The Belgian Friendship Building : From the New York World's Fair to a Virginia HBCU

Bryan Clark Green

ISBN 10: 0813952964 / ISBN 13: 9780813952963

Edité par University Of Virginia Press Jul 2025, 2025

A propos de cet article

Neuware - A singular architectural landmark bridging western Europe and the American South How did the Belgian Friendship Building, originally constructed for the 1939 New York World s Fair and one of only a few surviving buildings from that celebrated exhibition end up on the campus of an HBCU in Richmond, Virginia In this richly illustrated book, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Katherine Kuenzli, and Bryan Clark Green relate the fascinating story, spanning three continents, of a distinctly modern structure that has towered over Virginia Union University, in a city characterized by its traditional architecture, for more than eighty years. It is a structure whose original purposes to present modern Belgian design and to extol its racist, colonial regime stand in stark contrast to its dedication in 1941 to Robert L. Vann, longtime editor of one of America s most illustrious historic Black newspapers. The Belgian Friendship Building is an enduring example of prewar modernism designed by a team of Belgian architects under the direction of Henry van de Velde that has until now been all but forgotten in histories of modern architecture. This indispensable, multifaceted account ties together the history of modern European architecture, colonial exploitation, and African American achievement in a brilliant and compelling case study.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9780813952963

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Belgian Friendship Building : From the New York World's Fair to a Virginia HBCU
• Éditeur: University Of Virginia Press Jul 2025
• Date de parution: 2025
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0813952964
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780813952963
• Reliure: Buch
• État de l'article: Neu
• Dimensions: 211 L x 187 H x 27 P (en millimètres) 211 millimètres de largeur par 187 millimètres de hauteur par 27 millimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 904 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

A singular architectural landmark bridging western Europe and the American South

How did the Belgian Friendship Building, originally constructed for the 1939 New York World’s Fair—and one of only a few surviving buildings from that celebrated exhibition—end up on the campus of an HBCU in Richmond, Virginia? In this richly illustrated book, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Katherine Kuenzli, and Bryan Clark Green relate the fascinating story, spanning three continents, of a distinctly modern structure that has towered over Virginia Union University, in a city characterized by its traditional architecture, for more than eighty years. It is a structure whose original purposes—to present modern Belgian design and to extol its racist, colonial regime—stand in stark contrast to its dedication in 1941 to Robert L. Vann, longtime editor of one of America’s most illustrious historic Black newspapers. And it is an enduring example of prewar modernism that has until now been all but forgotten in histories of American architecture. This indispensable, multifaceted account ties together the history of modern European architecture, colonial exploitation, and African American achievement in a brilliant and compelling case study.

À propos de l?auteur

Kathleen James-Chakraborty is Professor of Art History at University College Dublin and the author of several books, including Modernism as Memory: Building Identity in the Federal Republic of Germany.Katherine Kuenzli is Professor of Art History at Wesleyan University and the author of Henry van de Velde: Designing Modernism, among others. Bryan Clark Green is Architectural Historian and Director of Historic Preservation for Commonwealth Architects and the author of In Jefferson's Shadow: The Architecture of Thomas R. Blackburn.