Previously in this column, we’ve explored a graduate student’s perspective on architecture’s trajectory—one that leverages architects’ unique skill sets to address, through the built environment, uncertainties facing society today. This semester at UVA engaged this topic directly through school-wide discussions facilitated by the biennial Woltz Symposium and design courses. The Woltz Symposium, a two-day event […]
Previously in this column, we’ve explored a graduate student’s perspective on architecture’s trajectory—one that leverages architects’ unique skill sets to address, through the built environment, uncertainties facing society today. This semester at UVA engaged this topic directly through school-wide discussions facilitated by the biennial Woltz Symposium and design courses. The Woltz Symposium, a two-day event […]
When Noah Bradley was 15, his insurance agent father announced that the two of them would spend their summer building a house by hand, from the ground up. “I believe I swore at that particular stage of my life,” Bradley says, “that I would do anything I could to avoid building houses ever again.” His […]
This month’s Abode takes a peek inside a Lewis and Clark Building condo, a closer look at Montpelier’s Claude Moore Hall, a critical eye toward public spaces and more. Here’s what you’ll find: Architect Bob Anderson‘s etched inspiration. Montpelier’s Claude Moore Hall makes a modern statement. The upsides of heated flooring. Do public spaces affect […]
When Bonnie Bond bought her condo in the Lewis and Clark Building downtown in 2012, she faced an unusual situation. Not only was the two-bedroom unit due for routine updates—the building was built in 1989, and the flooring and cabinetry reflected their age—the condo bore the marks of its previous, and very notable, owner. Artist, […]
Deck the garden with half a dozen stars to ornament the darkest days of winter. In the pared-down landscape between first and last freezes, when contrasts are sharp, displays of flower, form and color take on a significance lost in the lushness of summer. If you don’t already have these beauties in your lineup, add […]
In urban design, decisions about road lanes, sidewalk widths and shade trees affect the rhythm of use in outdoor spaces—transportation and commerce, social activity, traffic, safety, recreation and even public health are determined by these choices. Urban planners have long been using the catchphrase “live, work, play” to describe an idyllic mixture of programming, but […]
Practice makes perfect. It’s an adage for a reason—the more you do something, the more comfortable with it and adept at it you become. That was architect Bob Anderson’s thinking, anyway, when, as an 8-year-old, he saw an illustration of Albrecht Dürer’s wood carving of a rhinoceros from 1515. “I fell in love with it […]
Heated floors are less popular than they used to be, according to local builders, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still have their place. “In this climate it’s not economically real feasible as a primary heat source,” says Wayne Stinnette, vice president of Abrahamse & Company Builders. But “you see a lot of in-floor heating […]
It’s a special opportunity to hear a luminary speak in person, but for Kat Imhoff, president of James Madison’s Montpelier, it’s a shame to hear those words evaporate without being captured in a recording. Like, say, when Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice, spoke to a group of […]
When it comes to designing a room, often the advice is to start with something you love (a rug, a piece of art—anything) and work from there, layering pattern and texture to achieve a dynamic space. But every project is different, says Nina Crawford, and no two clients are the same. “My favorite customer is […]