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The interior of a Virginia Beach school recognized with the Design Achievement Award at the first Virginia by Design Awards (Photo courtesy Virginia Beach Public Schools)
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The Historic Pole Green Church was awarded for enduring legacy and significance for its structure memorializing the site of a former church. (Photo courtesy Historic Pole Green Church)
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Part hardware store, part treat shop, the Donut Wall was a popular destination at the Virginia by Design awards. (Photo by Harry Kollatz Jr.)
I have seen the future, and it is a Wall. Of. Doughnuts. The Krispy Kreme delights were suspended on brackets from a screen like grommets in a hardware store and available for the eager delectation of guests at the first-ever Virginia by Design Awards April 13.
The event occurred on a splendid Richmond spring morning, on the grounds of host institution The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design, the city’s version of stately Wayne manor. Architect Robert A. Steele officiated the awards ceremonies, held under a big tent in the great rear lawn and garden behind the museum.
"Why an award for design?" asked keynote speaker Albert "Jack" Davis, former dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and a juror for this year’s four categories. Not to recognize design for design's sake, he emphasized, but design for the public good. Design not just of prestige buildings, but parks, schools and bridges that improve people’s lives.
One way difficult design issues are overcome is by philanthropy; groups or individuals providing patronage for an effort that’s been stymied by official intransigence or lack of vision. For this, the Branch Medallion, chosen by the Branch leadership, went to Joan and the late Macon Brock, and their Brock Environmental Center. Joan Brock noted that when a community is provided with options, people favorably respond, and it helps to provide good models for progress.
Katie MacDonald, a Harvard- and Cornell-trained architect, Collegiate Assistant Professor at the Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and co-founder of After Architecture, received recognition as an Emerging Designer.
The Vision in Design Honor went to Susan Piedmont-Palladino. She directs Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC), where she also manages the Urban Design Program.
The Prize for Public Interest Design was awarded to Phoebe Crisman, a University of Virginia associate professor of architecture who, for the past 12 years, through the nonprofit Elizabeth River Project, has sought sustainable redevelopment of the river through Hampton Roads. A large part of the effort involved repurposing a barge into a mobile environmental field station and learning center.
In terms of seeing challenges and figuring out ways to surmount or absorb them, three Richmond-based honorable mentions were the T. Tyler Potterfield Jr. Memorial Bridge, which has united Richmond in ways we couldn’t have known until it opened to great public enthusiasm. Tyler was a friend of mine. I attended the review session when he made the final proposal and showed his plans for the bridge, and it was the only time I recall him being miffed, that while the review board really liked the idea, paths for bikes along the south bank didn’t seem practical or affordable. The city gave it the green light, though Potterfield did not live to see its completion. His wife, Maura Meinhardt, briefly gave thanks to everyone and said, to applause, “As for the design, if you can find something better, prove me wrong.”
Also recognized was the community-centered Greater Richmond ARCPark, designed for accessibility to youngsters and people of all capabilities. And, for enduring legacy and significance, Mechanicsville's Historic Polegreen Church. Accepting was Rev. Bob Bluford, who, with architect Carlton Abbott, commemorated the first non-Anglican church in Virginia, later destroyed during the Civil War, with a gesture or ghost structure that is also used for special events.
The Branch was filled with the honorees and guests for a buffet brunch that morning, and the light coming through all those windows was gorgeous. I noted a design flaw, though, with the Donut Wall. The sugary stuff left telltale traces on the floor. Oh, well, that’s what they call wabi sabi. Besides, they were delicious.
