A monorail over the James. A house on Cherokee Road designed to look like a crescent moon. A high-rise apartment building on Franklin Street that features cantilevered floors in an effort to resemble a tree.
These are a few of the modern designs that will be exhibited as part of Modern Richmond’s pop-up event this Wednesday at the Library of Virginia. [This event has already sold out, but future events are in the works].
The idea behind the small, informal event is to highlight “really beautiful drawings created to imagine places in Richmond” and show that the library’s archives are rife with “treasures available for any interested person to observe and appreciate,” says Mimi Sadler, director of programs and secretary for Modern Richmond. “It’s just a remarkable record that [the library] houses for our pleasure and education, and most people aren’t aware that it’s available to them.”
Designs highlighted by the not-for-profit include those by Haigh Jamgochian, a late local architect best known for designing the Markel Building, an iconic structure in Willow Lawn that is often compared to a UFO or a baked potato wrapped in aluminum. The building opened in 1965.
“Jamgochian is a local celebrity in the architecture world,” says Dale Neighbors, visual studies collection coordinator for manuscripts and special collections at LOV. “Only two of his designs were ever built.”
The other structure was the so-called “Moon House” that once stood on Cherokee Road. As the story goes, after Jamgochian designed the Markel Building, local used car dealer Howard “Mad Man Dapper Dan” Hughes asked him to design a house that was “out of this world.” Jamgochian responded with a crescent moon-shaped structure encased in crumpled copper and glass. The design garnered international press when it was unveiled in 1967. The house was torn down in 2005 after falling into disrepair.
“This house is very 1950s, sort of Jetson-like. Very futuristic,” says Sadler, adding that it was “filled with furniture that was custom designed for the house.”
Jamgochian’s “Tree House” design was similarly striking. A picture of the planned 15-story apartment building at East Franklin and Foushee streets was published in May 1962 by the Central Richmond Association, a precursor to today’s Venture Richmond. Richmond City Council didn’t approve of Jamgochian’s idea.
The event will also showcase plans created circa 1969 by Williamsburg-based architect Carlton Abbott for the James River Park System. Abbott, who is considered by many to be “the dean of Virginia architects,” was commissioned to devise a parks plan by the Richmond Department of Recreation and Parks. Those plans included a fountain, conference center, auditorium and restaurants on Belle Isle; the island would be connected to the city’s downtown by monorail.
While the $6 million plan wasn’t realized, the city did build Abbott’s steel footbridge that crosses over the railroad tracks to connect Riverside Drive to James River Park; he also designed Paradise Park and Scuffletown Park in the Fan.
Fans of Charles F. Gillette, Virginia’s most prominent landscape architect, may be surprised to learn of his assistance in designing the Reynolds Metals Company International Headquarters in Henrico. Better known for the restoration and re-creation of historic gardens on country estates and houses on Monument Avenue, Gillette worked in collaboration with Gordon Bunshaft of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to design the 121-acre site that hosts an International Style building complex. The campus currently serves as the headquarters for Altria Group.
Though the bulk of LOV’s architectural archive relates to older designs, Neighbors says their holdings continue to grow through donations.
“We have a vast collection of architectural drawings and plans, probably several hundred thousand drawings at least,” Neighbors says. “People come to us often expecting to find the historical ones, but they don’t always think of more modern things.”
Modern Richmond’s pop-up event will take place on Feb. 22 at noon at the Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St. This event is already sold out. Modern Richmond’s next event is a tour of the 2200 at Cary townhomes on March 15. For more information, visit modernrichmond.org.
