On September 27, 2024, the Paul Rudolph Institute of Modern Architecture has announced that the Sanderling Beach Club, a complex of beachside buildings 1952 building designed by Paul Rudolph in 1952 in Sarasota, Florida, has been completely destroyed by Hurricane Helene. The severe tropical storm, a Category 4 Hurricane, has had a devastating impact on communities across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Paul Rudolph was hired at the age of 34 by the Sanderling family to design the Sanderling Beach Club on Siesta Key. Known for their development of golf courses, the family entrusted Rudolph with creating a distinctive architectural experience against the backdrop of the Gulf Coast. Rudolph’s design featured a series of cabanas with barrel vaults, their curved roofs intended to mimic the waves of the Gulf. The initial plan consisted of a concrete patio, an observatory, and five single-story structures composed of cabanas that faced the gulf. The low vaulted ceilings were made from thin layers of plywood sheathing.
The project received an international architecture prize from the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Over the years, Sanderling Beach Club underwent a series of additions, expanding between 1952 and 1960 with the inclusion of three more structures and a clubhouse. the club’s architecture was eventually designated as a historic site but later fell into disrepair. In 1994, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. According to architect Max Strang, who visited the site after the hurricane, the architecture was completely destroyed overnight.
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According to the Paul Rudolph Institute of Modern Architecture, several other of Rudolph’s notable structures in the area are also threatened by the severe weather conditions, among which the 1956 Deering Residence, 1949 Bennett Residence, and 1953 Umbrella Residence.
In other related news, the Boston Government Service Center, designed by Paul Rudolph and opened in 1971, has announced plans to be redeveloped into a mixed-use housing plan, to address the housing crisis while allowing for the preservation of the Brutalist structure. Another modern heritage site, the Wayfarers Chapel, designed by Lloyd Wright, the eldest son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, has been responsibly dismantled following extensive damage from accelerated land movement.