Regional Modernism :: The New Orleans Archives

The first International Trade Mart building on the downtown riverside of Camp and Common was designed in 1947 by Rathbone DeBuys, AIA (1874-1960). It opened in 1948 as a testament to the progressive nature of the new New Orleans.

"The International Trade Mart, the first world-trade market place, is as modern as the Middle South spirit which inspired its construction. Five streamlined stories of windowless concrete and glass brick, it houses the export-import displays and sales offices of hundreds of manufacturers, some 50 leading international traders and several nations." [i]

The first ITM was actually an adaptive reuse and modernization of a late 19th century structure (A. Baldwin Wood & Co., Thomas Sully, 1889). After the second ITM building (Edward Durell Stone) at 2 Canal was completed in 1967, the first ITM was renamed the Gateway Building. It was demolished in 1978 along with several other buildings for the Sheraton Hotel.

[Francine Stock, Regional Modernism; photo: Dorothy Violet Gulledge Photograph Collection, Louisiana Division/City Archives, New Orleans Public Library]

[i] Times-Picayune July 5, 1948