BOX CITY, USA
A Jubilee Event in Downtown
Montgomery, Alabama
Welcome to Box City, USA. This cozy little town
nestles for one day deep in the Heart of Dixie in the large parking lot
in front of the historic Train Station on Commerce Street in downtown Montgomery,
Alabama. Though one of the largest cities in Alabama, Montgomery
retains most of the charm, intimacy, and relaxed atmosphere of a rural
southern town. As a city we are proud of our many accomplishments,
including the internationally famed Shakespeare Theater, the Montgomery
Museum of Art, the Blue-Gray Football Classic, among many historic buildings
and events that have helped to shape our great nation. However for
one long, hot, happy June day we are also very proud to be the home of
a world of imaginations come to life called Box City, USA.
Box City is a joyful endeavor of the Montgomery Chapter
of the American Institute of Architects with the young people attending
Jubilee City Fest. It's a time, place, and event without stuffed
shirts, high pressure steel beams and concrete columns, or tight budgets.
For one day everything gives way to the fun of fantasy, the urge to create,
and the recreation of creation. On this day volunteer architects
set up a tent in the parking lot between the old train station, the Civic
Center, historic Commerce Street, and the Alabama River and invite the
children and parents of our lovely community to play and work together
designing and creating for the simple joy thereof.
This year we're also proud to present for your enjoyment
our First Annual Box City Web Page recording the blessed event.
So sit back, grab your mouse and join us now as we lead you through some
of highlights from this year's Box City, USA.
Step Right Up! Get Your Basic Box and Building
Permit!
Here's Don Brown, a local architect and spearhead for Box City, signing
up a determined young man ready to have fun building his part of the world.
The $1 fee helps defray the costs of boxes, paint, colored paper, glue,
and the whole mess of materials.
Take Your Box and Find An Empty Spot If you
Can! Someone will be right there to help you start planning and creating
your dream home, dream school, dream church, or just to help you make a
jolly creative mess. Parents and friends often have just as much
fun as the kids. 1,2,3 Go! There's no hurry but it looks like the color
you like might get used up if you can't get it from those kids over there!
Here's Kristi with her cap helping an avid young designer
with her dream castle! Kristi's somewhere under that cap!?!
The Proud Owner of Her Very Own Dream Castle. I
guess a woman's castle may be her home .
Some Little Girls Are So Cute!
Especially when enjoying the afternoon playing designer/builder
with mom. This girl and her mom had a great time building a box house
ready for Christmas...in June. Well, it sure is a cool thought...and
a cool house.
Sometimes Its Not a Good Idea to Scratch Where It
Itches!
Especially when you have paint on your fingers. Looks
like she figured that out just a moment too late. Look at her creative
yellow windows, kinda fun aren't they? You have to be careful not to educate
art out of a kid. I grew up coloring the black lines in my coloring book
because reality has no black outlines and I got into trouble for it.
College art appreciation taught me that some great painters broke those
kind of rules too though.
Lots of Times Moms and Dads Help Their Kids With their
dreams! And Sometimes The Parent's Involvement Is Just What's Needed to
Keep The Job Going! Sometimes You Wonder Who's
Having the Most Fun!
But that's ok because we're all kids at heart.
Of course a Mom wants the best for her daughter and this one is willing
to go the extra mile. She's putting a flag on the top of their new
skyscraper. Now if they can find a site in downtown Montgomery and
get someone to pay rent!
This Architect Is Constructively Challenged.
The girl and her mom keep 4 good arms with 16 fingers
and 4 thumbs very busy for the 15-30 minutes it takes to create a real
"Work of Architecture." Hey there may be a future in Architecture
for this girl! And It Sure Seems Well Worth The Effort! Here's the
happy team of mother, daughter & their architect after creating a lovely
place of worship with beautiful stained glass windows and a comfortably
tilted cornice.
What A Great Day When Best Friends Can Design and
Build Matching Schools!
It's a job for which a good architect can certainly be
proud. We certainly need more good school buildings and more fine
teachers. Perhaps we can sell this design to a school board somewhere in
the state. A new kind of portable classroom? Maybe not, lets
get these girls some bricks and mortar next year and build some permanent
classrooms, too.
The Completed Buildings Are Proudly Displayed For
All to See And Enjoy!
The wall in the background is full scale and those kids
are having fun at Jubilee City Fest too. There are activities for
kids and adults of all ages.
So Which Buildings Do You Think Look the Nicest, the
Little Buildings in Front or the Big Buildings in Back?
It looks like the young people at Montgomery's Jubilee
City Fest and the men and women of the Montgomery Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects built some interesting architecture on this fine
sunny day in Alabama the Beautiful!
Well, come visit us any time and let's work together
to build a better world, a better nation, a better state, and a better
city. It's a lot of hard work, but it can be a lot of fun too.
See you next year at Box City we hope! Please email
suggestions and comments to the address below.
And thanks for visiting today.
Photographs and Web Design by:
J.L. Wesley, Architect
Wesley
& Associates, Architects
629 S. McDonough Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36104
email: wesley11@mindspring.com