Drawn

Genesis

Trial

Acumination

Apex

Actual Educational Facilities
What follows is the first example of what would become the mainstay of what was drawn in early years- one point perspective. The object was Salem Junior High School, where I spent my eighth and ninth grade years. It was also where I learned this style of drawing.
Not much attention is given to detail as these drawings were just a way of getting the feel for the style. The lines are wobbly and the angles imperfect, but time would correct these errors. Subsequent drawings of both facilities, both designs of the Virginia Beach, Virginia City Public Schools, were done as skills were developed and sharpened. And by the time these newer skills were realized, the designs of these two buildings had lost all of their challenge.

Salem Jr High ~ Green Run High

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Original Educational Facilities
The year 1989 became a year of genesis for me. One point perspective, recently learned in a junior high school art class, was performed on some facilities of orginal design. Being a youngster at the time, the type of facility was obvious. They offered many possibilities for design and function. The secondary school building.
These pieces are crude and seem rushed, although much work was put into them at the time. The talents available to me were just extremely limited at the time. But they did form a nice basis for the pieces to come.

Bay Lakes High ~ Rotex High ~ South Point High

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Educational Facilities
The high school was still a favorite subject of mine even as skills were developed. The first two pictures, actual buildings from the Virginia Beach City Public Schools, show new and daring attempts in more difficult details and angles.
The latter two are original designs of mine.

Salem High ~ Bayside Jr High ~ CM Spalding High ~ Midtown High

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Shopping Malls and Hotels
Another favorite subject for early designs was the shopping mall. These large and sprawling facilities presented so many possibilities of design, both in their layouts and exterior design. These buildings have always attracted my eyes for their huge size yet intimate detail.
Pembroke Mall is an actual facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It displays evidence of the early classic shopping mall design of the sixties. Note the use of brick styling in the detailing of the Sears store's exterior. Truly beautiful. The Seaboard Galleria, an original design, follows a style feflective of the middle to late eighties.
At this time hotel design entered the picture as well. These are two early original pieces.

Pembroke Mall ~ Seaboard Galleria ~ Omni Hotel
Sheraton Grand Hotel

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Office Buildings
Tall buildings were also an early favorite of mine. Their use of fragile elements such as glass and marble used vertically to show strength has always been an interest. And there was no shortage of tall buildings during my time in both Honolulu and Virginia Beach.
But Huntsville was a different story.
The first two buildings are copies of two "skyscrapers" on the Huntsville skyline. The AmSouth Building is a beautiful building for any city, while the city hall is of a design that never seems dated.
The other two are classic designs influenced by the colonial quality of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. I've always like the idea of the melding of these two diametrically different standards- the old classic colonial look on a modern skyscraper.

AmSouth Building ~ Huntsville City Hall ~ Courthouse
Municipal Center

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Educational Facilities
Still, through the "third phase" of my personal design development, the high school remained the standard. It was during this phase, with the first two pictures (of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools and the Huntsville City Schools, respectively) that I perfected the use of two point perspective. Notice, the view of Salem High is different here from the view in Trial.
The latter two are successful attempts at a new type of drawing, one never formally taught. That is of three point perspective, where ninety and forty-five degree angles are all placed together into one geometrically exact design. This type takes much more artist estimation than either the one or two point types, but the results are also more daring and different.
At this time, I took to naming the facilities after friends. It was almost an honor in our small country school, even if I do say so myself.

Salem High ~ Grissom High ~ JA Garner High ~ CN Collier High

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

The Spalding Hotel Series
The Spalding Hotel Series was my first attempt at an entire series, or franchise, of facilities. All original, each are based on different styles and types.
The "Classic" is based on the old Dallas Mill, which burned down in Huntsville a decade ago. Old and abandoned, the one million square foot cotton mill had plenty of potential; I saw this potential best realised as a hotel.
The "Plaza" is a resort hotel, a self contained vacation destination. The building surrounds a courtyard brimming with gardens and waterfalls, surrounded by different fine restaurants and nightclubs. There is a climate controlled, glass enclosed swimming pool on the sixteenth level, perfect for use any time of the year.
The "Tower" is a modern urban convention and hotel complex. It makes maximum use of minimum land and follows a modern, shiny, and bright design.

Spalding Classic Hotel ~ Spalding Plaza Hotel
Spalding Tower Hotel

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

The Spalding Academy Series
These drawings represent what I consider to be the apex or zenith of my developmental design phase. And, like always, the high school remained the number one standard. The design of these facilities had grown more extravagant and detailed, and had evolved into their own series- The Spalding Academy.
The first is the final realization and flagship school of the series, my namesake, CM Spalding High School. Based on a classic and almost religious design, the towers convey strength while the stained glass and textured facade convey beauty.
These principles were carried into other designs in the series, all named after good friends as well. Each one contains orginal elements and more intricate design which show a natural developement and progression from those first rudimentary pictures of my design genesis.

CM Spalding High ~ TT Perry High ~ JR Fleming High
AL Whitt High

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Shopping Centers
Shopping center and mall design also reached its developmental apex during this period. They had evolved from strictly sprawling suburban retail complexes to large urban mixed-use facilities.
The Flagship Center, the largest of any of my commercial designs, is an office/retail/entertainment facility containing 500 stores on four levels with nine anchors. There is also a twin office complex and casino hotel surrounding a nine acre amusement park.
The Dominion Center is a commercial/retail/convention complex. Smaller than the Flagship Center, it still contains seven anchors and three-hundred stores on two levels.
The last is the exceedingly modern Araby One. Use of stylized concrete, metal, and glass give this facility an almost industrial and futuristic look. Its compact size affords a truly large and versatile mixed-use facility on only a few acres of land.

Flagship Center ~ Dominion Center ~ Araby One

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding

Churches and Buildings
The following church was my only attempt at this type of facility. And the modern, double steeple design was fairly successful. It serves as a multi-functional center with a large worship hall occupying the middle space, a large parish center with a kitchen and gym occupying one end with a rectory occupying the other.
The last two are drawings of one of my favorite urban features- the downtown skyline. The first is a small city skyline, while the other is a collection of previously drawn buildings placed together into one city center.
This piece, "City Center," was my most award winning piece. It earned congressional honors, induction into the Huntsville Museum of Art's Youth Art Month Program, and was a factor in invitations to attend the Schools of Architecture at Auburn University, University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

St Christopher Church ~ City Skyline ~ "City Center"

© 2005 Christopher M. Spalding