Natural State of Architecture

June 25 - July 1, 2018

Museum of Automobiles

By Mason Toms

As summer begins, many of us make plans to take advantage of the beautiful and diverse state parks all over Arkansas. Tucked away in one of them is a remarkable structure designed and constructed by remarkable people. This building, which sits just outside of Petit Jean State Park on the main route, is the Museum of Automobiles. Its rich architectural heritage is one of the most impressive in the state.

The Museum of Automobiles was constructed by Winthrop Rockefeller, the grandson of famed oil-baron, John D. Rockefeller, who moved to Arkansas in 1953 after visiting an old military friend from the area. He fell in love with the scenic views of Petit Jean Mountain and in the mid-1950s, he decided to build a house and farm atop the mountain, Winrock. In 1955, Governor Faubus appointed Rockefeller to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, and over the next nine years, Rockefeller successfully brought 600 new industrial plants to the state, creating 90,000 new jobs. Following his grandfather’s ways, Rockefeller liked to give back to his community, and the museum was a way for him to do that.

In 1961 Rockefeller purchased a collection of antique cars from the James Melton Museum in Hypoluxo, Fla. After adding a few family cars to it, the collection rounded out at thirty-three automobiles. In need of a building to house the collection, Rockefeller turned to the firm of Ginocchio, Cromwell, Carter, Dees & Neyland, who had designed his home and farm. The architects assigned to the project were Dietrich Neyland and Robert Millett, who were among the best architects in the state at the time. Neyland attended architecture school at Tulane University and worked under renowned American Modernist, Richard Neutra, in California. Robert Millett attended college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied under the Father of Modernist architecture, Walter Gropius. These two commonly paired up on design projects including the Student Unions at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 1951 and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1957.

When Neyland and Millett approached the design to house the auto collection, they decided it needed to be a structure that was as progressive and iconic as the man who commissioned it. Additionally, they thought it needed to be as open as possible to provide an unobstructed view of the cars. The team created a tensile structure with concrete towers at the corners of the building and a series of cables that extended from them to support the entire roof of the building. This system not only allowed for an open, flexible space with no interior columns on the interior but also created a dramatic, striking exterior. The system, created by a Russian engineer in 1895, did not see much popularity until the late-1960s when it was used by Frei Otto in the German Pavilion at the Expo 67 Exhibition in Canada and the 1972 Summer Olympic Stadium in Munich.

The museum opened on Oct. 18, 1964, and was an instant hit with the public, although its popularity was cut short. Not long after the death of Winthrop Rockefeller in 1973, the museum closed, the building and land were donated to the state park, and the collection was sold, with the exception to Rockefeller’s personal vehicles. The loss of this popular attraction prompted ten men to band together and create a non-profit to reopen it. Local car clubs donated and lent cars to the non-profit to restock the museum, which successfully reopened in June 1976. Thanks to the efforts of these men and the greater antique auto community of Arkansas, the museum is still open today and hosts several car related events throughout the year.

At times, the natural state of architecture is one of new ideas and ambitious vision – certainly, in the case of the Museum of Automobiles, which stands as a strikingly modern structure that embodies the boldness and innovation of its creators.