Preservation Research Office in partnership with Modern STL presents:
A Preservation Ellipsis: The AAA Building and Our Recent Architectural History
Saturday, September 29 at 1:00 p.m.
FORM Contemporary Design Show, 1521 Washington Avenue
Michael R. Allen will give a talk tracing the idea of preserving the AAA Building around to the fire that destroyed the AAA’s previous building on that site in 1975. Theme will run through various episodes in recent architectural history including preservation of the Old Courthouse and the riverfront clearance of the early 1940s, the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe in the 1970s and the relocation of the statue of Friedrich Schiller from St. Louis Place Park to across the street from Kiel Opera House in 1975. Weaving through the connections of several moments, the talk shows how we shape and reshape our sense of place through continual reinvention of the built environment.
This talk is part of the FORM Contemporary Design Show, and annual exhibition of contemporary furniture, functional objects, architecture and design. FORM is a project of the Luminary Center for the Arts.