Photograph, Susan Michael Barrett. Many species of birds share the neighborhood with us.
Several neighbors asked for more information about the Sarasota School of Architecture. In response, I'm delighted to share an excerpt from an essay Christopher Wilson wrote after a visit and walk around the Pineneedle neighborhood in September (2016). Email me if you'd like a copy of the entire essay.
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORICAL REPORT WILDEWOOD SPRINGS
BRADENTON, FLORIDA
Dr. Christopher S. Wilson, Architecture and Design Historian Ringling College Art + Design, Sarasota, Florida
Wildewood Springs was designed and constructed by architect Edward “Tim” Seibert, along with the developer Paul Neal, between 1975-1985. Seibert, born in 1927 and still actively involved with his firm Seibert Architects, is one of the original members of the “Sarasota School of Architecture” movement that flourished in southwest Florida, centered on Sarasota, between approximately 1945-1975.
The “Sarasota School of Architecture” movement was a regional variation of the modern architecture style that swept the globe following World War II. In addition to Tim Seibert, the architects associated with this movement – Ralph Twitchell, Paul Rudolph, Victor Lundy, Jack West, Gene Leedy, amongst others – attempted to blend together the minimal aesthetic of the 1920s/1930s Bauhaus School or “International Style” architectural experiments with the more humanistic or “organic” understanding of architecture as practiced by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and “The Prairie School.” The end result was a modern, minimal architectural aesthetic that adapted itself to its surroundings and the challenges of living in a hot and humid climate such as southwest Florida.
Wildewood Springs, while coming at the latter end of the Sarasota School movement, is, nonetheless, an excellent example of it. Aesthetically, the complex consists of plain, unadorned, cubic forms with flat roofs, made from white-stuccoed concrete blocks. Wood elements – such a louvers, privacy screens, pergolas and stair railings – contrast all the whiteness of the cubic forms with their natural dark color. These two colors – white and brown – form the entire exterior color scheme of the complex.
More importantly, for the purposes of belonging to the “Sarasota School,” the “village clusters” are designed as elements that sit within the landscape – not on top of it. Regarding this, Tim Seibert has said: “I went out and measured the branches on a spreading oak and jiggled the building around, so we didn’t have to cut at all.”2 Some units have views out of the buildings towards water or forested areas, while other units have their own private courtyards. Windows facing the parking area, which generally belong to the kitchen, contain wooden louvers that when open allow for air flow – a form of passive air-conditioning.
Wildewood Springs is a significant example of both modern architecture and the Sarasota School of Architecture – especially because of its scale: while most of the best examples are single, stand-alone buildings, Wildewood Springs is an entire neighborhood spread out over 88 acres, proving that the modern style and Sarasota School design ideology could also work at a larger scale than just a house.
2 Chris Angermann, “Market Snapshot: Wildewood Springs, Bradenton,” Sarasota Herald- Tribune, April 12, 2013.
The following photographs were taken by Susan Michael Barrett.
The following photographs were taken by Susan Michael Barrett.
