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.
More »Charlottesville’s New Quirk Hotel Anchors a Main Street in Flux
Breathless encomiums about Charlottesville’s renaissance over the past decade are easy to understand. There’s been lots of housing and commercial infill, especially along stretches of road between town and gown outposts. The county’s infrastructure projects ringing the city have started to address (but still not solve) the traffic congestion. The newly completed South Lawn and hospital complex expansion projects are marvels of civil engineering. The Rotunda recently reemerged after a multimillion-dollar renovation as a model of thoughtfulness and probity. In parts of town where tuition-paying parents might have a Coke and a burger, things are generally looking leafier and cleaner.
More »Student Work Featured in Exhibition
An exhibition featuring the 2021 AIA Virginia Prize competition entries is on view at Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory Art Center through Aug. 8, 2021.
More »Professional Practice 101
Andrew Pressman’s third edition of “Professional Practice 101: A Compendium of Effective Business Strategies in Architecture” (released by Routledge in May of 2021) links design thinking directly to practice.
More »North Atlantic Cities
From Amsterdam in 1600 to London and Washington today, the people who live beside the North Atlantic Ocean have built cities with row houses. But why? Why do London and Washington have row houses while Paris and Minneapolis do not? With this question, Charles Duff began his exploration of the world’s row house cities.
More »Thirty Years of Architecture at William and Mary
1991-2021 Alumni Exhibition
When I was a young student of architecture, I was lucky to learn from one of the best– Vernon Shogren, professor of architecture at the N.C. State School of Design. He challenged his students to own our concepts, know what we were doing, and argue for the final designs we created. He had no problem sitting for long minutes in silence, waiting for us to speak up. Later, as I began teaching, and even now, I find it hard to sit still like him. He let his students learn. As a teacher, I try to do the same.
I took the position to teach architecture at William & Mary as an adjunct instructor thirty years ago with no intention of staying beyond a few years, much less thirty. But I soon experienced the profound joy of working with smart, curious, and hard-working students. I discovered that I had more to learn than they, and I had to learn to let them learn.
The work of my former students in this exhibition is surprising to me, even though I knew each of them quite well. I believed they had enormous potential, and the exceptional design intelligence and skill reflected in their work here bears that out.
Bringing this work together has been a logistical challenge, and my only regret is that all of my former students couldn’t be a part of this exhibition. Every one taught me.
Thanks to my Department of Art & Art History colleagues, and especially to Pam Hawkes, Director of the Andrews Gallery. She has put in countless hours bringing this online exhibition to fruition and we are all grateful for the skill and collaborative spirit that she brought to this work.
Ed Pease
Senior Lecturer
Exhibition Aims to Inspire Future Architects
Why does a building look the way it does? What is it used for? What materials were used in its construction? The traveling exhibition Young Architects: Designing for the Future, at the recently renovated Danville Science Center, taps into children’s natural curiosity to explore the world of architecture and community design.
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