In 1972, on a nondescript stretch of Midlothian Turnpike, drivers pulled over to gape at a newly reopened Best Products showroom. The store’s brick facade seemed to be peeling off. One passerby rushed in to tell the employees that the building wall was falling down, only to be informed the effect was intentional. The …
North Highland Park is one of Richmond’s quintessential streetcar suburbs. In 1891, the Richmond Union Passenger Railway (known now simply as “the streetcar”) expanded north from Downtown, crossing Bacon’s Quarter Branch on the Fifth Street Viaduct to reach Highland Park. The neighborhood was largely built out by the 1930s. Highland Park was part of the …
In the summer of 1958, Edwin Slipek was sitting with his elbows on the window sill, his face pressed close to the glass. From a room high up in the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, he could see the teaming streets below and the belching smokestacks of steel mills in all directions. The sunrise was …
Everyday for the past 4 years, nearly 40 people have moved to Greater Richmond. They come from far and wide; a worker from Norfolk seeking a job, a high school graduate from Danville coming to the “big city” for college, a relative from out of state moving to be closer to family, or an immigrant …
“House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History,” a new exhibition at the Library of Virginia, charts the transformation of Jackson Ward, among the most storied Black neighborhoods in the United States. The exhibit focuses on the Skipwith-Roper family, the first Black homeowners in the area, and how their house and neighborhood transformed from 1767 through …
The Making of Twenty-First-Century Richmond: Politics, Policy, and Governance, 1988-2016 Thad Williamson, Julian M. Hayter, Amy L. Howard University of North Carolina Press 2024 358 pages John Moeser, a former professor at VCU’s Wilder School of Government, stated that “the story of Richmond is the story of America.” Similar statements have been made by other …
Over his 30 year career, the multi-disciplinary artist Theaster Gates has explored the relationship of art, architecture, memory, and public life. From now until March 9th, Gates’ work is on view at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The installation, combining ceramic and wooden objects in an architectonic metal frame, is on display in the …
The state of public transit in Richmond may not be strong, but we are more fortunate than many US cities of our size to be served by the Greater Richmond Transit Company, or GRTC. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, GRTC has outperformed many other systems, in part because of the “Zero Fare” policy instituted during …
Too few Richmonders know the name Amaza Lee Meredith (1895 – 1984). Thanks in part to an important and timely new show at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, that may soon change. A pathbreaking architect and educator, Meredith is the first queer black woman known to practice as an architect in …
Mannerheimintie, Helsinki, Finland Steven Holl Associates 1998 Greetings from Helsinki! This picturesque capital of Finland is a sprawling gulfside city noted for its 20th and 21st century architecture. Especially notable are buildings designed by native sons Alvar Aalto and Elliel Saarinen. Since 1998, New York-based Steven Holl Architects has been represented by a bold and …