A collection of guidelines and advice
Identify themes and shape narratives for your projects, careers, and building and design projects.
More »Through a Prism, Brightly: Baskervill’s Glass Light Hotel & Gallery
Hotel lobby art — when it’s bad, it can be good (in that bad sort of way). But, when it’s great, it’s transcendent, which should be a goal of any hotel. The Glass Light Hotel and Gallery in Norfolk falls into the latter category, so named for the collection of Doug and Pat Perry, local arts patrons who purchased a 1912 office building that Baskervill transformed into a glass menagerie, now operated by Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
More »SAARC Art: Integration of Art in a Public Building
by Eliel Alfon, AIA | Design Principal, Hughes Group Architects
Throughout history, architecture and art have been an integrated process. They have always been a communication tool for most civilized cultures. In a way, this allowed a building or structure to have deeper meaning beyond its intended function and purpose. Public art is cultural expression. Introduction of art in a public setting not only enriches the quality of the space, but it can reflect the soul of the community.
More »Housing for Humans
If you recently converted a seldom-used room into an office or your basement into a home theater, you already understand the upside of transforming unused spaces into productive areas that “work,” rather than sit idle.
Finding new ways to use existing spaces is a concept that has fueled the innovative, affordable housing solutions created by architect Ileana Schinder.
More »Less is More at VA Beach Parks and Rec
Recreation centers used to be highly programmed places. Pools, gyms, basketball courts, tennis courts, handball courts, playgrounds, ball fields, changing rooms, and offices—all defined spaces for specific activities. More meant more. The good ones were regularly maintained and became community hubs. The not-so-good ones were easy to spot because of their shabbiness, usually because of the cost of maintaining “more.”
More »Curator Q&A: Lisa Reilly
Writer and editorial consultant Margaret Hancock sat down with Lisa Reilly, Commonwealth Professor in Architectural History at the University of Virginia, to discuss the exhibition Skyscraper Gothic, currently on view at the Fralin Museum of Art.
More »SOM’s New Army Museum Speaks to Diverse Audiences in a Singular Way
There are some 90 museums in the United States and abroad covering individual aspects of the American Army, from its airborne and artillery divisions to general defense to the personal history of General George Patton, himself. The eighth to open in Virginia alone is the most comprehensive among them in terms of its permanent collection and scope, and its exhibitions program is varied to accommodate a variety of audiences. Yet, the new home for the National Museum of the United States Army, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and sitting at the head of 84 acres of land at Fort Belvoir, is entirely singular in its expression.
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