Remembering Tim Seibert, architect of Wildewood Springs

A delightful moment with Tim Seibert before his talk at the Hiss House. 

SarasotaMOD week, 2016. Photo by Lynn Seibert.

Timothy J. Seibert, the architect of Wildewood Springs and Spring Lakes, has died at age 91. He was one of the founding members of the Sarasota School of Architecture. 

The Sarasota School architecture is characterized by its adaptation of modern architecture to the Florida climate—large sunshades, natural ventilation systems, full height sliding glass doors, single depth floor plans (no corridors), and walls of jalousie windows.  

Inflected by local climate, construction practices, regional culture, and Florida life-style, the work of the Sarasota School of Architecture founded by Ralph Twitchell and counting Paul Rudolph, Edward "Tim" Seibert, Mark Hampton, Victor Lundy, Gene Leedy, Jack West and Carl Abbott among its practitioners, marks a high point in the development of regional modernism in American architecture. - Sarasota Architectural Foundation

I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Tim about Wildewood Springs before a talk held in the Hiss House in Lido Shores. What a delight! It ignited my curiosity and interest to learn more about our hidden jewel, Wildewood Springs. I shared what I learned with neighbors at Board meetings.

I am deeply grateful for Tim's art and to live in a building designed by him. 

I treasure his vision to create dwellings that worked with the habitat—to build under the tree canopy of mostly slash pine, sabal palms, and Southern Live Oak trees. 

I am grateful for Tim's friendship with Paul Neal (senior) and that they cared about this extraordinary Florida habitat. Together they measured distances from the stately oak trees for the site plan to make room for both the trees and buildings. It was rare, and mostly still is rare, to not clearcut the land.

Because Tim and Paul protected the habitat, our community is an Audubon Wildlife-Certified area. It is a privilege to share this neighborhood with a wealth of wildlife diversity. 

As a year-round resident, I appreciate the simplicity in his design and one that accentuates living outdoors. The sunrise and sunset light quality continues to delight us. In mid-summer, I see his thoughtfulness in creating a design that softens the bright light and oppressive heat. In our unit, we do not have window coverings because the design allows this. We can open the doors at night on two walls. As if camping out, we see the trees, hear the owls, and sometimes, some pretty loud frogs courting.

I am grateful to Janet Minker, past chair of the Sarasota Architecture Foundation (SAF), and her dynamic and tireless effort to educate our community about Sarasota School's architects and their contributions.

Janet also helped our Association's Board connect with Tim Seibert and his firm, Seibert Architects, now led by Sam Holladay. Without Tim's help, we would not have received Sam's recommendations to Wildewood Springs and Spring Lakes for mid-century modern replacements when needed. Because of Tim, Sam agreed to work with Terry Barrett and the WWIIA Board's committee. Sam gave our Association over $4,000 in-kind services, making site visits and creating THIS LIST  of specs, which has been shared with Wildewood Springs and posted here on this blog. So, if anyone asks if someone has talked to the original architect for replacement recommendations compatible with the architecture (a question we asked when we moved here), the answer is yes. 

I am grateful that the recommendations are available so that if residents so choose, they have the information they need.

I am grateful to several neighbors (Rosalie Weiss and Martie Lieberman, to name two) who live or have lived in Wildewood and are long-time contributors and volunteers with the SAF. They connected many of us with other Sarasota School enthusiasts, such as Christopher Wilson, architecture historian at Ringling College, to celebrate the work of Tim Seibert.

Wildewood Springs, an example of the Sarasota School of Architecture

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.

A chat with Tim Seibert about Wildewood before the Hiss Studio Talk

Hiss Studio. Designed and built in 1952 by Tim Seibert. 

Photo credit: Sarasota Architecture Foundation.

In November I attended the Hiss Studio Talk given by Tim Seibert (architect of Wildewood Springs) and Carl Abbott. This was an event organized by the Sarasota Architectural Foundation as part of Sarasota Modern Week.

They talked about the Hiss Studio/House, which was designed by Tim. It's located in Lido Shores. Here is a photograph I took after entering the front door.

Before the talk, Tim and I talked about Wildewood Springs and our experience living on Longboat Key (I lived on LBK for 23 years, when there were many rattlesnakes!) Though we've exchanged emails, this was the first time I met him, someone I've long admired. I'm grateful for his choice to design the Wildewood structure under the tree canopy utilizing over-sized doors, protection from the sun, cross-ventilation, and sensitivity to the natural environment. I feel like I'm outside even when I'm inside.

Lynn Seibert took our picture. 

Tim Seibert, Susan Michael Barrett

ABOUT PHILIP HISS AND TIM SEIBERT (more information on this video)
Philip Hiss is a bit of a hero to local teachers. "He was a father of seven children. He realized that to make a change he'd have to get involved in the schools (Lorrie Muldowney)." So, he did.

As chair of the Sarasota County School Board, Hiss worked with his fellow board members and the superintendent of schools to learn about and use architecture to create schools that enhance learning. He guided the board away from having one monolithic building to a cluster setting of many buildings oriented to avoid direct sunlight, designed to let the air flow through, and easy access for teachers and students to work outdoors. 

"[Philip Hiss and the other founders] were a half century ahead of their time in promoting active, hands-on learning to achieve competence and real mastery. The concepts of New College's education philosophy...appealed to the every best students across the country. Such was New College's unique role in the world of academia...." (New College). 

Wildewood Springs designed by Edward J. ("Tim") Seibert and built by Paul (and Pat) Neal

Wildewood Springs IIA, Pineneedle Drive

Wildewood Springs is a neighborhood situated in a shaded, mostly live-oak and pine hammock in Bradenton, Florida. Wildewood IIA is made up of 54 units and called Pineneedle Village. Wildewood IIA has its own home owners association. The condominium structure was built in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Wildewood Springs (including Wildewood IIA) was the brainchild of architect Tim Seibert and developer Paul Neal, father of well-known and award-winning developer Pat Neal. Paul, Jr., a retired lawyer, and his son Pat Neal created Neal Communities in the early 70s. 

Tim Seibert helped to create what is today known as the Sarasota School of Architecture, a modernist mid-century style that makes the most of south Florida's humid subtropical climate.

Tim Seibert is perhaps the most prolific practitioner of the Sarasota School of Architecture...Seibert still remembers the initial creative vision [of Wildewood Springs]. 'We decided that it was time to try a condominium project without the ‘goop’ — cut-out mansard roofs, fake shutters and fake light fixtures of wrought iron — something that was modernist architecture.'

'I went out and measured the branches on a spreading oak and jiggled the building around, so we didn’t have to cut [the tree] at all,' Seibert recalled. 'Paul made me do it — he wanted it done right.'

'It was economical,' he said. 'The materials — concrete blocks and wood framing — were white and the wood was brown. There is beautiful landscaping between buildings, and they relate nicely to each other.'

The wide, wooden louvers on the windows were designed to be functional to open up and encourage air flow or “passive air conditioning,” as it was called then. 'It was green building before its time,' Seibert said. (Chris Angermann and Harold Bubil, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2013).