Victor A. Lundy Explained

Victor Lundy
Birth Date:	1 February 1923
Birth Place:	New York City, U.S.
Significant Design:	Sarasota School of Architecture

Victor Alfred Lundy (born February 1, 1923)^[1] is an American architect. An exemplar of modernist architecture, he was one of the leaders of the Sarasota School of Architecture. His Warm Mineral Springs Motel, outside Warm Mineral Springs, Florida, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. He was honored by the Smithsonian on his 90th birthday in 2013.^[2] A film on his life and work, entitled "Victor Lundy: Sculptor of Space" was premiered by the GSA on February 25, 2014.^{[2] [3]}

Work

• Drive-In Church, Venice, FL (1954). Demolished.
• Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce (Pagoda Building), Sarasota, FL (1956)
• South Gate Community Center, Sarasota, FL (1956)^[4]
• Silver Springs tourist center [now called Victor Lundy Tourist Center], Silver Springs, Florida (1957)^{[5] [6]}
• Bee Ridge Presbyterian Church, Sarasota, FL (1957)^[5]
• Alta Vista Elementary School, a.k.a. The "Butterfly Wing," Sarasota, FL (1957)^{[7] [5]}
• Joe Barth Insurance Office, Sarasota, FL (1957)
• Herron House, Venice, FL (1957)^[8]
• Waldman Building, 533 S. US 301 (1958)^[9]
• Warm Mineral Springs Motel, North Port, FL (1958)
• St. Paul's Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall (1959)^{[10] [11]} and Sanctuary (1969), Sarasota, FL^[12]
• Galloway Furniture Showroom, Sarasota, FL [today, Visionworks] (1959)^[13]
• First Unitarian Church, Westport, CT (1960)^[14]
• United States Embassy, Colombo, Sri Lanka (1961-1985) Demolished early 2023.
• Sierra Blanca (New Mexico) Ski Apache Ski Resort Lodge (1961)^{[15] [16]}
• Hillspoint Elementary School, Westport CT (1962)^[17]
• "Bubble Pavilions" for the New York World's Fair of 1964–65 (The Brass Rail Snack Bars)^[18]
• Unitarian Meeting House, Hartford, CT (1964)
• IBM Garden State Office, Cranford, NJ (1965)^[19]
• Church of the Resurrection Harlem, New York City (1966) Demolished.^[20]
• Wesley Foundation Chapel of the Upper Room, FSU, Tallahassee, FL (1970)^[1] Demolished 2015.^[21]
• St. Bernard's School Education Building, Gladstone, NJ (1970)^{[1] [22]}
• Lundy Residence in Aspen, Colorado (1972)^[23]
• U.S. Tax Court Building, Washington, D.C. (completed 1974)
• Austin Centre, Austin, Texas (1986)^[24]
• One Congress Plaza, Austin, Texas (1987)^[24]

World War II Sketches by Victor A. Lundy

Lundy is also well known for his World War II Sketches that were donated to the Library of Congress in 2009.

In 1942, Lundy was 19, studying to be an architect in New York City. He was enlisted in the Army Specialised Training Program (ASTP). During 1944, he joined the 104th Infantry Division, a sub-division of the 26th Infantry division of the US Army. He trained at Fort Jackson, before sailing from New York departing on 27 August 1944, to Cherbourg, arriving on 7 September 1944. He spent time in Normandy in September before moving to the Western Front by November.

He drew out his experiences from training at Fort Jackson (May 1944) to his journey across the Atlantic and then his time in France. In total, he produced a visual diary with 158 pencil sketches brings to life the wartime experience. Lundy applied his drawing skills to what was around him--training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; forced marches; men at rest; the PX and tents; New York Harbor; aboard ship in the Atlantic crossing; Cherbourg Harbor; and French villages. Many vivid portraits of fellow soldiers and frontline danger also fill the pages. The sketches cover May to November 1944 when Lundy was wounded, with some gaps where notebooks were lost.

The eight surviving sketchbooks are spiral bound and 3 x 5 inches --small enough to fit in a breast pocket. Lundy used black Hardtmuth leads (a drawing pencil) and sketched quickly. "For me, drawing is sort of synonymous with thinking."^[25]

Lundy's sketches inspired the following books.

• "Drawn from War: The Sketches of Sergeant Victor A. Lundy" by Richard O'Hara, a compilation of Lundy's sketches and transcripts of interviews with Lundy.
• Normandy 1944 by Alberto Pérez Rubio of Desperta Ferro Ediciones, a Madrid-based publisher focusing on military history.
• The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir, a graphic novel adaptation of an Englishman, Bernard Sandler, who also served in the 26th Infantry Division in France at the same time as Lundy.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Sarasota County, Florida

Further reading

• Kacmar, Donna. Victor Lundy: Artist Architect. Princeton Architectural Press, 2018.
• Victor Lundy Dwell magazine August 2008
• Drawings by Victor Lundy in Normandy France as a young soldier in WW2
• Solaguren-Beascoa de Corral, Félix: Motel Warm Mineral Springs, 2011, Barcelona, Grupo PAB Departamento de Projectos Arquitectónicos, 22-33 pages.

Notes and References

1. Book: American Architects Directory . https://content.aia.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/Bowker_1970_L.pdf#page=50 . 3rd . 1970 . Biographical Section [L] . R. R. BOWKER COMPANY . 564 . 0-8352-0281-X . LUNDY, VICTOR ALFRED. . . . b. N.Y.C, Feb. 1, 23. . . . Prin. Wks: Traveling exhib. bldg. (air supported structure), U.S. Atomic Energy Cmn, Latin Am, 60; First Unitarian Church of Fairfield Co, Westport, Conn, 63; Int. Bus. Mach. Garden State Off. Bldg, Cranford, N.J, 64; Univ. Methodist Chapel for the Wesley Found, Fla. State Univ, 70; St. Bernard's Sch, Gladstone, N.J, 70. Hon. Awards: Gold medal for the air-supported exhib. bldg. & exhib. for the U.S. Atomic Energy Cmn, Buenos Aires Sesquicentennial Int. Exhib, 60; AIA award of merit for St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Sarasota, Fla, 60; U.S. Dept. of State grant, cultural exchange prog, served as U.S. Specialist-Archit. in U.S.S.R. in connection with U.S. Info. Agency exhib, Arch. U.S.A. 65; AIA first honor award for First Unitarian Congregational Church, Hartford, Conn, 65; AIA award of merit for Church of the Resurrection, East Harlem Protestant Parish, N.Y.C, 66. . July 4, 2023.
2. News: Architect Victor Lundy at the Smithsonian . Smithsonian Institution Archives . Anonymous .
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2MGFmXveWY&list=PL50F0D973D11BAE7B&index=1&feature=plpp_video trailer
4. Web site: October 17, 2018. About South Gate. South Gate Community Association.
5. News: Victor Lundy honored at Ocala attraction . . Sarasota Journal . May 27, 1957 . July 4, 2023.
6. News: Visitors flock to Silver Springs in '57 . David . Cook . Ocala Star-Banner . November 17, 2002 . July 4, 2023.
7. Web site: Sarasota History Timeline .
8. Web site: Harold. Bubil. October 17, 2018. FLORIDA BUILDINGS I LOVE: No. 50: Herron House, 1957, Venice. Sarasota Herald.
9. Web site: October 17, 2018. Sarasota School of (Commercial) Architecture. Gator Preservationist. February 25, 2013.
10. Web site: St. Paul's Lutheran Church . homepages.bluffton.edu.
11. News: Groundbreaking Set At St. Paul's Church . . Sarasota Journal . January 9, 1959 . 22 . July 4, 2023.
12. News: No. 71: St. Paul Lutheran Church, Sarasota . Harold . Bubil . Sarasota Herald-Tribune . April 18, 2018 . July 4, 2023.
13. Web site: Lundy was part of the 'Sarasota School' Sarasota History Alive! . www.sarasotahistoryalive.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034515/http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/stories/journals-of-yesteryear/lundy-was-part-of-the-sarasota-school/ . 2014-01-06.
14. http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/past-progressives-higher-power.aspx Higher Power 1960 P/A Award: First Unitarian Church, Victor Lundy
15. http://www.skiapache.com/the-mountain/history/ History
16. https://www.flickr.com/photos/14696209@N02/6332465198/ The Sierra Blanca Lodge image
17. Web site: Cornell University - Intypes. 2021-04-25. intypes.cornell.edu.
18. Web site: The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair - Brass Rail snack bars .
19. https://books.google.com/books?id=rot49pwKi4UC&q=victor+lundy&pg=PA112 The Interface: IBM and the Transformation of Corporate Design, 1945-1976
20. Web site: Victor Lundy's Soaring Rooflines . 6 February 2010 .
21. News: Chapel of the Upper Room at FSU to be demolished . Byron . Dobson . Tallahassee Democrat . December 22, 2015 . July 4, 2023.
22. Ellen Perry . Berkeley . SCULPTURE IN SPACE . Architecture Forum . 46 . January 1956 . July 4, 2023.
23. Web site: Aspen Modern II: The Past is the Future - PreservationNation Blog . blog.preservationnation.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130720131207/http://blog.preservationnation.org/2010/08/06/aspen-modern-ii-the-past-is-the-future/ . 2013-07-20.
24. News: High rise says hello to the city . McCullar, Michael . . October 10, 1987 . August 4, 2018.
25. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print//coll/628_lundy.html Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, World War Two sketches by Victor Lundy