Elegant Information: Architectural Drawings From Fargo and the World

By Dan Nygard
Contributing Writer

Standing with curator Ron Ramsey in front of a top-down sectional sketch of a Glasgow, Scotland tenement building, I truly understood Ramsey’s fascination with architectural drawings. Dated 1872, the drawing was aesthetically pleasing in itself, with crisp lines and a sense of balance derived from designing places where people would actually live.

These works were nothing like my high school Dungeons and Dragons maps.

Crisp, ornate and filled with artistic detail, this drawing of a Glasgow tenement also held enormous historical value. I leaned close, imagining myself walking around in each room. Ramsay then pointed out to me that many apartments did not have a bathroom: “If they did have their own bathroom, it’s a toilet and a sink, and taking a bath would have been something you did in a metal tub in the kitchen.”

Ramsay, not only the curator but the owner of the collection behind this exhibit, has been teaching Architectural History at NDSU for nearly forty years. His innate curiosity becomes apparent three minutes after meeting him; no signature has been ignored, every drawing with a given address on it has been found on Google Earth. Ramsay calls each piece in this exhibit “a little time capsule,” since many of these drawings were legal contracts between client and builder, and many contain original handwriting documenting the exchanges between the two parties.

The mercenary nature of these drawings is especially apparent. As Ramsay explains, “There are three categories of drawing here: ‘pretty’ presentation drawings [for showing a client,]; ‘working drawings’ [for, you know, working], and student drawings, which are often the most evocative, historically.

For example, somewhere between 1928 and 1929 a NDSU student named Donald Best competed in a competition Ramsay describes as “Sketch Problems.” (The Alfred Levering Prize).

“Basically, at 9 am the students were given a challenge and they had until midnight to figure it out, complete a drawing of their plan, and turn it in.” As Ramsay explains, the prize was nothing more than bragging rights. Yet the competition produced exceptional work.

Best’s won 2nd place, as shown by the professor’s note drawn right onto the piece. And it is deserving (in my opinion) of first place; skillfully put together, painstakingly watercolored, it is one of this writer’s favorite pieces in the collection.

In addition to the “pretty drawings” and the student efforts, Ramsay has also included a mixture of local history and a history of how construction works. “If you’re interested in superlatives, this is definitely the largest work in the collection.” Ramsay guides me to a truly gigantic wall-hanging of “worker drawings” for N.P. Depot (here in Fargo) done by the architect Cass Gilbert of St. Paul. Meant for the use of construction workers, this piece is a large scenescape done on one large sheet which looks like brown paper bags unfolded, stretched out, and taped together. Full-scale drawings of gutters, etc are included; one can imagine a cement worker drawing a tape measure across the replica.

The many folds, Ramsay explains, are from when Mr. Gilbert folded up the drawing and sent it to the builders in the mail. This art is covered with the damage of work: wrinkles, pieces of tape to cover holes, and pencil marks.

Due to the type of work involved, this piece is a true rarity. Pointing to the wall, Ramsay explains, “These were not only used but in many cases used up.” Imagining the construction workers going into the little construction shack near NP avenue where this was surely displayed long ago, I feel that beautiful sadness that comes when the past reaches out to the present.

The Fargo-Moorhead area has seen many old buildings go under the wrecking ball in recent years; the Kassenbourg Block and the Ralph’s building quickly come to mind. As a veteran of the Historic Preservation movement, which seeks to restore old buildings instead of constantly making new ones, Ramsay’s expertise shows. And he provides some insight, some tiny bit of solace, to those who are still wandering bar-to-bar, looking for Ralph’s: “Buildings are artifacts that tell us something,” Ramsay explains, “but so are drawings.”

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If You Go

What: “Elegant Information”
Where: Rourke Museum
When: Fri-Sun, 1-5pm
Info: 218.236.8861