Concrete privacy in the Madmen era

              The Historic
Dimension Series
A student publication series by the UNCG Department of Interior Architecture
Concrete Privacy in the
Madmen Era
by Shelley Gates 		 Spring 2013
There is a connection
between pierced deco-rative
concrete screen
walls and the Atomic Age that is cemented
in the collective vocabulary of mid-century
modernism. Screen walls are easily recog-nizable
in many aspects of architecture and
design. They were first utilized as exterior
building facades and interior dividers, then
as privacy fences in the sprawling suburbs
of post-World War II America. The initial
use of concrete screen walls in high archi-tecture
was seen as revolutionary, and the
transition from high design to do-it-yourself
projects in the suburbs was inevitable as the
product was such an economical building
material that the style of renowned archi-tects
could be emulated in every suburban
neighborhood across the country. Although
concrete screen walls are most frequently
associated with the Populuxe style of Las
Vegas and Palm Springs, they can be found
in every geographic region in the United
States. As Atomic Age materials and struc-tures
are just coming of age to be considered
for preservation, and there is little research
on concrete screen walls, it is unclear
whether particular block patterns relate to
regional vernaculars.
Concrete Block’s Beginnings
Historically, the 19th century ushered in the
use of decorative concrete masonry units as
an economical alternative building material
that had visual qualities similar to stone.
As decorative attributes of concrete block
evolved, architects began to incorporate
them in their designs to express a modern
aesthetic. American architect Frank Lloyd
Wright experimented with decorative con-crete
units in the 1920s, as expressed in La
Miniatura, a home commissioned by Alice
Millard, in Los Angeles. This is an example
of Wright’s experimentation with concrete
units, not only as a building material, but
also as a decorative element that came to be
known as textile block.
Architectural innovation came to a halt
during World War II, but the Atomic Age of
postwar America proved to be the expres-sive
outlet for architects who had been
temporarily stifled. Building projects across
the country expressed the post-war eco-nomic
(and baby) boom in the United States.
While concrete was used prior to World War
II, it proved to be an affordable, malleable
material for the quickly constructed envi-ronments
that still remain symbols of the
Atomic Age.
Decorative Concrete in High Architecture
The Madmen Era is responsible for iconic
concrete structures such as Eero Saarinen’s
TWA terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport
in New York, James Langheim’s Theme
Tower at the Los Angeles International
Airport in Los Angeles, CA, and Edward
Durell Stone’s United States Embassy build-ing
in New Delhi, India. “A few architects,
notably Eero Saarinen and Edward Durell
Stone caught the public imagination and
contributed to the development of Populuxe
design” (Populuxe, 14). Edward Durell
Stone is, arguably, single-handedly respon-sible
for bringing the pierced concrete block
screen wall into the collective consciousness
“It was
inevitable
that such a
simple, in-expensive
and practical
device would
immediately
become a
part of the
vocabulary
and would
have wide
and indis-criminate
usage.”
Edward
Durell Stone
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 2
Fig. 3: Edward Durell Stone’s personal brownstone in
New York City. Concrete Block Screen Wall
of the world. A list of architects who were incorporat-ing
concrete screen units into their Madmen architecture
“reads like a ‘who’s-who’ of postwar design: Welton
Becket; Charles Luckman; Skidmore, Owings, and Mer-rill;
Victor Gruen; and Morris Lapidus ,” according to
Anthony Rubano (2000), of the Illinois Historic Preserva-tion
Agency (p. 3-94).
Edward Durell Stone was a prolific postwar architect
whose designs can be seen throughout the United States
and around the world. It is clear that he found the
playfulness of voids and solids an important design ele-ment
as he employed them, in many other materials, in
his earlier designs. His fascination and implementation
of voids and solids in his designs anticipates a natural
progression to concrete screen in his work. As stated by
Rubano (2000), “His 1954 American embassy in New
Delhi [is] the building that thrust screen block into the
international spotlight” (p. 3-90).
Screening buildings in hot climates is an ancient build-ing
tradition. Intricate screens can be found in India,
Asia, the Middle East, etc. Stone modernized the screen
by assigning different materials and forms to it. In
New Delhi, the exterior screen wall was molded on
the building site in a terrazzo of concrete and marble
aggregate. The blocks were each hand-polished before
being constructed into the screen that they became. The
end result was a thoroughly modern structure that was
sympathetic to the building traditions of the region.
Stone received accolades for his design and implemen-tation
of construction of the US embassy in New Delhi
and brought concrete screen walls to the forefront of the
American (sub) consciousness.
Stone designed several projects across the United States
that introduced concrete screen walls to local popula-tions.
The reason for the use of concrete screen in the US
was for shade and privacy as opposed to the shade and
ventilation of ancient traditions as it was applied in New
Delhi. Stone appreciated concrete screen walls so much
that he remodeled his personal brownstone in New
York City with a concrete screen façade that extended
the full height of the building. Stone (1962) said of his
screen wall, “In my opinion, the grille is the perfect solu-tion
to the problem of privacy in lower floors of apart-ments
and town houses” (p.141). In a Modernist age in
which screen walls were seen as extraneous decoration,
Stone (1962) touted the “…architectural problems they
solve…” as an important reason to employ them (p. 142).
High Architecture comes to the Madmen Suburbs
The DIY movement of postwar American suburbs
made concrete screen walls a ubiquitous part of Mad-men
Era neighborhoods. They became popular because
the blocks were inexpensive and the screen walls were
relatively easy to assemble, which made them a great
weekend project. Pierced concrete screen walls became a
quick, cheap, and easy way to modernize and customize
the exterior appearance of the cookie cutter ranches of
the Atomic Age. They were most frequently built as pri-vacy
fencing around yards, pools, and carports however
the screens sometimes found their way into interiors
as well. In interior spaces, concrete screens were used
as low-wall room dividers, and blocks became anchors
for do-it-yourself bookshelves, supporting planks of
wood between them. As Stone (1962) expressed, “It was
inevitable that such a simple, inexpensive and practical
device would immediately become a part of the vocabu-lary
and would have wide and indiscriminate usage” (p.
142). It is estimated by some concrete companies that
between eighty and ninety percent of all pierced con-crete
block was used in fencing. Of that, approximately
half was purchased by do-it-yourselfers (Rubano, 2000,
p. 3-95).
Fig. 2: Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at JFK in New
York. Design in Concrete.
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 3
Fig. 4: Typical Usage of Concrete Screen in Postwar
Neighborhood. Carport, Statesville, NC.
Fig. 5: Pierced Concrete Block Patterns. CCMA 1993.
Concrete Block South of the Mason Dixon Line
Edward Durell Stone designed and constructed award-winning
buildings throughout the southeastern United
States. Some of these structures utilized the pierced
concrete block, others employed design elements that
implied pierced concrete block. Stone’s designs in North
Carolina and South Carolina firmly planted the Madmen
aesthetic south of the Mason Dixon Line.
For example, pierced concrete screen walls and the
Myrtle Beach strip was a match made in heaven. In
1954, Hurricane Hazel cleared land which presented
an opportunity for the Populuxe building wave to hit
the Myrtle Beach strip. Hurricane Hazel leveled homes
and small vacation rentals, making room for the quickly
built motor courts that maximized the numbers of visi-tors
to Myrtle Beach, making it one of the most popular
vacation destinations in the southeast. Almost all of the
newly constructed, mom-and-pop motor courts made
use of concrete screens in some form. They could be
found around pools and parking lots, on patios and bal-conies,
and as screens for exterior stairwells. The appear-ance
of concrete screen walls, industry claims regarding
their virtual indestructability, and their cost effective-ness
made them an extremely popular choice in Myrtle
Beach. As stated by Katherine Fuller (2003), a good por-tion
of the concrete block used in construction in Myrtle
Beach came from the Adams Concrete Company in
Kinston, North Carolina (p. 160). Interestingly, concrete
screen walls remained popular in Myrtle Beach long
after they lost popularity in other parts of the country.
In North Carolina and South Carolina, concrete screen
walls can be found in a variety of buildings. They are
frequently found as elements on multi-family residen-tial/
commercial buildings, such as apartments, motels,
and college dormitories, commercial buildings, and in
pockets of postwar suburban neighborhoods.
Concrete Facts
Concrete blocks are manufactured with Portland ce-ment,
aggregate, sand, and water (Gesimondo & Postell,
2011). Decorative concrete block is most frequently cast
in a mold, although some are made by hand. The newly
molded blocks are then cured which is most commonly
achieved using “steam at atmospheric pressure, a proce-dure
that gives high early strength and maturity” (Ruba-no,
2000, p. 3-96). Most blocks that are manufactured us-ing
this method exploit full voids that establish a unique
pattern for the block; however, some blocks are created
using molds that fabricate a decorative terrain within the
block. When these blocks were built as a screen wall, the
individual pattern of each block gave way to the blanket
of pattern that was created, yielding uniquely patterned
walls that had visual interest and depth from the playful
shadows that were cast.
The typical size of decorative block is 12”x 12”x 4”
(or 6”), however some patterns are produced as 12”x
18”x 4” (or 6”) block. Concrete screen walls are most
commonly constructed with a stack bond, making the
patterning in the block the focal point. While stack bond
is subordinate in an expanse of screen masonry wall,
it contributes to the inability of the screen wall to bear
loads. According to Rubano (2000), the load-bearing
capability of pierced concrete block is “only their own
weight up to twenty feet” (p. 3-89). “Likewise, the non-bearing
screen used to fill an opening in a load-bearing
masonry wall is designed in the same manner as a win-dow”
(NCMA TEK, 1970).
Standard concrete masonry units (CMUs) are required to
have a compressive strength of approximately 1000 psi,
screen block units only have a compressive strength of
around 300psi (NCMA TEK, 1970). The psi of decorative
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 4
screen blocks is increased to >1000 psi when the pierced
cells are “parallel to the direction of the load” (NCMA
TEK, 1970). The combination of stack bond, hollow cells,
and the compressive strength of screen walls require
that vertical supports are added to screen wall struc-tures.
However, because the blocks have little surface
area and few places into which reinforcing bar can be
hidden, supporting screen walls must be executed differ-ently
from that of standard CMUs. “Screen block panels
must be supported at their vertical extremities by steel
columns, block columns, a combination of both set on a
footing, or other structural members” (ACI Committee
531 Report, as cited in Rubano, 2000, p. 3-90).
Concrete Deficiencies
While concrete is virtually indestructible, concrete block
screen walls are not! Most damage to screen walls is
from impact; however, structural issues can arise as well.
According to an NCMA TEK dated 1970, “due to [the]
fragile nature of screen walls, the use of steel reinforce-ment
is recommended wherever it can be embedded
in mortar joints, in bond beam courses, or grouted into
continuous vertical or horizontal cells” (NCMA TEK,
1970). By 1970, if not before, the fragility of screen block
was realized and acknowledged. However by 1970, the
popularity of concrete screen block had plummeted in
almost every region of the country. Many of the screens
erected during the rush of DIY projects in post War
suburban neighborhoods were showing signs of deterio-ration
by the end of the 1960s.
The fragility of concrete screens is a product of their
inability to bear loads, causing them to lack the compres-sive
pressure that would otherwise help to keep them in
place. That coupled with their one-block depth of four
to six inches, makes them susceptible to movement. As
Rubano (2000) states, movement of the wall from “mois-ture,
uneven foundation settlement, deflection, thermal
expansion and contraction,” can cause cosmetic stress
cracks, but less frequently cause structural shear cracks
(p. 3-96). Cosmetic cracks and other general mortar
deterioration can be easily repointed. Block that has sus-tained
shearing damage or other structural deterioration
has to be replaced. Walls that have come out of plane
must be reinforced or in some cases, taken apart and
rebuilt with proper reinforcement.
Preservation Questions
So how do we, as preservationists, determine the value
of an architectural detail in which individual compo-nents
were mass produced, but, as a whole detail, is so
concretely linked to a specific era that to lose the detail
would be a catastrophic loss to the overall architectural
fabric of that era? How do we assign a historic value to
an architectural detail that was not necessarily valued at
the time of its construction or use? In places like Myrtle
Beach, where real estate is at a premium, how do we
justify preserving a cheap material over economic devel-opment?
Many of the concrete companies that manufactured
pierced concrete block during the Atomic Age have been
continually doing so ever since; some companies have
been manufacturing them even longer. As suggested by
Rubano (2000), if the age of the block is the only differ-ence
between a new version and the original version,
replacing it with new block, “seems logical” (p. 3-97).
When possible, replacing damaged block with vintage
block is preferred; this may mean removing an original
block from a less conspicuous place within the screen to
use as a replacement, and replacing the one from a less
conspicuous place with a new one. While these options
may not be the most typically preservation-friendly
methods, they are the most cost effective. General repair
of concrete screen can be costly and time consum-ing.
Adding the task of tracking down vintage pierced
Fig. 7: Concrete Block Replacement. Alex Haley Dorm,
NC A&T.
Fig. 6: Methods of Reinforcement. Adams Concrete
Products Company.
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 5
concrete block can unnecessarily add to the amount of
money and time spent on the repair, especially when
identical new block can easily be obtained and is a much
more cost-effective alternative.
The Importance of the Madmen Era
Because of the relative newness of Madmen Era archi-tecture
and materials, and the mass production elements
associated with them, it can be difficult to realize the im-portance
of their preservation. But postwar architectural
details and domestic artifacts are extremely important
in telling the story of Modernism in the United States, as
Atomic Age architecture and materials embody a very
specific zeitgeist in American culture. They represent
recovery, ingenuity, and the do-it-yourself spirit.
Bibliography
Fuller, K. (2003). “Myrtle Beach: Music and Motels.” In
C. Stager & M. Carver (Eds.), Looking Beyond the High-way:
Dixie Roads and Culture. (pp. 153-165). Knoxville,
TN: University Of Tennessee Press.
Gesimondo, N. & Postell, J. (2011). Materiality and Interior
Construction. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hess, A. (2007). Frank Lloyd Wright Mid-Century Modern.
New York, NY: Rizzoli Publications Contributors: John
Zukowsky, Monica Ramirez-Montagut
Hine, T. (1986). Populuxe. New York, NY: Alfred A
Knopf, Inc.
NCMA TEK 5: Concrete Masonry Screen Walls. (1970).
Rubano, A. (2000). “The Grille is Gone: The Rise and
Fall of Screen Block.” In D. Slaton & W. Foulkes, Eds.,
Preserving the Recent Past 2. (pp. 3-89-3-99). Washington,
DC: Historic Preservation Education.
Stone, E. D. (1962). The Evolution on an Architect. NewY-ork,
NY: Horizon Press
Fig. 9: Concrete Screen Carport. Painted to Match Brick,
Huntersville, NC.
Fig. 8: Painted Concrete Screen Wall. Greensboro Inn,
Greensboro, NC
The Historic Dimension Series is a collection of briefs
prepared by UNCG students under the direction of
Professor Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll. For information on
other topics in the series please visit the website at
go.uncg.edu/hds
Image Credits
TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New York.
www.nyc-architecture.com/BNK/BNKCO2.htm
Block Designs. CCMA State Masonry Association. 1993.
Provided by David McQueen of Adams Concrete Prod-ucts
Company
Industry Advertising for Adams Concrete Products
Company. NCMA TEK. 1970.