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2 Canal Street.International Trade Mart Building, World Trade Center, 1964-1966Designed by Edward Durell Stone (1902-1978) as a ship’s beacon, its cruciform plan emulating a compass, the ITM Tower originally housed importers-exporters, trade commissions, consulates, custom house brokers, and others interested in trade via the Port of New Orleans. The structure rises 33 stories, capped by a 360º-view observation deck and a “turntable” cocktail lounge. Since 1996 there were efforts to redevelop the lower 18 floors as a hotel, with a convention center above. The City of New Orleans is now considering demolition.

4 Canal Street. The Rivergate Exhibition Center, 1966-1968Designed by Louisiana Superdome architects Curtis & Davis (1947-1978). At the time of its completion, the Rivergate had the longest span thin-shell concrete barrel vault in the world, achieving three acres of uninterrupted floor space. It could accommodate 17,000 people as well as Mardi Gras floats. Preservation efforts failed in 1995. RAZED. Site now occupied by Harrah’s Casino.

RIVER TO RAMPART

442-444 Canal StreetThe Sanlin Building Façade, c. 1953Modernist aluminum sheathing unifies a series of 19th-century storefronts. Despite the clothes-hanger retail appearance of the enormous serpentine slab-serifed “S” and diminutive linear cursive “anlin,” the Sanlin functioned as a multi-unit office building, housing Dun & Bradstreet’s operations on the first floor, and various shipping agents and stevedores on the upper stories.

800 Canal StreetGus Mayer Building (Now CVS Pharmacy), 1948Designed by the New Orleans firm Favrot & Reed (1934-1949), who were prominent along this artery. Their works included the Joy Theater (1200 Canal Street, 1946-47); a four-story brick building at 1024-1026 Canal Street (1935); and the Singer Sewing Machine Company (4176 Canal Street, 1949). Gus Mayer Company, Ltd. was a Birmingham-based department store specializing in women’s and children’s ready-to-wear. The Moderne structure has been redeveloped as a CVS Pharmacy since Hurricane Katrina.

900 Canal StreetWalgreen’s Pharmacy, 1938Louisiana governor Huey Long’s favorite firm, Weiss, Dreyfous & Seiferth (WDS, 1923-1940) designed this pharmacy as well as the State Capitol (1932). The Moderne structure is illuminated by its original neon sign. From the 1930s-1960s, Canal Street’s signage was almost exclusively neon. Two years after the building’s completion, the WDS firm dissolved amidst the Louisiana Hayride scandal that resulted in architect Leon Weiss’s incarceration.

1200 Canal Street. Joy Theater, 1946-1947Favrot & Reed designed this modern movie house to seat 1250, with three screens and a glass-enclosed soundproof “crying” room for mothers and babies. The marquee’s flutes harmonize with the vertical embellishments at the structure’s corners. The Joy closed its doors in 2003. Threatened by neglect.

RAMPART TO CLAIBORNE

1501 Canal Street.Former Texaco Building, 1951-1953The 17-story welded steel frame International Style building was the tallest on Canal Street at the time of its completion. It was partially sheathed in the type of g reen enamel -coa ted s tee l tha t adorned contemporary service stations. The Marais Street uppermost stories originally sported enormous red letters spelling TEXACO. Each sans-serif majuscule character was scaled to the height of a single floor; illuminated at night the letters were legible from the Mississippi River. The structure was designed by Louisiana/Texas architect Claude E. Hooton (1905-1993), who then worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill on the nearby Pan-American Life Insurance Building (2400 Canal Street, 1953). In 1984, Texaco moved its offices to a new SOM-designed tower in the Central Business District, where SHELL and CHEVRON had also built corporate skyscrapers. Currently being redeveloped for an apartment building. NATIONAL REGISTER.

1900 Canal Street.Former Olivetti Building (Now Weiser Security Services), 1966Designed by Oklahoma native Charles Colbert (1921-2007), whose innovative New Orleans modernist buildings included the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School (1954/WORLD MONUMENTS FUND WATCH LIST). Between 1958 and 1973, the Italian Olivetti Company commissioned modernist showrooms from internationally acclaimed architects such as Carlo Scarpa, James Stirling, and Kenzo Tange. Here, Colbert employed oilfield pipes as sculptural elements inside and out. Originally, the structure’s clear glass displayed Olivetti typewriters & adding machines raised on cylindrical posts of varying heights. The building is currently threatened by the development of the 70-acre LSU/VA Medical Corridor.

CLAIBORNE TO BROAD

2400 Canal StreetFormer Pan-American Life Insurance Building, 1952Designed by the Chicago firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) along with Louisiana/Texas architect Claude E. Hooton. At the time of its completion, the structure was noted for its wraparound aluminum louvers, protection against the intense New Orleans sun. Damaged by vagrants after Hurricane Katrina, the building may be renovated as part of the proposed New Orleans VA Medical Corridor. NATIONAL REGISTER.

2425 Canal StreetFormer Caribe Building, 1958The Curtis & Davis firm designed this multi-unit office building and operated its New Orleans practice from here. Like many other modernist structures in the city, the Caribe has a concrete brise-soleil. Part of the lower portion that once provided shaded parking has been enclosed. Current tenants include Letterman’s, a reprographics company that services many of the city’s architects.

2650 Canal StreetFormer Whitney National Bank, 1964-1966Designed by the New Orleans firm Parham and Labouisse (1962-1972) as a branch of theWhitney National Bank. Built for $600,000, the structure features folded concrete canopies and white marble veneers. In 2009, the 22,800 ft.2 building sold for $1.32 M. In February 2010, the retail chain Family Dollar planned to demolish the building, but the Historic District Landmarks Commission successfully promoted adaptive reuse.

BEYOND BROAD

3700 Canal StreetGrace Episcopal Church, 1954Designed by August Perez, Jr. (1906-1998) and Associates. Although Perez studied with Beaux-Arts educated French Quarter architect Arthur Feitel, he never graduated from architecture school. Perez was the head draughtsman on the Louisiana State Capitol Building (1932), working under Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth. He became a registered architect after passing the state examination. The structure’s small St. Matthias Chapel was intended to evoke a Spanish mission, and contains a modernist stained glass window designed by Emil Frei Studios of St. Louis.

DOCOMOMO US National Tour Day October 9, 2010Text by Keli Rylance. Layout by Francine Stock.

4140 Canal StreetAutomotive Life Insurance Building, 1963An especially innovative steel, concrete and glass Curtis & Davis structure, designed to celebrate the Automotive Life Insurance Company’s 25th Anniversary. The architects attempted to reconcile the office building with what was then a residential section of Canal Street – by evoking early Louisiana French architecture with its raised first floor and loggias.

4841 Canal StreetHope Mausoleum, 1931-1973Designed in distinctive phases by Albert R. Huber (1906-1973), a New Orleans Arts and Crafts Club member who had studied mausoleum architecture at Columbia University.“A breadth of 171 feet is distributed between two spacious sidewalks, and a wider neutral ground; both the sidewalks (called banquettes in New Orleans) and the neutral ground are paved in modernistic style with red and white terrazzo marble, reflecting the brilliant sunlight by day and the flood of electric lights by night.”

WPA Guide to New Orleans, 1938

4176 Canal StreetSinger Sewing Machine Building, 1949Designed in the International Style by Favrot and Reed, architects. This building has been designated as a landmark by the Historic District Landmarks Commission.

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modernism on canal street:a streetcar tour of endangered buildings

Canal Street is the primary mercantile artery through the city of New Orleans. In the 1920s it was touted as the Broadway of New Orleans, home to jazz venues and theatres. By the 1960s, its expanse was home to many of the city’s architectural offices. Julius Dreyfous, August Perez Jr., Sol Rosenthal, Solis Seiferth, and Curtis & Davis all maintained offices here. The street is now in flux. A number of important buildings have been razed, some are being reconditioned, and yet others are threatened with demolition.

Photograph by Third This

l o s t m o d e r n

t h r e a t e n e d

New Orleans Virtual Archive, Tulane School of Architecture

Photograph by p i n k i e s t y l e

t h r e a t e n e d

Photograph by Francine Stock

Photograph by Francine Stock

Photograph by Francine Stock

New Orleans Virtual Archive, Tulane School of Architecture

New Orleans Virtual Archive, Tulane School of Architecture

Photograph by Frank Lotz Miller

Photograph by Trevor Meeks

Preservation Resource Center, Advocacy Department

Photograph by Anthony DelRosario

Photograph by Frank Lotz Miller

Photograph by Francine Stock

Photograph by Francine Stock

Photograph by Francine Stock

d o c o m o m o l o u i s i a n a is a regional chapter of an international committee dedicated to the documentation and conservation of the buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement