Ecology of Absence Has a New Home

The venerable and vital blog Ecology Of Absence has moved to new digs inside the Preservation Research Office, which is Michael Allen’s business and website.

We still have everything we love about EOA as long as we change our bookmarks and RSS feeds to:
http://preservationresearch.com/

And I’m sneaking one other bit of website news onto the tail end of the PRO news…

Defining Downtown at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the Bank Building & Equipment Corporation of America is a thorough catalog of this design-build firm’s work across our nation.

I’ll give you the shortcut straight to the Missouri/St. Louis bits, and you’ll instantly see why this site is so fabulous:
St. Louis MCM by Bank Building & Equip Corp.

Beer, Bands, Bricks & Kitsch

New Additions to the Soulard Stable Hootenanny…

FILM

Bill Streeter will show am exclusive sneak preview of footage from his documentary Brick By Chance & Fortune: A St. Louis Story.
He’ll also air some of his favorite Lo-Fi Saint Louis clips.
Details straight from Streeter’s fingertips.

PRIZES

Galen Gondolfi of Fort Gondo is donating a choice pile of kitsch bric-a-brac as $1 a ticket raffle prizes.  Items will be on display and small enough to cart of while drunk, if you win one.

Michael Allen has a beautiful summary of why we’re fighting and celebrating.

What Anti-Wrecking Ball: Soulard Stable Hootenanny
Where Stahl Stable, 2412 Menard Street, 63104
When 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 22
Cost $10 benefits the Friends of the San Luis and the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation
Bands Union Electric, Leadville & Pretty Little Empire
Beer 2 Schlafly kegs

Soulard Stable Hootenanny, see ya there!

Walking Tour of CWE MCM, May 17th

From Landmarks Association:

Sunday, May 17, 2009:  Film and Walking Tour

This was the Future: Mid-Century Modern Architecture on Lindell Blvd.
10:00 a.m.
Begin inside the Chase Park Plaza Cinema, 212 N. Kingshighway

Have a mid-century modern morning in May! A screening of the new short documentary San Luis: This Was the Future tells the story of the threatened San Luis Apartments.  After the 10 minute film, Toby Weiss of beltstl.com and Michael Allen (ecology of absence) will lead a walking tour of the many mid-century treasurers along Lindell Boulevard, where modern design flourished between World War II and the 1970s.  The walk will run from the Chase Park Plaza Hotel to Vandeventer and back, so be prepared for serious walking.

See a free movie, take a free tour, get a little exercise, get a lot of knowledge… there are worse ways to spend a Sunday morning!  Please do join us Sunday if you can.  Michael is the brains of the outfit, I’ll be the “little song, little dance, a little seltzer down the pants.”  It promises to be a good time.

This Was The Future

Towards the effort to save the San Luis, a documentary was made in 48 hours over the first weekend in March 2009. I was honored to be asked to be a part of this adventure, and a big round of applause to everyone involved. You’re all brilliant.

There are plans for a proper screening in May during Preservation Week (details forthcoming), but you can watch it now.  It’s less than 8 minutes long, so watch it a couple of times, and pass it around.  It’s an easy way to raise the profile of a building longing to be spiffed up and returned to its glamorous life.