Docomomo Central Texas Tour Day 2014

This Saturday (11 October 2014), the MidTexMod chapter of docomomo_us will host their component of the national Tour Day event which highlights modern architecture across the country. Last year's tour featured the architecture of John S Chase in East Austin. This year's will focus on the midcentury houses and churches of Milton Ryan. I will be speaking on Ryan's church architecture and its relation to the concept of domus ecclesiae in modern church architecture as we visit University Presbyterian Church. Adjacent to Trinity University, O'Neil Ford initially designed a lift-slab church with translucent marble windows for the congregation before Milton Ryan drew from the best of modern residential architecture to create the award-winning tent-form building that was eventually built. We will compare the two designs and explore the history of this church and Ryan's other church in Victoria.

Here are the event details and schedule from MidTexMod:

Mark your calendars and join us for docomomo Tour Day 2014. Mid Tex Mod is pleased to partner with Nest Modern to host a tour of three Milton Ryan properties in the San Antonio area.

Milton Ryan, born in Rockport in 1904, was an architect who started his career designing neo-classical tract houses before turning to Modernism in the 1950s. Ryan is best known for his Mid-Century Modern houses in the Terrell Hills neighborhood. As his work has often been overshadowed by that of his San Antonio contemporary O'Neil Ford, our organization is excited to highlight some of Ryan's residential and institutional work.

We are thrilled to begin Tour Day with lectures about Milton Ryan by Stephen Fox and Jason John Paul Haskins, followed by tours showcasing three of Ryan's commissions. Below is a general schedule of the day's events. A brochure with more specific information and addresses will be provided at University Presbyterian Church. Tickets are not required, but we will be accepting donations at the door (with a $5 suggested donation).

Please email midtexasmod@gmail.com to RSVP.

Schedule

1:00 p.m. – Meet and tour University Presbyterian Church at 300 Bushnell Ave., San Antonio. (The church's parking lot is accessed from Shook Ave.)

1:30 p.m. – Lectures on Milton Ryan and his work:

“The Architecture of Milton A. Ryan” by architectural historian Stephen Fox, Fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas.

“Milton Ryan and the Domestic Modern Church” by Jason John Paul Haskins, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C.

2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. - Tours of two Milton Ryan houses in Terrell Hills. The houses are located on Eventide Drive. More specific information and directions will be provided at University Presbyterian Church.

5:00 p.m.- Reception at NEST Modern, 340 East Brasse Road in San Antonio, with light refreshments and wine