Best of 2020

In a difficult and unusual year, I considered skipping my annual “Best of,” which always highlights architecture I visited during the year. But here it is in glorious misery—maybe somebody inexplicably looks forward to it.

Gratitude
I was able to remain healthy, and I was able to work from home when needed and work (alone) in my office when possible. I’m privileged.

The Kimbell
I traveled just once in 2020, in February, to the University of Texas-Arlington. I enjoyed meeting with Architectural Engineering students there, and reviewing their work.
I only had a short bit of spare time, and I raced to visit Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum. It’s a building I knew very well; here’s a short talk I made sometime ago for sophomore structural engineering students. It’s an amazing building: present, muscular, calm, and of course brilliantly-detailed. And above all, it’s a wonderful environment for art. Here are some of the usual photos:

In case my interior world is of interest
During the most stressful and isolated periods of the year, I occasionally found myself in a deep, pleasurable reverie. Most commonly, I would be strolling the streets of Siena (with the aroma of wild boar ragu, the irregular footfalls on brick streets), along the Paris canals (bread and butter, motorcycle noise), in Hampstead, London (ale, elm trees), and at Rievaulx Abbey (fog, firewood smoke). Again, I’m privileged.

My Hometown
Do you know the Bruce Springsteen lyric about a boy and his father?

I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick
And steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair and say ‘Son, take a good look around
This is your hometown.’

My hometown is South Minneapolis; I was raised a few miles from the site where George Floyd was killed in May and where everyone watched the protests and (separately) destructive actions that followed. About my hometown, I said on Twitter at the time: “while it wasn't utopia it was diverse and tolerant. I'm angry and sad tonight.”
I don’t know what the future holds for my hometown. True progress will involve police reform, better jobs, and a different distribution of capital. In particular, it seems to me that the fundamental problem (here and elsewhere) is the disparity between wages and property values. African-Americans in South Minneapolis need to be able to own their homes and small businesses.
You can donate to the Lake Street Council here.

credit: https://flic.kr/p/2jtNS4U

Race and Architecture
The killing of George Floyd and subsequent events certainly sharpened the focus on race, for me and others in the world of architecture. The book Race and Modern Architecture was a best seller; I look forward to getting deeper into it. I reoriented my Architectural History survey class to better address white supremacy. I began with the issue of confederate monuments, and I incorporated new material on, for example, Seneca Village, Mecca Flats, and Henry Wilcots. More improvements to come.

The Year in Architecture
Best new project? I’d say: The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia, by Höweler + Yoon Architecture (H+Y) and Mabel O. Wilson. More here. As a bit of instant analysis, it seems to me that Maya Lin’s legacy on monument and landscape design is extraordinary.
What else happened in architecture this year? (Not much?) I don’t think Trump’s executive order is worth fretting about or theorizing. As Aaron Sorkin wrote: They’re trying to get us to swing at a pitch in the dirt.

Rest in Peace
It was shocking and saddening when Michael Sorkin passed away in March. He was both important to the world of architecture and to me personally. Among his many, many important contributions, he described contemporary urbanism, almost thirty years ago, as “Variations on a Theme Park.” I think its worth reflecting on whether that’s still true (yes) and what it means.

Thanks for Visiting
solarhousehistory.com had 19,900 pageviews in 2020. That's about 55 per day.
The most popular blog topics were:
Le Corbusier and the Sun (2,000 pageviews)
Zeilenbau orientation and Heliotropic housing (1,060)
Edison’s Famous Quote (1,020)
Surface Reading (800)
Tools: The Shading Protractor (710)
Nixon’s Energy Policy (700)
Art Nouveau and Modernisme (600)

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Best of 2019
Best of 2018
Best of 2017
Best of 2016
Best of 2015
The Solar House: 2013 Year in Review