New Orleans–based Frank Lloyd Wright–trained modernist architect Albert Ledner died on Nov. 14 in Manchester, N.H., while visiting his son. He was 93.
Ledner is best known for his nautical designs of three New York structures for the National Maritime Union—constructed between 1964 and 1968—each of which feature porthole-like windows. (One of the buildings was converted into a Dream Hotel location in 2007.) He also designed more than 40 residences in New Orleans, where he lived for most of his life. The Galatoire House, which features repurposed windows from a 1860s convent, is considered by many one of his best works. Most recently, Ledner attended a screening of a documentary biopic about his life an work, Designing Life: The Modernist Architecture of Albert C. Ledner, shown at the Architectural Design Film Festival in New York earlier this month.
After graduating from the Tulane School of Architecture in 1948, Ledner traveled to Wisconsin to work as an apprentice for Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. By 1951, Ledner had moved back to New Orleans and began his career as an independent architect, opting not to join a large firm. Many of his designs feature traditional modernist elements with whimsical touches, such as the use of 1,200 amber glass ashtrays on his 1962 Ashtray House and the scalloped overhang edges of the Martime Union Headquarters.
Trailer for Designing Life: The Modernist Architecture of Albert C. Ledner from roy beeson on Vimeo.
