-round walls and windows of multiple shapes and sizes, including 2–3 story glass curtain walls and five circular cutouts on the top story of the Wall Street side.

Our next stop takes us onto the Yale campus.

New Haven County Courthouse, 235 Church Street. Architect: William F. Pedersen and Associates, 1971.

Becton Engineering and Applied Science Center

Along with the Pirelli Building, the Becton Engineering Building is one of two major New Haven buildings designed by Marcel Breuer. Like the Pirelli Building, it is constructed of precast concrete panels with regular openings. The trunk-like piers along Prospect Street create a covered outdoor space that is suggestive of a traditional loggia or colonnade. The building’s height is consistent with its neighbors along the east side of the street, forming a wall that contrasts with the much shorter brownstone perimeter wall of the centuries-old Grove Street Cemetery.

Driving south down Temple Street and through the Green, we make our way to the next stop.

Becton Engineering and Applied Science Center, 15 Prospect Street. Architect: Marcel Breuer and Associates, 1968-1970.

Crown Street Parking Garage

Parking garages are unnecessary evils of congested city living. The Crown Street Parking Garage, designed by Granbery, Cash, and Associates, is a complex structural system of pre-cast concrete T-shaped posts arranged in a grid-like fashion. These pieces come together with reinforced concrete beams and a poured concrete floor to form an elegant solution to a downtown parking problem. Each part of the building showcases the structural function while adding visual interest to a building that could have easily been completely lacking in detail. The Historic Resource Inventory for the Crown Street Parking Garage, completed in 1981, compares it to Paul Rudolph’s Temple Street Garage down the block. The Temple Street Garage, “also orchestrated in concrete, emphasizes the plastic qualities of the material, whereas Granbery, Cash, and Associates has articulated the structural possibilities of the material.”

Make your way back to Chapel Street where we will make our last downtown stop.

Yale Center for British Art

The Yale Center for British Art was the last major building designed by architect Louis Kahn, who died while it was under construction. The Center was constructed to hold the donation of art and rare books made by Paul Mellon. Professor Jules Prown, the first director of the YCBA, described the search for the right architect: “A major factor in the choice of an architect would be the ability to create a sympathetic environment for the collection rather than a signature architectural statement. The architecture was to serve the art, not the converse.” The Center, as designed by Kahn, is modest enough to keep the focus on the collection, while elevating industrial materials like concrete and stainless steel to elegant surfaces worthy of the building’s contents. The Yale Center for British Art sits across Chapel Street from the first major work of Louis Kahn, the Yale University Art Gallery.

The next stop on our tour is one of diverse architectural and cultural history.

Yale Center for British Art, 1080-1104 Chapel Street. Architect: Louis I. Kahn, 1972-1975.

New Haven Jewish Home for the Aged

The New Haven Jewish Home for the Aged is a wonderful example of multiple design styles and stages coming together to form a cohesive whole. The original section of the building dates to 1921 and was designed by New Haven architects Brown and Von Beren. Additions were made in 1934 and 1950. The final addition, constructed in 1975, was designed by another notable New Haven architecture firm, Orr, deCossy and Winder Associates. The Jewish Home for the Aged is historically significant for several reasons. At the time of its original construction, it was only the second institution in the state established to care for the elderly, underserved Jewish population. It has played an important role in the neighborhood, as the area surrounding the Home has attracted immigrant groups for over a century. It also holds a unique place in New Haven’s women’s history. When first established, it was managed and organized entirely by women. The Sisters of Zion, a Jewish women’s service club, started the organization and counted 496 of 500 of their first subscribers as women.

Our next two stops, both apartment complexes, bring us into the Dwight neighborhood.

Seabury Cooperative Housing, 400 Elm Street. Architect: William F. Pedersen and Associates, 1972.

Antillean Manor

The 1979 Historic Resources Inventory describes the Antillean Manor apartment complex, which stretches almost the entire western side of the block between Chapel Street and Edgewood Avenue, as disjointed and unsettling and suggests plantings as an improvement. Though formal plantings are still absent on the Day Street side of the building, mature trees give the street fronting a more inviting feeling. The unified facade would feel much less welcoming if not for the two large openings into the interior courtyard.

Seabury Cooperative Housing

Although its two buildings were designed as a pair, their contrasting scales keep them as separate entities. The facade is made somewhat less plain by the use of narrow vertical ribs, a common treatment on redevelopment-era New Haven buildings.

Our next stops are close as the crow flies, though your driving route will involve some turns down one way streets.

B&L Plaza, 119-139 Dixwell Avenue. Architect: Edward Cherry and Associates, 1974.

Goffe Street Fire House

During the 1960s Urban Renewal Era, New Haven undertook a series of fire station consolidations across the city. The Goffe Street Fire Station was a consolidation of two earlier locations on Dixwell Avenue and Elm and Park Streets. The firm then known as Venturi and Rauch was chosen to design the Goffe Street Fire House, the last of four Modernist stations to be constructed in the neighborhood. The building is notable for its elegant, curving facade that makes use of the oblique intersection of Goffe and Webster Streets. Giant lettering turns the cantilevered front facade into a signboard for the fire companies housed within.

B&L Plaza

Designed by Edward Cherry and Associates, this building was constructed in 1974, a decade after urban renewal efforts formally began in the neighborhood. The B&L Plaza was originally opened and owned by three minority businessmen and housed B&L Records and Gift Shop, Dozier’s La Boutique, and Adele’s Baker. The business owners were Hank Green Jr., Edward Dozier, and Robert Jenkins, respectively. The single-story concrete structure is accented by scored concrete, a popular way of attaining a Brutalist appearance at a lower cost than cast-in-place concrete. Other structures in New Haven which use this treatment method include the Yale Art and Architecture Building, Crawford Manor, and Seabury Cooperative Housing.

Continue west for a stop at another Modernist religious institution.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

The area around the Bethel African Church was part of the urban renewal of the mid-20th century, which was extensively cleared and redeveloped. Though the church is a simple gable-roofed rectangle, note the references to Gothic architecture in the pointed arch windows with stone tracery. The porch, which was added after the initial construction according to the Historic Resource Inventory, is in a Gothic style and adds a decorative touch to the otherwise simplified building mass.

Our tour now takes us into residential New Haven.

Frank and Margaret Pannenborg House

Modern homes in older neighborhoods have the potential to complement or harshly contrast with existing homes. Appropriate scale and massing can go a long way in helping new construction blend in with its neighbors. The Brutalist Frank and Margaret Pannenborg House represents the only post-modern structure in a neighborhood of mostly early 20th century Colonial Revival and Tudoresque houses, although the scale of the house is in line with the neighboring houses. Its stark design and straight lines are softened by the surrounding dense vegetation.

Make your way through Edgewood and Westville for our next stops.

Frank and Margaret Pannenborg House, 505 Ellsworth Avenue. Architect: Margaret Pannenborg, 1971.

Wadim and Valerie Botorewicz House, 137 Laurel Road. Architect: Valerie Botorewicz, 1972.

Wadim and Valerie Botorewicz Residence

Designed by Valerie Botorewicz, this house is built into a hill and surrounded by trees. The house has commonly been known as the Foam House for its use of isocyanurate foam, fiberglass-reinforced walls and roof. This system of construction was patented by the architect and designed for mass production so that pieces can be assembled on site to create a variety of spaces and forms. Elizabeth Mills Brown described this as a “model house” for the system.

Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Located at the westernmost edge of the city, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an unusual example of post-modern architecture combined with traditional architectural features. In this case, the onion-shaped dome which tops the tower reflects Eastern European architectural style. The vertical board siding is punctuated by a double-door entrance with sidelights and transom windows, “segmental” arched window above the entry, and modern style pointed arched windows along the north side.

Our last two stops bring us back east and into the Prospect Hill neighborhood.

Gene and Mae Festa House

Gene Festa, who worked with Eero Saarinen and later in the office of Roche Dinkeloo, was both the architect and owner of this Modernist house. Festa purchased the historic Trowbridge estate at Edgehill Road after the land was subdivided in the early 1970s. The house sits on a narrow lot and is surrounded by both contemporary and late 19th- and early 20th-century homes. Post-war construction on infill lots was common practice, as it was often the only place left for new residential development. A lack of windows on the street facade creates a fortress-like appearance. In contrast, the north side has many windows, giving emphasis to private over public space. Turning a house in on itself was a solution to the lack of privacy that resulted from building on a small lot in a developed neighborhood.

William deCossy House

William deCossy’s designs can be found throughout the city, as he made up one third of the New Haven-based firm Orr, deCossy and Winder Associates. Here, he applied the aesthetics of his larger-scaled projects to his own home. Like the Gene and Mae Festa residence, the William deCossy House was built on land of the former Trowbridge estate. It appears small from the street, with a tall stone wall hiding much of the front facade and windows to the living area. The whitewashed brick enhances the simple geometric form of the house.

As this tour illustrates, over the next decade, buildings throughout the city will reach the 50-year mark and potentially become eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In September 2020, the State Review Board approved the recommendation for the Pirelli Building, completed in 1970, for listing. If the nomination is approved by the National Park Services, the Pirelli Building will be the most recently constructed building in New Haven to be listed.

While age isn’t the only factor, let’s look ahead and consider what we should protect before it’s too late. After all, it was only a few short years ago that the Pirelli Building was threatened with complete demolition. Although it suffered a partial loss, it now stands as a call to reflect on the merits of the noteworthy buildings we see on this tour. As a group and yet in varied ways, they illustrate the transition from Modern to Postmodern. They deserve our attention and respect.

When using the map below, if the link does not open the interactive map for you, please copy and paste the following link in your browser: https://bit.ly/36Ob8Kv

Elizabeth Holt is the Director of Preservation Services at the New Haven Preservation Trust.

New Haven Preservation TrustOctober 9, 2020