Edwin Slipek
If we are shaped by our environments, Edwin Slipek Jr.’s love of architecture was likely sparked at birth.
He entered the world at what is now MCV West Hospital, an iconic expression of Art Deco. The distinctive architecture of Richmond’s Ginter Park, where he grew up, fueled his passion for design. Over the years, the height and history of buildings, their aesthetic and expressive appeal sharpened his visual awareness. He built a career writing, teaching, touring and curating exhibits about architecture.
For his extraordinary patronage of design in Virginia, Mr. Slipek will be honored Nov. 9 with the Branch Medallion by the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design.
An architectural masterwork designed in 1919 by John Russell Pope, the Branch Museum explores the impact of design on everyday life. Through thought-provoking exhibitions, it aims to spark creativity, joy and appreciation for design excellence. The idea is to empower people to recognize and promote better design for better lives. Thank you, Mr. Slipek, for doing that so well for so long.
Subconsciously most of us know when something is well designed. It works or it doesn’t. It attracts or annoys. It is comfortable or alienating, memorable or forgettable. But good architecture critics, such as Mr. Slipek, help us understand why. By deepening our understanding of design, they elevate our appreciation and insistence on the best.
In the 1970s, Mr. Slipek started writing about art and architecture for the alternative weekly newspaper, Richmond Mercury, where he interviewed such luminaries as Philip Johnson.
Art collectors and entrepreneurs Sydney and Frances Lewis hired Mr. Slipek as director of corporate communications at Best Products, where he created an annual report so creative that The Wall Street Journal took note.
He collaborated with such architectural greats as SITE Inc., Philip Johnson and Robert Venturi. In this period, he also founded and published Clue magazine, an avant-garde tableau of Richmond’s art and culture scene.
The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design on Monument Avenue.
Over the next few decades, he curated exhibitions illuminating overlooked aspects of Richmond architecture. A show about the small but estimable collection of Art Deco buildings downtown, for instance, showed that while Art Deco represents modernism, its roots rest in tradition and historical association.
In another exhibit, Mr. Slipek introduced most of us to Ralph Adams Cram, who transformed 300 acres of raw land in the West End with a Gothic vision he believed could ennoble the University of Richmond campus, its students and, by extension, future generations.
And while exploring the suburbanization of rural Glen Allen 23 years ago, he made a plea for a humanist approach to development still evident in his current Richmond BizSense commentaries: “We care about the many places where we once lived, visited, attended school or vacationed. They all hold deep associations for us. Certain places have a sense of, well, place.”
Whether critiquing new government buildings, urban green space or riverfront development, Mr. Slipek’s analysis aligns good design with that sense of place. He makes us think about the connections that form a project: What are the layers of history, the current conditions, what happened and can happen here?
From 1992-2021 Mr. Slipek was the senior contributing editor and the only architecture critic in the state of Virginia at Style Weekly. While there, he composed anthems to Richmond’s unsung historic buildings. How do you keep the city’s character intact without the buildings that form its identity, he asked. In moving obituaries to demolished buildings in Oregon Hill, he warned that a proud old neighborhood might lose its sense of self. Good development, he argued, should respect an area’s deep historic layering, tighten up basic infrastructure and let market forces move in an organic way.
For 16 years Mr. Slipek taught world art history and architecture at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School. He continues to educate as an adjunct instructor in architectural history at the VCU School of the Arts, and as a contributor to ArchitectureRichmond, an online encyclopedia and forum dedicated to regional architecture and design, which he co-founded.
The architecture of Mr. Slipek’s career is not unlike the landmark in which he was born: substantial, meaningful and worthy of honor.
Edwin Slipek
If we are shaped by our environments, Edwin Slipek Jr.’s love of architecture was likely sparked at birth.
He entered the world at what is now MCV West Hospital, an iconic expression of Art Deco. The distinctive architecture of Richmond’s Ginter Park, where he grew up, fueled his passion for design. Over the years, the height and history of buildings, their aesthetic and expressive appeal sharpened his visual awareness. He built a career writing, teaching, touring and curating exhibits about architecture.
For his extraordinary patronage of design in Virginia, Mr. Slipek will be honored Nov. 9 with the Branch Medallion by the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design.
An architectural masterwork designed in 1919 by John Russell Pope, the Branch Museum explores the impact of design on everyday life. Through thought-provoking exhibitions, it aims to spark creativity, joy and appreciation for design excellence. The idea is to empower people to recognize and promote better design for better lives. Thank you, Mr. Slipek, for doing that so well for so long.
Subconsciously most of us know when something is well designed. It works or it doesn’t. It attracts or annoys. It is comfortable or alienating, memorable or forgettable. But good architecture critics, such as Mr. Slipek, help us understand why. By deepening our understanding of design, they elevate our appreciation and insistence on the best.
In the 1970s, Mr. Slipek started writing about art and architecture for the alternative weekly newspaper, Richmond Mercury, where he interviewed such luminaries as Philip Johnson.
Art collectors and entrepreneurs Sydney and Frances Lewis hired Mr. Slipek as director of corporate communications at Best Products, where he created an annual report so creative that The Wall Street Journal took note.
He collaborated with such architectural greats as SITE Inc., Philip Johnson and Robert Venturi. In this period, he also founded and published Clue magazine, an avant-garde tableau of Richmond’s art and culture scene.
The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design on Monument Avenue.
Over the next few decades, he curated exhibitions illuminating overlooked aspects of Richmond architecture. A show about the small but estimable collection of Art Deco buildings downtown, for instance, showed that while Art Deco represents modernism, its roots rest in tradition and historical association.
In another exhibit, Mr. Slipek introduced most of us to Ralph Adams Cram, who transformed 300 acres of raw land in the West End with a Gothic vision he believed could ennoble the University of Richmond campus, its students and, by extension, future generations.
And while exploring the suburbanization of rural Glen Allen 23 years ago, he made a plea for a humanist approach to development still evident in his current Richmond BizSense commentaries: “We care about the many places where we once lived, visited, attended school or vacationed. They all hold deep associations for us. Certain places have a sense of, well, place.”
Whether critiquing new government buildings, urban green space or riverfront development, Mr. Slipek’s analysis aligns good design with that sense of place. He makes us think about the connections that form a project: What are the layers of history, the current conditions, what happened and can happen here?
From 1992-2021 Mr. Slipek was the senior contributing editor and the only architecture critic in the state of Virginia at Style Weekly. While there, he composed anthems to Richmond’s unsung historic buildings. How do you keep the city’s character intact without the buildings that form its identity, he asked. In moving obituaries to demolished buildings in Oregon Hill, he warned that a proud old neighborhood might lose its sense of self. Good development, he argued, should respect an area’s deep historic layering, tighten up basic infrastructure and let market forces move in an organic way.
For 16 years Mr. Slipek taught world art history and architecture at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School. He continues to educate as an adjunct instructor in architectural history at the VCU School of the Arts, and as a contributor to ArchitectureRichmond, an online encyclopedia and forum dedicated to regional architecture and design, which he co-founded.
The architecture of Mr. Slipek’s career is not unlike the landmark in which he was born: substantial, meaningful and worthy of honor.
Well deserved! His role has been critical to the built environment in Richmond for many years. Thank you Eddie.
Congratulations to Ed. Well deserved.
No one has done more to sharpen our awareness of good architcture, why it matters, and how it should be woven into existing historic fabric. Bravo, Eddie.
Congratulations Ed! 🎉
I haven’t lived in Richmond since the 1980s but faithfully read Ed’s columns every where I can find them. Hopefully he will write his memoirs someday. He is a treasure for Richmond and its built environment.
So well deserved! It’s wonderful that the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design is recognizing Ed’s exceptional dedication.
vote Ed Slipek for Richmond mayor 2024!
A heartfelt Mazal Tov to professor Slipek for this much-deserved, well-earned award. It would be fantastic if he might consider authoring a book or two on Richmond architecture and the history of various city buildings and neighborhoods a la Robert Winthrop. Unquestionably, it would be an outstanding read.
CONGRATS Eddie on this award! Well deserved indeed.
Richmond is so fortunate to have Ed Slipek! A well deserved honor for him.
Such well deserved recogntion for the conscious of Richmond’s architectural treasures. A book of all of his commentaries would be a gift to Richmond and a great resource for what works well in our community’s placemaking, along with what could be improved. Keep up the great work, Eddie, and maintain our conscious of what we all can do better.
Brilliant! Kudos to Mr. Slipek.
A well deserved award.Thanks Eddie for your service to the students at Maggie Walker Governors School. You inspired many to go on as architects. I throughly enjoyed our field trips together.
If only the City of Richmond and outlying counties would pay attention to Eddie. We all would be in a better place.
Much deserved and long overdue♥️
Congratulations old friend! So proud of you 👏
Congratulations Mr. Slipek on a well-deserved recognition. You were such an inspiration to the Hamzey students at Maggie Walker, and that we, as a family, cannot admire the architectural values of buildings without you in mind. Great teacher and friend. This is a well-deserved recognition of your positive impact not only the profession, but on the intellectual of those who have the privilege of knowing you.
Ed is a genuine Richmond monument. His knowledge, warmth, and passion for architecture is delightful. This award to him is so deserved.
How many metro areas the size of Richmond have a thoughtful architecture critic with a deep understanding of their city’s history and a passion for place-making? We are insanely lucky to have Ed Slipek.
Well-deserved award, to say nothing of the admiration of your many students. Good wishes, always.
Wonderful recognition for the Man to turn to for the correct conclusion of all things in Art and Architecture Yay Eddie
Well-deserved tribute to a Richmond treasure!
Caryl Burtner
Well-deserved tribute to a Richmond treasure!