The Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture
Apr 9th, 2007 by admin
The Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture
The Baltimore Architecture Foundation has sponsored an annual lecture for most of its history. The Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture brings an expert in the field of Architecture to our city for an evening of discussion about the built environment, be it focused on the work of an individual practitioner or an overarching topic.
The 2011 Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture
Laurie D. Olin, RLA, FASLA :: “Civic Delight: Landscape, Cities and People”
October 27th, 2011 :: 6:30pm – 7:30pm
The Walters Art Museum
600 N Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
FREE and Open to the Public
We have had substantial interest in this event, with over 200 people preregistered already. Please RSVP to director@baltimorearchitecture.org in order to guarantee a seat for the lecture.
Wine and Cheese Reception to follow. Reception co-sponsored by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy and The Walters Art Museum.
Laurie D. Olin, internationally-recognized landscape architect and founder of The Olin Studio in Philadelphia will discuss his firm’s design philosophy touching on some of their work in Baltimore such as Pratt Street and Mount Vernon Place. Wine and cheese reception to follow. *Reception co-sponsored by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy and The Walters Art Museum.
Laurie is a distinguished teacher, author, and one of the most renowned landscape architects practicing today. Laurie studied civil engineering at the University of Alaska and pursued architecture at the University of Washington, where Richard Haag encouraged him to focus on landscape. He has guided, from vision to realization, many of OLIN’s signature projects, which span the history of the studio from Bryant Park in New York City to the Brancusi Ensemble in Romania. Recent projects include Simon and Helen Director Park in Portland and the new Barnes Foundation Art Education Center in Philadelphia.
Laurie is currently practice professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has taught for thirty years, and is former chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and recipient of the 1998 Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Design Medal from the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2005.
The Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation through a gift from the family of architect Robert E. Lewis. This Free Fall Baltimore program is funded in part by a grant from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.
In 2010, The Baltimore Architecture Foundation presented Philip Freelon, FAIA at the Student Center Theater, Morgan State University
Philip Freelon, FAIA is Principal of the Freelon Group, and part of the group (Freelon Bond Adjaye) selected to design the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Past lecturers have included:
- Witold Rybczynski
- Dr. Barry Bergdoll
- Robert Campbell, FAIA
- Robert A.M. Stern, FAIA
- Samuel White
- Allan Greenberg
- Antoine Predock
- Charles M. Gwathmey, FAIA
- Eric Owen Moss, FAIA
- Lebbeus Woods
- Dr. Phoebe Stanton
- Dr. Charles Jencks
- Peter Blake
- Edmund Bacon
- James Rouse
- Vincent Scully
- Brendan Gill
The Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation through a gift from the family of architect Robert E. Lewis.
Robert E. Lewis (1904-1996) was a founder and principal for the architectural firm of Wrenn, Lewis, and Jencks.Active in Baltimore from 1927 until 1978. Wrenn, Lewis and Jencks designed many significant buildings in Baltimore and throughout Maryland.Beginning as residential architects in Roland Park, Guilford, and Homewood, their successful design for the Faculty Club (now the Hopkins Club) at JHU led them to expand their practice to include commercial buildings as well.
Their long standing relationship with Johns Hopkins, both the University and the Hospital gave them a steady stream of commissions, often updating buildings to reflect the Hopkins’ changing needs.
Their work also included several jobs for the Baltimore Museum of Art as well as the Maryland State House Office Building in Annapolis. They did not work in a particular style, rather their buildings tended to reference their neighborhoods always with a nod toward Classical detailing.Most of the firms records are now housed at the State Archives in Annapolis. Mr. Lewis’s personal library and many of the firms renderings were given to the Baltimore Architecture Foundation by the Lewis family. The BAF would like to thank the Lewis family for their support and generosity in endowing the Robert E. Lewis Memorial Lecture.
