The TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority: Design and Persuasion (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007) explores design’s role in promoting the United States’ most extensive regional planning endeavor. Following my introduction, essays explore the several design disciplines that were united in the effort: Christine Macy writes on architecture, Jane Wolff on landscape architecture, Barry Katz on industrial design, Steven Heller on graphic design, Todd Smith on mural painting. Jennifer Bloomer reflects on rural life in the Tennessee Valley, before and after the work of the TVA, and the volume concludes with an afterword by Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr. 2008 marks the 75th anniversary of the TVA.
Illustrations include both archival photographs and new photographs by Richard Barnes, including those below. (Click on an image to enlarge.)
Norris Dam
Norris Dam, named after Senator George Norris of Nebraska, the original sponsor of the TVA legislation, was the first of the TVA dams to be completed. Internationally renowned architect Le Corbusier visited Norris in 1946 and, according to his protege Paffard Keatinge-Clay, returned to his Paris studio to declare that he had seen some wonderful concrete work in Tennessee, which he was going to emulate and name beton brut.
View Through Gantry Crane, Wheeler Dam
Visitors Lobby, Kentucky Dam
Each TVA project included visitors centers, like this viewing room at Kentucky Dam, designed to educate the public about the operation of the facility. At each facility, the dates of construction are given, along with the motto, “Built for the People of the United States.”
Powerhouse, Fontana Dam
The well-known archival photos of the TVA projects, most by photographer Charles Krutch, are in black and white. Richard Barnes’s image of the Fontana powerhouse shows the subtle, mid-century color pallette typical of the TVA installations.
Generator Housings, Pickwick Dam
Turbine Shaft Enclosure, Wheeler Dam
Wheeler Dam, immediately upriver of the neo-classical Wilson Dam built before the advent of the TVA, was the second TVA-built dam to be completed. Note the modernist interpretation of rustication in the concrete work of the enclosure.
Reviews
“Intelligent Design,” McCallie Magazine