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 …
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, …
M.M. Wignor with Inosuke Yoshida, builder1904 Postcards is a new series of articles on ArchitectureRichmond that examines buildings outside of the Richmond area that are of special interest and relevance to our city. Most Richmonders will be familiar with the Branch House, a stately gothic mansion that was once the largest home on Monument Avenue. …
Helene Combs Dreiling is executive director of the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. Dreiling oversaw the recent foundation of the Branch, which evolved from the Virginia Center for Architecture which she also headed. In 2014, she served as president of the American Institute of Architects after some two decades on the national board of …