Leonard J. Currie Slide Collection

Bibliography

Sections:

  • Biography
  • Architecture and Architectural Education
  • Harvard and Six Moon Hill
  • Latin America and CINVA
  • Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Blacksburg and Virginia Tech

Biography

“Currie, Virginia Mary.” SWVARoots. https://swvaroots.com/currie-virginia-mary/. No date. Accessed 28 September 2020. 

Virginia Currie obituary. 

Heise, Kenan. “Leonard J. Currie, 82, Dean at UIC.” Chicago Tribune, April 25, 1996. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-04-25-9604250068-story.html Accessed 2020-11-09. 

Obituary coverage includes the Lexington Avenue house and Currie’s time at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Quotes William Lavicka, a master builder who helped Currie on the Lexington Street house as a student and whom Currie mentored.

Howard, Josh. “Leonard J. Currie.” Selected Modernist Architects in Virginia: Biographical Sketches. Virginia Department of Historic Resources, December 2013, pp. 5-12. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/newdominion/ArchitectBios_Howard_Final.pdf. Accessed 2020-11-20.

Biography with an account of Currie House I.

“Leonard James Currie.” Prabook, no date. https://prabook.com/web/leonard_james.currie/607788. Accessed 29 September 2020. 

Biographical outline with information not readily available elsewhere. It was written in Currie’s later years, between 1994 and his death in 1996. The author is not identified. 

Mays, Vernon. “William C. Noland Medal, Leonard J. Currie, FAIA.”  Inform, 1994 special issue, pp. 34-5. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1994-D.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2020. 

Leonard Currie biography. Photos of Currie House I and Currie at the entrance gate of Currie House II. 

“Obituary – Leonard J. Currie, 82.” Spectrum, vol. 18, no. 31, May 9, 1996. Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech. https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/vtpubs/spectrum/sp960509/8b.html. Accessed 2020-11-20.

Rodríguez-Camilloni, Humberto. “Currie, Leonard James.” Dictionary of Virginia Biography: Caperton-Daniels, Library of Virginia, 2006, vol. 3, pp. 608-610.

Authoritative biography by Professor Rodriguez, architectural historian and Currie acquaintance. Includes bibliography.

“Virginia Currie, Honorary AIA.” Inform, 1994 Special issue, p. 43. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1994-D.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2020. 

Virginia Currie awarded Honorary AIA for distinguished service to the profession. Describes her contributions in Chicago and Blacksburg. 

Chitnavis, Maithili. “Currie Remembered For Contributions to Blacksburg.” Roanoke Times, 15 June 2006. https://roanoke.com/news/currie-remembered-for-contributions-to-blacksburg/article_27b9b6a6-efcd-542b-ba49-5e4254747a8f.html. Accessed 2 July 2021

An Article written by the Roanoke Times following Virginia Currie’s death. Includes information on Leonard as well as a fairly extensive interview of their oldest daughter, Barbara Joe. She talks about her mother in particular and what kind of parent she was.

Architecture and Architectural Education

“Americas’ Architecture Debated.” Southern Architect, Vol. 6, no.1, January 1959, p. 30. https://usmodernist.org/AIANC/1959-01.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Describes the forthcoming radio-telephone symposium to be held on January 29, 1959, among prominent architects about differences in architecture between South and North America.  Bogotá and Toledo were the two venues. Currie was an advisor in organizing the symposium. See “Transcript of an Inter-American Architectural Symposium.”

Currie, Leonard J. “Russian Architecture and Architectural Education.”  AIA Journal, vol. 33, no. 4, April 1960, pp. 19-28. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1960-04.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Currie attended the Fifth Congress of the International Union of Architects in Moscow in the delegations of the AIA and SCA (Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos). The article is a wide-ranging commentary on Russian architecture and architectural education. 

Currie, Leonard J. “Changing Roles in Architectural Education.” AIA Journal, Vol. 41, no. 5, May 1964, p. 26-30. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1964-05.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Currie defends the state of architectural education from detractors and explains his own views the profession and education. Among his points are that practicalities are best learned on the job through internships and employment and that boldness and experimentation are more fruitful than caution. 

Currie, Leonard J. “The Evolving Role of Education in Architecture and Fine Arts.” The Florida Architect, vol. 16, no. 3, March 1966, pp. 14-15. https://usmodernist.org/FA/FA-1966-03.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Speech for the dedication of the Architectural and Fine Arts Complex, Rudolph Weaver Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, February 5, 1966. 

Currie, Leonard J. and Currie, Virginia M., “TAC: Principles Process & Product”, in Katsuhiko Ichinowatari, ed., TAC : The Heritage of Walter Gropius, Process: Architecture, V 19 pp 40–45, October, 1980. ISBN 0-89860-045-6

Description of the way TAC worked and examples of projects.

Currie, Leonard J. and Gunduz Dagdelen Ast. Designing Environments for the Aging. University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. College of Art, Architecture and Urban Sciences and Jane Addams College of Social Work, 1977. Library record https://virginiatech.on.worldcat.org/oclc/4073727 accessed 2020-11-22.

Ezcurra, Exequiel and Marisa Mazari-Hiriart. “Are Mega Cities Viable? A Cautionary Tale from Mexico City.” Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, vol. 38, no. 1, January-February 1996, pp. 6-35. Routledge, DOI: 10.1080/00139157.1996.9930972. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.1996.9930972. Accessed 16 May 2020. 

Article that Currie is reading in the photo of him taken on April 10, 1996, seated at his computer. It covers the historical and present ecological conditions of Mexico City. 

Francescato, Guido, Leonard J. Currie, and Evan M. Dudik. “Letters.” Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 7, no. 3, 1980, pp. 4–7. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43474288. Accessed 1 July 2021.

Letters in response to the Charter of Machu Picchu, which was published in the Journal of Architectural Research. Currie’s letter rebuts criticism of the charter by explaining its purpose and the circumstances of its creation. JSTOR subscription required.

“Leonard J. Currie.” Virginia Record, vol. 82, no. 2, February 1959, pp. 13 and 29. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1959-02.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Notes that Currie was moderator of a January 1959 meeting of prominent architects on “Regional Architectural Expression in the Americas” via a radio-telephone hook-up between Bogotá and Toledo. See “Transcript of an Inter-American Architectural Symposium.”

“Octagon Observer.” AIA Journal, vol. 46, no. 4, October 1966, p. 20. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1966-10.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

“Leonard J. Currie AIA, dean of the College of Architecture and Art at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, spoke on housing and planning at the First Inter-American Seminar on Cooperative Housing in Santiago, Chile.” 

Sterental, Silvia. “The Charter of Machu Picchu, Testimony to the Advocacy and Pursuit of Enlightened Principles of Planning and Design in Professional Education and Practice.” The Fifth Column, Winter 1982, McGill University. http://fifthcolumn.mcgill.ca/article/view/103/95. Accessed 19 October 2020.

Student article about the Charter of Machu Picchu.

“The Charter of Machu Picchu.” Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 7, no. 2, 1979, pp. 5–9. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43475223. Accessed 19 Oct. 2020.

“A document prepared by a group of architects, educators, and planners convened by the National University Federico Villareal, Lima.” Proposes principles to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion about planning and the contemporary era. Currie was a signatory. Requires access to JSTOR. 

“Transcript of an Inter-American Architectural Symposium.” Arts & Architecture, vol. 76, no. 4, April 1959, pp. 12-14, 30-31.  https://usmodernist.org/AA/AA-1959-04.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020.

Transcript of an inter-continental telephonic symposium with participants in Bogotá and Toledo that Currie moderated while head of architecture at Virginia Tech. Topics include architecture as a high art and integrating architecture with regional cultures.  

Toledo, Ohio: Leonard Currie, Moderator, John Noble Richards, Carl Koch, Alvaro Ortega, Ieoh Ming Pei.  

Bogotá, Colombia: Marcel Breuer, Pablo Lanzetta, Julio Volante.

“Wheelwright Prize: Harvard University GSD.” Wheelwright Prize | Harvard University GSD.  http://www.wheelwrightprize.org/#m8  Accessed 2 July 2021.

 A website with information about Harvard University’s Wheelwright traveling fellowships. Includes a list of all recipients of the prize, including Currie. 

Harvard and Six Moon Hill

Burchard, Charles. “Gropius at Harvard.” Journal of Architectural Education (1947-1974), Vol. 14, no. 2, ACSA-AIA Seminar: The Teaching of Architecture (Autumn, 1959), pp. 23-25. Published by Taylor & Francis, Ltd. On behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1424016. Accessed 12 June 2020. 

Charles Burchard was the first dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies. He and Currie were fellow students of Gropius at Harvard. The article describes Gropius’s approach to teaching. 

Clark, Donald T. and Randall Jarrell. “Donald T. Clark: Early UCSC History and the Founding of the University Library.” Regional History Project, UCSC Library, 1993.  eScholarship, Open Access Publications from the University of California,1993. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2n20r98m. Accessed 29 September 2020. 

Transcript of an oral biography of Donald T. Clark, founding director of the UCSC library, who previously lived at Six Moon Hill.  Includes a section about life at Six Moon Hill. Clark’s house was the first to be built and the Curries’ the second.  

[The Currie slide collection includes photos Clark took of Currie House I]

Clouette, Bruce. “Six Moon Hill Historic District.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, June 2015. http://www.lexingtonhistory.org/uploads/6/5/2/1/6521332/moon_hill_neighborhood_national_register_nomination.pdf. Accessed 2 October 2020. 

The development of Six Moon Hill, subsequent history, and historical significance. 

Currie, Leonard J. “The Synthetic Vision of Walter Gropius: Gilbert Herbert, Reviewed by Leonard J. Currie.” AIA Journal Book Supplement, AIA Journal, Vol. 32, No. 5,November 1959, pp. 46-7. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1959-11.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

Review of a book by a South African professor that views Gropius through the philosophies of A.N. Whitehead and J.C. Smuts of South Africa. Recalling his time at Harvard, Currie provides his own views of Whitehead and Gropius in response. 

Dietz, Kira. “Leonard Currie and Six Moon Hill.” Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives, blog post August 28, 2014. https://vtspecialcollections.wordpress.com/2014/08/28/leonard-currie-smh/.  

Black-and-white photos of the Curries’ house at Six Moon Hill from the Currie archive and biographical information. 

Herbert, Gilbert and Currie, Leonard J. “An Author Defends his Book.” AIA Journal, vol. 33, no. 5, May 1960, pp. 8 and 10. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1960-05.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Letter to the editor by Gilbert Herbert defending his book The Synthetic Vision of Walter Gropius with regard to criticisms in Currie’s review (Currie, AIA Journal, November 1959). Currie writes a letter responding to Herbert. 

Historic American Landscape Survey, Six Moon Hill, Moon Hill Road, Lexington, Middlesex County, MA, Library of Congress, documentation compiled after 2000. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1838/ Accessed 3 June 2023.

A substantial account of Six Moon Hill with an emphasis on a the integration of the community with the natural landscape.

“Six Moon Hill.” Architectural Forum, Vol. 92, no. 6, June 1950, pp. 112-123. https://usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1950-06.PDF. Accessed 3 June 2020. 

Descriptions, plans, and photos of seven houses at Six Moon Hill, including Currie House. Photography by Ezra Stoller. 

Latin America and CINVA

Aravecchia-Botas, Nilce Cristina. “Técnica y Política En La Producción de La Ciudad Latinoamericana.” A&P Continuidad, vol. 6, no. 11, 2019, pp. 70-81. Directory of Open Access Journals https://www.ayp.fapyd.unr.edu.ar/index.php/ayp/article/view/231/263. Accessed 16 October 2020.

“This article addresses the role of the Inter-American Center for Housing and Planning (CINVA) and the United States policies associated with the Alliance for Progress (APP) in the construction of Ciudad Kennedy Housing Complex in Bogotá (1961- 1963).”

Auria, Viviana d’. “Caracas’s Cultural (Be)longings: Retracing the Troubled Trajectories the Superbloque Experiment.”  Patricio del Real and Helen Gyger, eds. Latin American Modern Architectures: Ambiguous Territories.  Taylor and Francis Group, 2012. Ch. 5, pp. 115-134. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vt/detail.action?docID=1209532. Accessed through Virginia Tech University Libraries 2020-11-10.

The article is about high-rise apartment blocks for the poor in Caracas of the mid-1950s, which were derived from French modernist architecture and planning. The author contrasts them with the self-help model favored by the United States and promoted by CINVA.

Caicedo, Hernando and Hernando Rubiano. “El Terraconcreto en Colombia: Apuntes para su historia.” DEARQ : Journal of Architecture, November 2007. DOI:10.18389/dearq1.2007.14. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/50888937_El_Terraconcreto_en_Colombia_Apuntes_para_su_historia. Accessed 29 September 2020. 

Describes the CINVA-RAM and the development of soil-concrete construction in rural Colombia leading up to it. 

“Centro Inter-Americano de Vivienda.” Anuario de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia (1939-54), Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 1954. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/anuarioun/article/view/12783. Accessed 2020-12-10.

Briefly describes the contents an article about CINVA with a list of images, including one of Currie.

There is a link to a full-text PDF, but the PDF did not load when tried.

Currie, Leonard J. “Inter-American Housing Center, Bogotá, Colombia.” Architectural Record, vol. 121, no. 3, March 1957, pp. 193-200. https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1957-03.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

Article about the CINVA building. Richly illustrated with photos and a floor plan. Describes how the materials and design are consistent with Bogotá’s architecture and adapt to the climate. 

Currie, Leonard J. “A Study of International Housing Programs.” Study of International Housing, United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Banking and Currency, Subcommittee on Housing, 88th Congress, March 1963, pp. 143-156. Google Books https://books.google.com/books?id=NBZboqLnhFgC. Accessed 2 October 2020. 

Currie’s paper submitted to the Subcommittee on Housing. Analysis of housing for the poor in developing countries and recommendations. Includes comments on self-help housing. See Currie’s testimony on the topic in United States, Congress, Senate, April 22, 23, 24, and 25, 1963. 

Currie, Leonard J. The Role of Housing in the Development of Latin America. 1954.

Gyger, Helen. Improvised Cities: Architecture, Urbanization, and Innovation in Peru. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019. Proquest EBook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vt/detail.action?docID=5729167 accessed through Virginia Tech University Libraries, 2020-11-11.

Mentions an influential CINVA manual for self-help housing based on practices in Puerto Rico. Describes a one-day symposium sponsored by David Rockefeller in 1962 on Latin American Housing that Currie attended, along with architects, manufacturers, bankers, and representatives of U.S. agencies.

Healey, Mark. “Planning, Politics, And Praxis at Colombia’s Inter-American Housing Lab, 1951–1966.” Chastain, Andrea B. and Timothy W. Lorek, eds., Itineraries of Expertise: Science, Technology, and the Environment in Latin America’s Long Cold War. University of Pittsburg Press, 2020, pp. 199-216.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvz939bd.3 . Accessed 23 May 2020

An overview of CINVA. States that Currie set the program’s direction. 

Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. Latin American architecture since 1945. The Museum of Modern Art, 1955. Exhibition URL www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2436. https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2436_300190216.pdf?_ga=2.225689234.965340153.1602257838-1507883963.1602257838. Accessed 9 October 2020. 

Includes works by Guillermo de Roux, designer of the CINVA building, and Álvaro Ortega. Briefly and favorably mentions the CINVA building. 

Joe, Barbara E. Triumph & Hope: Golden Years with the Peace Corps in Honduras. Barbara E. Joe, 2008.

Barbara Joe (née Currie) is the daughter of Leonard and Virginia Currie. In the prologue she recounts childhood memories of the Curries’ 1941 trip to the Mayan ruins at Copán, Honduras, and a return visit as an adult.

Johnson, Dan. “Is the Original CINVA Ram Still Available?” Mother Earth News, Ogden Publications, Inc. www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/compressed-earth-blocks. Accessed 16 October 2020.

McConnaughey, John S., Jr., and W. Paul Strassmann. The Economic Characteristics and Origins of Building Innovations in Developing Countries. The Journal of Developing Areas, vol. 13, no. 2, 1979, pp. 143159. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4190635. Accessed 24 Aug. 2020.

Martínez de Samper, Yolanda. “La Fragua.” Germán Samper Arquitecto, 2015. https://www.germansamper.com/copia-de-la-fragua. Accessed 2020-12-14.

A personal account of the origins of La Fragua in Bogotá. See Samper Gnecco, Germán.

Medina, Juan Manuel, Julián García, and Juan Antonio Rodríguez. “Modularidad y prefabricación abovedada. Colombia como germen de una tradición moderna. La experiencia bogotana y su influencia en Latinoamérica”. Dearq, no. 25, July 1, 2019, pp. 44-53. https://doi.org/10.18389/dearq25.2019.04. https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/doi/10.18389/dearq25.2019.04. Accessed 9 October 2020. 

Includes information about Álvaro Ortega and his use of concrete vaulting at barrio Quiroga in Bogotá. Oretega learned of vacuum concrete while studying with Gropius at Harvard. Spanish language. 

Payne, Maurice. “The AIA and the FPAA, A report on the US delegation from Bogota as interpreted by the staff executive for the AIA Committee on International Relations.” AIA Journal, vol. 51, no. 1, January 1969, pp. 55-60. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1969-01.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2020. 

“Leonard Currie, AIA , dean of the College of Architecture, University of Illinois at the Chicago Circle, was selected to head the commission devoted to Urban Expansion.” Photo of Currie. (p. 57) 

Quirós Pacheco, Mauricio, Hans Ibelings, and Andrés Fernández, eds., “Central America through the Camera of Leonard J. Currie,” in Modern Architectures in Central America, Montreal and Amsterdam, 2023.

Book chapter with 40 of Currie’s slides printed color. The book is also available in Spanish, Arquitecturas Modernas de Centroamérica.

Rodriguez, Martha Liliana Peña. “El Programa CINVA y la acción communal: The CINVA program and the community action.” Bitácora Urbano Territorial, vol. 12, no. 1 , pp. 185-192, 2008. ISSN electrónico 2027-145X. ISSN impreso 0124-7913. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/bitacora/article/view/18621. Accessed 2 October 2020. 

CINVA’s approach to self-construction housing in Colombia’s urban context of the second half of the 20th Century. Spanish language. 

Samper Gnecco, Germán. “Barrio La Fragua – Bogotá.” Germán Samper Arquitecto, 2015. https://www.germansamper.com/la-fragua. Accessed 2020-12-14.

Currie visited La Fragua in 1977 and took a few photos. Samper, a Colombian architect who had worked with Le Corbusier in Paris, conceived La Fragua as a self-help housing project. He collaborated with CINVA in developing it shortly after Currie left CINVA for Virginia Tech.

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, Marcel Breuer papers, “Appendix A: List of Notable Correspondents from Series 2: Correspondence” https://www.si.edu/object/archives/components/sova-aaa-breumarc-ref54 accessed June 6, 2023.

The list includes three items of Leonard Currie correspondence, including, “1960 (1 letter): from Leonard J. Currie Architectural Group.” It also mentions that Alvaro Ortega, the Colombian architect who supervised the construction of Quiroga, was a Breuer student.

Torres, Diana Patricia González. “Buscan recuperar memoria del Centro Interamericano de Vivienda y Planeamiento Urbano.” Las2Orillas, May 21, 2018. https://www.las2orillas.co/buscan-recuperar-memoria-del-centro-interamericano-de-vivienda-y-planeamiento-urbano/. Accessed 2020-12-10.

Article about CINVA and the history of the CINVA building from its origin to the present. Mentions that the library was important.

Urrego, Mireya, Gabriel Escalante, and Giovany Suárez Pinilla. “CINVA: Pionero De La Construccion Con Enfoque Social En Latinoamerica.” Memoria Viva (Fuera del aire), UNRadio Bogotá 98.5, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 28 September 2018. http://unradio.unal.edu.co/nc/detalle/cat/memoria-viva-fuera-del-aire/article/cinva-pionero-de-la-construccion-con-enfoque-social-en-latinoamerica.html. Accessed 19 October 2020.

Radio program about CINVA. Spanish Language audio.

United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Banking and Currency, Subcommittee on Housing. First Session on a Compendium of Papers Prepared for the Study of International Housing , 88th Congress, April 22, 23, 24, and 25, 1963. Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=y-_uQzWIx-AC.  Accessed 2 October 2020. 

Hearings based on the papers in Study of International Housing published by the committee in March, 1963. Includes transcripts of Currie’s testimony about his work with CINVA and his answers to senators’ questions. CINVA directors who followed Currie in the position also gave testimony. See Currie, Leonard J.  “A Study of International Housing Programs.” 

Vargas Rubiano, Hernando, and Hernando Vargas Caicedo. “El Terraconcreto En Colombia: Apuntes Para Su Historia.” Dearq, December 2007, no. 1, pp. 120–45, doi:10.18389/dearq1.2007.14. https://revistas.uniandes.edu.co/doi/abs/10.18389/dearq1.2007.14

Abstract: “This paper considers the first recorded uses of soil-cement in rural house building in Colombia in 1942 after its promotion by Hernando Vargas Rubiano as architect with ICT (Instituto de Crédito Territorial). It studies the following developments in Colombia leading to the birth of the CINVA-RAM during the next decade.”

Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago Architects Oral History Project. Ryerson and Burnham Archives, Art Institute of Chicago. https://digital-libraries.artic.edu/digital/collection/caohp. Accessed 2020-11-23.

Searchable online archive of oral histories. Several architects mention Currie.

Also see Nagle, below, one of the architects who was interviewed.

“Francis Apartments.” Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. https://www.flwright.org/researchexplore/wrightbuildings/francisapartments. Accessed 9 October 2020. 

Source of the tile fragment near the entrance of Currie House II 

“Francis Apartments, 4304 South Forrestville Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL.” Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.il0106.photos?st=gallery. Accessed 9 October 2020. 

Photos of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Francis Apartments. The photos show the original setting of the tile fragment near the entrance of Currie House II. 

Grimm, Andy. “William Lavicka, 1945-2012.” Chicago Tribune, April 20, 2012. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2012-04-20-ct-met-obit-bill-lavicka-20120420-story.html. Accessed 2020-11-20.

Bill Lavicka was a prominent Chicago master builder and advocate for preservation. The obituary credits Currie with stimulating his interest in historic preservation.

Also see Pollack, below.

Leonard and Virginia Currie Collection. MSCurrNO. An inventory of the collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago. University of Illinois at Chicago, University Library Special Collections. https://findingaids.library.uic.edu/sc/MSCurrNO.xml accessed 2021-07-01.

Finding aid. The collection description includes biographical information about Leonard Currie and family. The collection focuses on the Near West Side of Chicago.

Nagle, James Lee. “Oral history of James Lee Nagle / interviewed by Annemarie van Roessel.” Chicago Architects Oral History Project, the Ernest R. Graham Study Center for Architectural Drawings, Department of Architecture, the Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, pp. 24-25. Interview date 06/16/1998-06/18/1998. https://digital-libraries.artic.edu/digital/collection/caohp/id/8602/rec/3. Accessed 2020-11-25.

According to Nagle, Currie credited Breuer with effectively designing Gropius’s house.

See also the Chicago Architects Oral History Project, above.

“News of Members.” Society of Architectural Historians Newsletter, vol. 16, no. 5, October 1972, p. 3. https://www.sah.org/docs/default-source/newsletter-archive-pre-2012/oct1972-vol-16-no-5.pdf. Accessed 2020-11-22.

” Leonard J. Currie recently resigned Dean of the College of Architecture and Art, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, has been awarded a senior Fullbright-Hayes grant to advise on the establishment of a School of Architecture and Building Sciences at the University of Penang, Malaysia.”

Pollack, Neal. “The Vanishing City.” Chicago Reader, May 9, 1996. https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-vanishing-city/Content?oid=890431. Accessed 2020-11-20.

“The wholesale destruction of our oldest buildings is under way. Master builder Bill Lavicka does what he can to transplant the remains.”

Article mentions the Curries’ house. The house dated to the 1860’s and was in very poor condition. Bill Lavicka helped Currie to rehabilitate it, a project that determined the trajectory of Lavicka’s career. 

Also see Grimm, above.

Society of Architectural Historians Newsletter, “Chapter Notices,” Vol 8, No 1 February, 1964. https://www.sah.org/docs/newsletter-archive-pre-2012/1964-vol-8-no-1.pdf?sfvrsn=2 accessed June 7, 2023

“Our very active Chicago Chapter has had a full season of talks and field trips this year…At the February meeting, Leonard J . Currie, Dean of the College of Architecture and Art, University of Illinois at Chicago, spoke on ‘Tombs and Temples of the Andes.’”

Society of Architectural Historians Newsletter, “News of Members,” Vol. XVII no. 5, October 1973. https://www.sah.org/docs/default-source/newsletter-archive-pre-2012/oct1973-vol-17-no-5.pdf?sfvrsn=2 accessed June 7, 2023

“LEONARD J. CURRIE has been engaged by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to assist the University of Patros, Greece, in academic and space planning.”

“What’s Happening in Architectural Education.” AIA Journal, vol. 58, no. 4, October 1972, p. 44. https://usmodernist.org/AJ/AJ-1972-10.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

Currie resigned as dean of the College of Architecture and Art, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle to take a sabbatical leave during the 1972-73 academic year, “having been awarded a senior Fulbright–Hays grant to advise on the establishment of a school of architecture and building sciences at the University of Penang, Malaysia.” 

Blacksburg and Virginia Tech

“150-0019 Currie House.” Virginia Landmarks Register Online, Virginia Department of Historic Resources. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/150-0019/. Accessed 2012-12-09.

Photo and description of Currie House I with a link to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form.

50th Anniversary Celebration, College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS). Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies and Virginia Tech University Libraries, 2014. VTechWorks https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/50438 Accessed 2020-11-16.

This collection includes video interviews with Virginia Tech Presidents and CAUS faculty about the history of the college. Several provide personal recollections of Leonard Currie while he was teaching and during his retirement. The interviews with T. Marshall Hahn, Dean Carter, and Gene Egger are listed below. Han and Carter worked with Currie. Egger adds additional information about Currie’s contributions.

Architecture Program Report for 2012 NAAB Visit for Continuing Accreditation. Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design, February 10, 2012. http://caus5.arch.vt.edu/NAAB/VT_APR-final-rev.pdf. Accessed 2020-11-20.

The report includes a brief history of Virginia Tech and School of Architecture + Design.

“Best in design from 1963 Homes for Better Living program: A simple plan embellished with warm details and materials.” House & Home, vol. 24, no. 1, July 1963, pp. 86-7. https://usmodernist.org/HH/HH-1963-07.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Currie House I awarded American Institute of Architects, House & Home, and Life Magazine honor–award, Homes for Better Living program, custom-built category. Currie House I description, photos, plans. 

Carter, C. Dean. “Interview with Dean Carter, January 2014, CAUS 50th Anniversary.” 50th Anniversary Celebration, College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS). Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies, January 2014. VTechWorks http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71722. Accessed 2020-11-16.

Interview with Dean Carter, Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History, on the history of at Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

Dean Carter taught sculpture and other art classes under Deans Cowgill, Currie, and Burchard. In the interview he talks about his role in the architecture program with each. He also recounts sculpting Gropius from life.

Currie, Leonard J. Proposal for engineering/architecture facility, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blacksburg, Va. :  Leonard J. Currie & Associates, 1989

Currie proposed that he assume a role as the local architect for a Virginia Tech building. The booklet provides his qualifications. It mentions several of his projects and lists awards and recognition. Currie credits his wife, Virginia, for collaborating with him over the years. The booklet includes copies of several articles in newspapers and books.

Unpublished. Available in Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, Virginia Tech.

“Double Flying Saucer House.” Virginia Record, Vol. 82, no. 11, November 1960, p. 18 https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1960-11.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2020. 

About construction of the Bradley House by Atkins, Currie & Payne, with photos. Explains flying saucer construction. 

“Double Flying Saucer House Completed.” Virginia Record, vol. 83, no. 11, November 1961, p. 26. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1961-11.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020 

Follows up on the Virginia Record November 1960 article about the Bradley House. 

Driggs, Sarah Shields. “Currie House, Montgomery County, Virginia.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 12 August 1993. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/150-0019_Currie_House_1994_Final_Nomination.pdf. Accessed 21 February 2020. 

Describes and analyzes the house based on communications with Currie and other sources. Includes floor and site plans. 

Egger, Gene. “Interview with Gene Egger, January 2014, CAUS 50th Anniversary.” 50th Anniversary Celebration, College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS). Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies, January 2014. VTechWorks http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71725. Accessed 2011-11-17.

1 hour 47 minute Interview with Gene Egger, Nancy and Patrick Lathrop Professor Emeritus, on the history of Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

Near the beginning, Egger encapsulates the contributions of Clinton Cowgill and Leanard Currie. He credits Currie with hiring Charles Burchard as the Dean of the College.

“First place in the 1962 Solite Prize Competition at Virginia Tech….” Virginia Record, vol. 84, no. 5, May 1962, p. 10. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1962-05.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

Professors Currie, Worley, Elarth, Echols, McClure were among the judges of a student competition for a design for the Roanoke Fine Arts Center. 

“Four Architecture Students Recognized for Excellence in Architecture Program, Virginia Tech, Schools of Architecture.” Virginia Record, vol. 109, no. 5, October-November-December 1987, p. 28. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1987-10-11-12.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

Cathron Brooks was 1987 recipient of the Michelle Currie Memorial Scholarship for excellence in the study of architecture. Leonard and Virginia Currie established the scholarship in 1986 in memory of their granddaughter.  

Han, T. Marshall. “Interview with T. (Thomas) Marshall Hahn, January 2014, CAUS 50th Anniversary.” 50th Anniversary Celebration, College of Architecture and Urban Studies (CAUS). Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies, January 2014. VTechWorks http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71729. Accessed 2020-11-16.

Interview with Thomas Marshall Hahn, president of Virginia Tech from 1962 to 1974, on the history of Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Urban Studies.

Currie worked with Hahn to separate Architecture from Engineering. In the interview Hahn mentions Currie briefly. Hahn describes a bit more about the circumstances and general expansion of the university. Much of the interview is about the era after Currie. 

Haskell, Douglas. “Virginia Moves Forward.”  Architectural Forum, December 1962, p. 128. https://usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1962-12.pdf. Accessed 23 June 2020. 

Haskell writes about a trip to Virginia. He comments on the Virginia Tech architecture department and Currie House. He includes a photo he took of the house. 

The Currie slide collection includes photos Haskell took of the Johnson House on the same trip.

“History of the School of Architecture + Design.” school of architecture + design. Virginia Tech https://archdesign.caus.vt.edu/introduction/history-of-the-school-of-architecture-design/. Accessed 2020-11-20.

Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design web page. Includes a list of sources.

“Leonard J. Currie & Associates.” Inform, 1994 Special issue, p. 58. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1994-D.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2020. 

Provides the address of 220 N. Main St., Blacksburg, Virginia 24060. Year established 1981. Lists principal areas of practice, specialties, recent projects and awards.  200 N. Main St. is Preston Place, which Currie renovated.

“Leonard J. Currie & Associates.” Inform, 1995 Special issue, p. 58. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1995-D.pdf. Accessed 11 September 2020. 

Gives the year established as 1981. Lists principal areas of practice, specialties, recent projects and awards.  

“Meet Jim Ritter, FAIA.” AIA Virginia, August 20, 2018. https://www.aiava.org/meet-jim-ritter-faia/. Accessed 8 October 2020. 

Ritter was an architecture student at Virginia Tech when Currie assigned freshman a paper on “The “Williamsburg Blight.” The topic influenced the direction of Ritter’s career. 

O’Connell, Kim. “William C. Noland Medal, James William Ritter, FAIA.” Inform, 2003 special issue, pp. 22-3. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-2003-D.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Jim Ritter biography. Ritter studied architecture at Virginia Tech when Currie headed the department and was influenced by Currie. 

O’Neal, William Bainter. Architecture in Virginia: An Official Guide to Four Centuries of Building in the Old Dominion. Walker & Company for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1968.

Includes an entry for Currie House I. Cited in Howard, “Leonard J. Currie” and in “Leonard J. Currie & Associates.” Inform, 1995 Special issue.

“Residence for Mr. & Mrs. Leonard J. Currie.” Virginia Record, vol. 107, no.3, May-June 1985, pp. 27-30. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1985-05-06.pdf. Accessed 15 June 2020. 

Article about Currie House II with photos, section, and floor plans. Virginia Currie credited as interior designer. 

Schmertz, Mildred F. “Pro bono architecture in Appalachia and elsewhere.” Architectural Record, Vol. 175, no. 3, March 1987, p. 9. https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1987-03.pdf. Accessed 14 September 2020. 

The editor of Architectural Record recounts a letter to the AIA’s president Donald J. Hackl, in which Currie advocates that architects provide pro bono services for the poor. The article describes Currie’s free clinic in Blacksburg. 

Supreme Court of Virginia. Francis N. Atkins, et. al., T/A etc. v. Charles L. Boatwright, et. al. 204 Va. 450 (1963), 11 September 1963.  https://law.justia.com/cases/virginia/supreme-court/1963/5599-1.html. Accessed 14 September 2020. 

The architectural firm Atkins, Currie & Payne sued clients for full payment of plans that the clients rejected for medical office building. The lower court decided in favor of Currie, Atkins & Payne. In this appeal by the clients, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed the decision and remanded the case to the lower court.  

“The Making of a Profession.” Inform, 1994 no. 3, pp. 20-27, Currie House p. 25. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1994-3.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2020. 

“On the 80th anniversary of the Virginia AIA and the 40th anniversary of the Virginia Foundation for Architecture, Inform looks back on significant events in the development of a professional consciousness.”  

Currie House I recognized for its structure, which allowed for large glass walls with mountain views. 

“Venezuela Exhibition on Display.” Virginia Record, vol. 81, no. 8. August 1959, p. 49. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1959-08.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

Exhibition of Venezuelan architecture at Virginia Tech. Photo of Currie with two student leaders viewing the exhibit. 

Vernon, Mitzi, and Marie Paget, editors. 50: Photographic Journal 1964-2014. Blacksburg, Virginia: College of Architecture & Urban Studies, 2014.

“Virginia Architects Honor Blacksburg Residence, Test of Time Award.” Virginia Record, vol. 105, no 2, March-April 1983, p. 18. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1983-03-04.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

Currie House I won the Virginia Society of AIA Test of Time Award on December 13, 1982.  

“What They Say Faces Virginia Architects in the ‘Sixties.’” Virginia Record, vol. 82, no. 2, February 1960, p. 41. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1960-02.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2020. 

“VPI’s Planning Program.” Virginia Record, vol. 84, no. 2, February 1962, pp. 32-3. https://usmodernist.org/AIAVA/AIAVA-1962-02.pdf. Accessed 14 June 2020. 

The American Institute of Planners recognizes Virginia Tech’s graduate curriculum in urban planning, which began in 1957. Currie mentions that the recognition enhances the collaboration between architecture and planning. 

Quotes from Virginia architects, including Currie, about the direction Virginia architecture should take. 

Wilbur, George W., “Architecture in Virginia Today,” The Commonwealth: The Magazine of Virginia. Virginia State Chamber of Commerce, December 1962 and January 1963, Vol. 29, no. 12 and Vol. 30, no. 1.  

Includes mention of Currie House. Cited in Driggs, “Currie House, Montgomery County, Virginia.”