A Choice for Jacksonville
When it comes to the city’s decisions about demolishing some of its older buildings without a plan in place, many local architects don’t find much to celebrate.
Great Houses in Jacksonville’s History
Jacksonville has had its share of grand mansions, and nearly every generation has produced at least one preeminent home that has stood out as the city’s showplace. Most of these are gone now, having fallen to the vagaries of fire, changing fashions, and real estate development. But these grand homes of yesteryear still linger in our collective conscience.
The New Frontier in Porcelain
SapienStone is crafted from ceramic clays and mineral colorings … and thanks to this unique manufacturing process, these slabs will not be altered by heat, light, or chemical cleaners and disinfectant products. These gorgeous surfaces were designed by Iris Ceramica Group S.p.A., a world leader in the production of top quality porcelain and high-tech ceramics for more than fifty years. Their goal was to develop a product that would be visually stunning, provide outstanding performance and be practical in residential and commercial applications.
Crane Ramen: A Restaurant Designed to Comfort and Inspire
Crane Ramen, located in Historic Five Points in Riverside, is a lively, comfortable place to enjoy a bowl of its uniquely crafted noodle soups. In the dining room, designer Larry Wilson of DesignMind features original works by North Florida artists, including a series of tranquil botanical drawings.
Activating Jacksonville’s Riverfront
The American Institute of Architects’ visionary plan for a series of riverfront activity nodes, first brought to light in the 2016 Architecture Issue of Arbus, is fast becoming a reality under the guidance of Councilwoman Lori Boyer. The plan calls for a series of connected destinations along the St. Johns River designed to engage our community and attract tourism. Last year’s City Council president is eager to update readers about what she now refers to as Jacksonville’s “Riverfront Activation Plan.”
The Haydon Burns Library: A Case Study in Preservation
Designed by innovative Jacksonville architect Taylor Hardwick, the new library was like nothing else the city had ever seen. Its façade featured eighty-eight cast-concrete sculpted fins, each nineteen feet tall, which mimicked the windswept profiles of popular automobiles of the era. The fins created ever-changing shadow patterns and added to the harmonic, almost musical rhythm of the exterior. (Architect Hardwick liked to point out that the number of fins on the library was the same as the number of keys on a piano.)
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