The Jacksonville Historical Society

Just as Victorian architecture in the U.S. was widely obliterated 50 years ago, outstanding architecture of the 1950s through early 1970s has become increasingly imperiled by redevelopment and an appetite for newer – but not necessarily better – buildings.

Northeast Florida is home to exemplary works of modern architecture from the post-war era (sometimes referred to as “Mid-Century Modern” or the “Recent Past”) by esteemed architects such as Welton Becket FAIA, Paul Rudolph FAIA, Robert Broward, George Fisher, William Marshall AIA, William Morgan, and Taylor Hardwick.Here are some premier local examples of this modern style:

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Name	Architect	Date	Comment
Gulf Life Tower (now Riverplace Tower) 1301 Riverplace Blvd. South Bank	Welton Beckett & Assoc.	1965-67	Original 2 acre $25 million Gulf Life Center, which included the Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel. The tower was Jacksonville's tallest bldg, and the nation's tallest precast post tensioned concrete structure. Welton Becket and Associates, the firm responsible for Hollywood’s Capitol Records Building, Los Angeles’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Habana Hilton. This 27-story marvel was the tallest precast concrete building in the world until it was surpassed in 2002 by San Francisco’s Paramount Apartments .
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Haydon Burns Library Corner of Ocean & Adams St. Downtown	Taylor Hardwick	1965	Taylor Hardwick’s masterpiece. An icon of its time. A fully integrated work of art, inside and out. A hundred years from now, architectural historians who visit Downtown Jacksonville will want to see 2 buildings: Klutho’s St. James Building and Hardwick’s Haydon Burns Library
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Fletcher Building (FPIC) 1000 Riverside Ave. Riverside	Taylor Hardwick	1963	An iconic modern office building constructed in an older neighborhood. The repetitive geometric shapes celebrate the architect’s sense of delight and taunts the bland walls of earlier high-rise commercial buildings.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Unitarian Universalist Church 7405 Arlington Expy. Arlington	Robert Broward	1965	One of Bob Broward’s great masterpieces. Nature becomes the altar for this church, with the glass front connecting the congregation with the pond, sky, and trees.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Marion King Residence 5457 Weller Ave Clifton	Taylor Hardwick	1953	The best preserved of all Taylor's buildings. Even has original color scheme
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
The Butterfly House 7902 Wildwood Rd. Arlington	Robert Broward	1957	Was featured on the 1957 Parade of Homes. The unique roofline allows water to drain from the roof like a decorative fountain, in reverse.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Rawls Residence 2047 University Blvd. University Blvd.	William Morgan	1963	A stunning cantilevered home showcasing Morgan’s mastery of form, space, and concrete construction
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Arthur Milam Residence A1A – South Ponte Vedra Boulevard	Paul Rudolph	1962	Milam House, Paul Rudolph’s last design for a Florida residence and one of the most famous Modern buildings in Florida.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
St. Paul's by the Sea Episcopal Church 1150 5th Street North Jacksonville Beach	Blake Ellis	1966	St. Paul’s by the Sea was designed by Blake Ellis and completed in 1966. This is one ofthe foremost works by this Valdosta, Georgia, architect.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ (formerly Beaver Street Baptist) 2591 West Beaver Street Westside	Caleb & Dole Kelley	1962	This outrageously colorful church is one of the best local examples of folded-plate concrete construction.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments
William Morgan Residence 1945 Beach Avenue Atlantic Beach	William Morgan	1970	This extraordinary dune house in Atlantic Beach was designed by William Morgan as his own residence. It has been published in many national magazines.
Name	Architect	Date	Comments

Fifty years later it is yet more certain that Jacksonville’s most outstanding architectural triumphs came during the post-World War II years, with outstanding new structures peppering the landscape until economics and changing tastes brought this movement to a halt in the 1970s.

Post-war architecture from other Florida cities –Sarasota and Miami – has been aggregated under the labels “Sarasota School” and “Miami Modern” or (MiMo).

Jacksonville’s post-war architects operated in and responded to the same trends and influences witnessed elsewhere in the Florida. They put into play advanced materials and technologies, many of which were developed during the war effort. Many of their early residential structures display precepts of the Case Study House program which grew out of the magazine “Arts and Architecture” and its attempt to define progressive postwar living. Jacksonville architects at times made wide use of concrete -- cheap, abundant, and especially durable in Jacksonville’s relatively frost-free environment. Their work reflected the influence of the twentieth century’s most important architectural minds.

However; Jacksonville architecture of the period eludes broad categorization into a school or movement because it reflects no one fixed style. One architect, for example, often adhered to the principles of unity and organic architecture espoused by Frank Lloyd Wright. Another married the disparate influences of Pre-Columbian architecture, Le Corbusier, and Paul Rudolph. A third at times evoked the influences of Eero Saarinen with a creative use of color and playful concrete shapes drawn from nature.

Jacksonville’s post-war architecture also reflects the achievements of large local and national firms, who left their mark with fine examples of corporate architecture. The most outstanding of these is the Gulf Life Building (now Riverplace Tower) which was designed by Welton Becket and Associates, the firm responsible for Hollywood’s Capitol Records Building, Los Angeles’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Habana Hilton (now the Habana Libre). (Kemp, Bunch & Jackson collaborated on the Gulf Life Tower design.) This 27-story marvel was the tallest precast concrete building in the world until it was surpassed in 2002 by San Francisco’s Paramount Apartments and remains the world’s tallest precast, post-tensioned concrete building.

Jacksonville’s post-war architectural legacy is distinguished by its quality and its variety. It is hoped that increased awareness by Jacksonville citizens will lead to greater civic recognition of some of Jacksonville’s often-ignored cultural treasures.

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