John H. Bickel Architectural Drawings, 1955-1990
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Bickel, John H.
Title: Architectural drawings, 1955-1990
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 8 rolls
Location Number: Mss. AR B583
Historical Note
John H. Bickel was an architect known for his modernist approach to design that helped bring Louisville into the twentieth century. He was born in 1922 in Louisville where he graduated from Male High School. He then attended the University of Louisville for one year until he realized his love of architecture. Since the state of Kentucky at the time did not have a collegiate architecture program, he transferred to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to pursue a degree and certification in architecture.
In 1943, Bickel enlisted and was deployed as a 2nd Lieutenant 340th Engineer Construction Battalion in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where he constructed air bases, field hospitals, and roads in the South Pacific before returning to college. During his college career, he was awarded the Booth Fellowship by Michigan which allowed him to travel for five months in Europe and meet the modernist architect, Le Corbusier, who greatly impacted his later work. Bickel’s career as an architect was based in Louisville, first under architect Stratton O. Hammon, where he worked on the Jefferson County Courthouse restoration, and then Wagner & Potts Architects.
Bickel worked at Louis and Henry Architects until his longtime friend, A. B. McCulloch, convinced him to open a shared firm, McCulloch & Bickel Architects. The firm received local and national awards for some its modern and cutting-edge work, including the church building for Southeast Christian Church and the Village West apartments. Bickel decided to divide the firm in half after realizing the difficulties in running a shared firm, with his part becoming Design Environment Group Architects (DEGA).
DEGA, which later was renamed Bickel-Gibson Architects, kept up the award-winning trend with projects like the University of Louisville School of Music, the new international terminal at Standiford Field, and the University of Kentucky Agricultural Sciences Building. Bickel also served as the chairman of the Citizens Metropolitan Planning Council, working to redevelop the banks of the Ohio in the 1960s. He was an AIA member, an oil painter, and a contributor and member at the Filson Historical Society. He died on December 12, 2005, leaving a legacy of modernist architecture throughout his hometown Louisville.
Sources:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/louisville/name/john-bickel-obituary?id=26651695
December 18, 1966 (page 93 of 184). (1966/12/18/, 1966 Dec 18). The Courier-Journal (1923-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/december-18-1966-page-93-184/docview/1867232257/se-2
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains architectural drawings of projects produced and associated with John H. Bickel. Most of the collection are drawings associated with Bickel-Gibson Associates Architects Incorporated or were done later in his career as freelance work.
The large part of the collection, Rolls 1-3, are Bickel’s drawings for work on his own residence at 2324 Valletta Lane, Louisville KY including additions to the main house and landscape design in his backyard. Rolls 4-5 include the copies of the original drawings for Bickel’s residence that were designed by architect Edd R. Gregg in 1955 for the Owen family. (Bickel purchased the property in the 1980s.) Rolls 6-7 contain drawings of a residence for the Fischer family at 1041 Alta Vista Road, Louisville KY that were done later in Bickel’s career as a freelance architect. Roll 7 specifically showcases Bickel’s attention to detail and skill at drafting with the numerous original hand drawn details he did for the residence. Roll 8 has two miscellaneous drawings of the Windhurst Subdivision layout Bickel-Gibson did in Shelbyville, KY and a flag design the firm did for the Rose Island Yacht Club in Prospect, KY.
The collection overall showcases some of the residential work Bickel was involved in. For more information about his other works, including churches and university buildings, see his photograph collection.
Related Collections:
John H. Bickel papers & photographs (008×46)
Container List
Roll 1: Residence of Mr. & Mrs. Henry Bickel, 1986-1987
Roll 2: Residence of Mr. & Mrs. Henry Bickel – Landscape Plan, 1989-1990
Roll 3: Residence of Mr. & Mrs. Henry Bickel – Conversion of Porch to Sun Room, 1983
Roll 4: Residence for Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Owen, 1955-1956
Roll 5: Residence for Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Owen, 1955-1956
Roll 6: Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Carl T. Fischer Jr., 1989
Roll 7: Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Carl T. Fischer Jr. – hand sketches, 1989
Roll 8: Windhurst Subdivision, 1987
26″ Burgee (flag), Rose Island Yacht Club, 1980
Subject Headings
Architects – Kentucky – Louisville.
Architecture – Designs and plans.
Architecture – Kentucky.
Architecture – Kentucky – Louisville.
Architecture, Domestic – Kentucky – Louisville.
Blueprints – Kentucky – Louisville.
Buildings – Kentucky.
Buildings – Kentucky – Louisville.
Louisville (Ky.) – Buildings, structures, etc.
