Great architecture deserves our attention and care.
We abide by Charles Moore's observation that great buildings benefit from energy and care and attention.
The more you put in, the more they give back.
"Bread cast on the water," he famously quipped, "float back club sandwiches."
Priority Pop-Up Preservation Project
In January 2023, the temperature in Austin plummeted to 14* F.
The courtyard pool pump froze, cracked, and all the water drained away in the middle of the night.
It is time to re-plaster, since the original 1986 surface is cracked, bleached, and pock-marked.
The budget for this important project, including a new energy-saving pump, is $15,000.
We are rallying contributions to make this project a reality. Now that Kevin has—virtually singlehanded—rebuilt the courtyard, this preservation project will make the place sing once again.
We are so grateful for our global support for this project!
HOUSTON
The Susan Vaughan Foundation
NAPA
Susan Deal Booth (Preservationist & Winemaker)
CHICAGO
Jeanne Gang (Architect)
Kevin Harrington (Architectural Historian)
Elaine Harrington (Curator & Textile Expert)
Constantine Vasilios (Architect)
Richard Sciortino (Brinshore Development)
DALLAS & MARFA
Robert Meckfessel (President, DOCOMOMO US
Patricia Meckfessel (Artist)
CHARLESTON
Hayden Cadwallader
(In Memory of Bobby & Laura Cadwallader)
PINE PLAINS
Leah Cadwallader
ACCRA & LONDON & NEW YORK CITY
David Adjaye (Architect)
AUSTIN
Sandy Fiedorek (Artist)
David Heymann (Architect & Professor)
Eugene Sepulveda (Entrepreneur) & Steven Tomlinson (Minister)
Tess & Greg Peters (Moore Foundation Neighbors)
Diana Keller (Division Six) & Frank Aldridge (Circa Capital)
Susan Morehead (Folk Art Expert & Author)
Joe & Janis Pinnelli (Builders)
Mike Sciortino (Brinshore Development)
Scott Gill & Bill Stegeman (Astor & Longwood)
Chip & Karen Oswalt (Moore Foundation Neighbors)
Elizabeth Danze & John Blood (Architects)
SAN FRANCISCO
Eric Haesloop (Architect)
LOS ANGELES
Katie Horak (Preservationist)
GUILDFORD
Kent & Nona Bloomer
When the architect David Adjaye visited the Compound in 2019, he was the very first who stepped into the courtyard and immediately said, "Clearly Charles Moore loved Schinkel!"
David was spot on.
Moore celebrated and wrote about the 19th-century Prussian architect Karl Freidrich Schinkel. His "Roman Bath" at Sanssouci Park in Potsdam (above) provided all kinds of enthusiasms, such as the arbors, pools, stairs, and brilliant sectional play.
Charles Moore also admired Geoffrey Bawa’s residential compound Lunuganga in Sri Lanka.Since animals roamed the property, there were many watering tanks whose surfaces reflected the lush canopies.
Kevin and high school intern Ella met with a tradesman to discuss how decades of chlorine, yellow oak pollen, and UV have bleached the surface.
South Elevation Restoration
Starting in 2013, we have been systematically restoring each of the Compound's elevations.
The South Elevation, which stretches across the Main Studio, Cube Loft, and Andersson House is the VERY LAST elevation we need to complete.
Once we are finished, we will have restored the ENTIRE "skin" of the Compound, including a new roof.
This work requires several layers:
- Repair of cracked foundation wall with epoxy.
- Replacement of plywood siding with Hardie panel.
- Replacement of wood trim, fascias, and soffits with Hardie materials.
- Replacement of 10 casement windows.
- Replacement of wood battens.
- Caulking and painting.
- Reconstruction of limestone block wall.
Foundation director Kevin Keim has already rebuilt the new Western Red Cedar barn door to replace the original.
We are so grateful to James Hardie for contributing the panels and boards we need to complete this project.
And we are grateful to all the Charles Moore Foundation friends who have already donated to make this work a reality:
ESSEX, CONNECTICUT
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA & SHANGHAI
John Ruble & Cecily Young
Buzz Yudell & Tina Beebe
PORTLAND, OREGON
Jane Jarrett & David McCarthy
AUSTIN, TEXAS
Elizabeth Danze & John Blood
MIAMI, FLORIDA
David Harrison
THE SEA RANCH, CALIFORNIA
Maynard Hale Lyndon & Lu Wendell Lyndon
Lyndon Design Gallery
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
Peter & Patricia Keim
Charles Moore House
Textile Preservation & Restoration
Since textiles fade with age and UV, the Foundation's Director learned to sew and has been renewing pillows, cushions and fabrics in the Charles Moore House.
The textiles come from a range of places—Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Finland.
While some cushions could be carefully disassembled with a seam ripper, reversed, and re-sewn to extend their lives, others were replaced with textiles Charles Moore kept in storage.
