Clockwise from left: Jock and Teresa Leonard (Jock Leonard); conference table at Leonard Design made from a tornado-felled tree, milled by Southern Accents; metal base fabricated by Apel Steel (Jock Leonard) Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rosenbaum House in Florence, Alabama (wrightinalabama.com)
In this creative new weekly series, local author, artist and all-around entertaining and eccentric (not to mention classy!) Southern gentleman Ben Johnson South introduces Cullman Tribune readers to the creative thinkers and doers in the Cullman community.
“10 Things from a Tribune Tastemaker”
This week, meet Jock Leonard, architect/Leonard Design
So, I’m having lunch at the new Rumors Deli with Cullman “starchitect,” Jock Leonard, and in the first five minutes after he explores the industrial-chic space and praises the aesthetics and café owner, Annette Harris’ historic preservation, Jock mentions his enthusiasm for repurposing railroad cars as residential and commercial architecture, and he raves about a giant, “Big Fish,” outdoor sculpture by one of his contemporary heroes, Frank Gehry. TASTEMAKER Jock Leonard, proud, third-generation Cullmanite, is one of the most faceted and fascinating creative minds in Alabama.
Here are “10 things from this TASTEMAKER:”
- FAVORITE, ALABAMA BUILDING IN 19TH CENTURY? 20TH? 21ST? –St. Andrews Church (Prairieville), Wallace House by Paul Rudolph (Athens), Antioch Baptist Church by Auburn’s Rural Studio (Perry County)
- MILITARY WEAPONRY—including ships, tanks, airplanes is an obsession
- WHAT TO ADD TO CULLMAN PUBLIC LIBRARY—film “LIFE AS A HOUSE”
- BUILDING NOT IN CULLMAN HE WANTS—Cultural Center + Art Museum
- HOW TO RECOGNIZE CULLMAN DESIGN GREAT, CHARLES KLEIBACKER—gallery at cultural center
- FAVORITE BUILDING SMELL—the “off-gassing” of new materials in a just-finished space
- READING PEOPLE’S MINDS—superpower he most desires
- TORNADO-FELLED TREE CONFERENCE TABLE—milled by Southern Accents, metal base fabricated by Apel Steel
- AVE MARIA GROTTO—every visitor and local should experience
- LARKWOOD WATER FALLS—favorite, Cullman sound
Other favorites from this TASTEMAKER: Cullman daytrip—Frank Lloyd Wright, Rosenbaum House (Florence, Alabama); architects—Richard Meier (living), Le Corbusier (dead); All-Steak orange rolls; Dr. Seuss books; Stahl House by Pierre Koenig; autumn in Cullman; Smith Lake weekends; distressed leather club chairs; Beatles not Rolling Stones; watercolor artistry; Cullman buildings—St. Bernard Abbey Chapel, Sacred Heart Church (downtown), former Cullman Health Department, Stitt Medical, Plunkett Dental, Bledsoe Dental (demolished), Cullman Main Library, Nate Brock Villa; MOTTO: Treat others as you like to be treated.
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