It is 1958 and a house designed by Woman's College students and architect Edward Loewenstein has just opened to acclaim in Greensboro. Fast-forward to 2009 and the Commencement House — dismissed as nothing more than a student home ec project — is slated for demolition.

The 1958 Commencement House was the first of three Loewenstein-led projects through the N.C. Woman's College Department of Housing and Interior Design. It is a striking, modern home built with into its site. The product of a unique collaborative design effort, it also represents an early university-community partnership for Greensboro. The house was featured on the new UNC-TV, and a nationwide audience learned about it in a feature in McCall's magazine. 

Patrick Lee Lucas, associate professor in the Interior Architecture Department at UNC Greensboro (formerly Woman's College), has been researching the work and career of Edward Loewenstein, a Chicago-born architect who set up a thriving practice in Greensboro, for several years now.

This engaged designer not only brought modernism in design to the community, he hired the first African Americans to work in a design firm and, among his many civic and personal interests, he taught part-time at Woman's College, serving as a design studio instructor and relating the rich details of design history through several lecture courses in the 1960s. 

So far in his thorough research, Lucas has identified no other mid-century collaborative projects by women students in the state, the Southeast, or even the United States, which makes the potential loss of this building very serious.

Condos to Replace Commencement House

At the zoning commission hearing, the property developer dismissed the value of the Commencement House, saying "this is a building designed by, really, a home ec class at Woman's College." But, as Lucas writes, 

Significance doesn't always come from white males and conventional design. Sometimes it comes from young women who tried something new. Certainly I believe in the power of women to transform the world one building at a time . . . which is why I work for this department and believe so strongly in its core calues of community, stewardship, authenticity, and innovation. . . . And I know that you have to certainly believe in the power of design to effect change.

It may not be too late to preserve the Commencement House as part of the new development. Greensboro City Council still has to vote on the zoning issue. The public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, 2009, at 5:30 p.m., at the city hall. You can make your voice heard by contacting city council members or attending the hearing.

Learn more about the Commencement Houses and see images at the Close to Home exhibit page at UNCG

Read more about the pending issue at Greensboro's Treasured Places (9/24/2009) 

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