Graduate Architecture and Urbanism Seminar

On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, 27 graduate students of the ARCH 5705 Architecture and Urbanism seminar visited two important Roanoke institutions, the O. Winston Link Museum, and the Taubman Museum of Art.

The Link Museum is housed in the former Roanoke train station and is notable for its Raymond Loewy designed entrance hall and expansion. The project was introduced to the students by VT Architecture Associate Professor Scott Gartner. In 1995 Gartner collaborated with Industrial Design Associate Professor Bill Green to save the building from demolition and initiate a careful renovation to save as much of the original building fabric. Presently, the museum houses an exhibition of Raymond Loewy’s work and his prolific impact on U.S. industrial and graphic design. As well, the students studied the black and white photographic exhibitions of O. Winston Link which juxtapose the industrial and mystical atmosphere of steam locomotives which traversed the rails across Appalachia.

The same day, the students received an exclusive behind the scenes visit at the Taubman Museum of Art. Even though the museum was officially closed, Katrina King-Singh, Deputy Director of Community Engagement took time to enthusiastically introduce the students to the entire building. The visit included all galleries but also the entire range of support spaces that are not open to the public.

On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, the same group examined Snohetta’s Blacksburg Moss Arts Center. Rob Gainer, Assistant Manager of Production made an extraordinary effort to familiarize the students with the necessary spatial and constructive requirements to accommodate various professional performance productions. The students were able to examine not only the main floors but also the supporting subterranean technical support spaces and the very top of the fly tower.

Both the Roanoke and Blacksburg visits served a pedagogical intent to engage directly with architecture’s built scale and proportion within its respective context, while detailed examinations of each building’s parts reveal the corporeal nature of constructive strategies employed in the architecture.