Here We Go...

We are finally getting started on our Online Exhibit.  Our group is focusing on Charlotte Architecture.  The title of our exhibit is Building My Charlotte…(we are still working on this part).  We are focusing on 3 influential Charlotte Architects and postcards.  Yes, Postcards.  We will be examining how postcards reflect Charlotte Architecture and the stories they are meant to tell.  So many of the buildings we will be looking at were used as postcards.  Why?  Was this a kind of marketing or just an art form?      

The architect I chose is Louis Asbury.  Asbury, who lived almost 100 years (1877-1975), designed buildings that really shaped what Uptown Charlotte looks like today.  What I find most interesting is that he designed the first skyscraper in Charlotte, the First National Bank Building.  When it was completed, it was the tallest building in the Carolina’s.  I think this building more than any others that he designed really came to symbolize what Charlotte is known for today, towering banking buildings.

Asbury also designed other well-known Charlotte buildings:  the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, Mayfair hotel, Efrid’s Department Store and Myers Park Methodist Church.  Just to mention few. 

This is my first real research project and I am excited to get started. However, along with the excitement is a little trepidation.  This is the first step in this journey and I don’t want to stumble. 

Hmm… I hope I didn’t just scare my group mates!  Don’t worry ladies, I won’t let you down!