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 …
Bellevue is a snugly-configured, early 20th century Northside community of some 1,200 houses. It boasts an architecturally-dizzying array of traditional styles. Charles McGuigan, the editor of North of the James (a monthly tabloid), captured the spirit of the place beautifully: “Bellevue has sidewalks and a maze of alleys, and though many of the streets are …
For nearly two centuries, the VCU Medical Center has been expanding steadily in the Court End neighborhood of central Richmond. This vast complex of hospitals, classrooms, offices, laboratories, and dorms has become an important engine of Richmond’s wellbeing and growth. It is also an increasingly important center for research, being one of less than …
T. Tyler Potterfield2009The History Press157 pages All cities are shaped by the landscapes on which they are built. The great harbors of New York and Hong Kong made those cities into the hubs of international trade we know today. Istanbul’s position on the Bosporus strait has made it a meeting point of cultures for nearly …
The Department of Architecture at Virginia Tech is amongst the most well known in the country, but it isn’t as well known in Richmond as one might expect. Over the past month, an exhibition at the Branch Museum has helped to change that. The latest in a series of ambitious shows staged by the museum, …
Ryan K. Smith2020Johns Hopkins University Press328 pages Asian, Latin American, Islamic and other growing Richmond communities “will navigate anew the panorama of revolution, war, gender, art, industry, race, environment, and memory at this fateful city on the James.” This is how Ryan K. Smith, a professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University closes his …
Images captions in order: Beckerdite Scholley House, Campbell Hall at the University of Virginia, Middleton Inn, W. G. Clark House, Croffead House floor plan, Croffead House Earlier this month, W.G. Clark, one of Virginia’s most accomplished architects, was honored with the 2023 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. …