Victor Alfred Lundy (born February 1, 1923)[6] 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.[8] A film on his life and work, entitled "Victor Lundy: Sculptor of Space" was premiered by the GSA on February 25, 2014.[8][9]
Victor Lundy | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, U.S. | February 1, 1923
Occupation | Architect |
Awards | |
Buildings | |
Design | Sarasota School of Architecture |
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."[31]
Lundy's sketches inspired the following books.
WARM MINERAL SPRINGS INN, Venice, Florida, Victor A. Lundy (1958) . . . FLORIDA'S SILVER SPRINGS (TOURIST CENTER), Silver Springs, Florida, Victor A. Lundy (1959) . . . ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Fellowship Hall, Sara-sota, Florida, Victor A. Lundy (1960)
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.
CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION, EAST HARLEM PROTESTANT PARISH, New York, New York, Victor A. Lundy (1966)