A leading figure in refining the American public's
appreciation for art and architecture died June 17. J. Carter Brown, Hon.
AIA, director of the National Gallery of Art from 1969 to 1992, jury chair
for the Pritzker Prize since its inception, and chair of the Commission
of Fine Arts from 1971 until his resignation due to his health on May
30, succumbed to cancer at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was
67.
"J. Carter Brown was a faithful advocate for
shaping our environments so our experiences will be elevated and enriched,"
said AIA Executive Vice President/CEO Norman L. Koonce, FAIA. "His
motives were from a generous heart and his understanding of the influence
of architecture insightful. He is a role model for our learning to foster
an attitude of sharing best practices that inspire public well-being through
thoughtful design of the places in which we live, work, play, and worship."
In tribute, AIArchitect
turns to Charles H. Atherton, FAIA, secretary of the Commission of Fine
Arts, who wrote the following highlights of Brown's contributions to architecture.
Carter
Brown Shared the Vast Experience He So Readily Absorbed
J. Carter Brown's contribution to architecture was very broad. Although
certainly not confined to Washington, D.C., the evidence of his far-reaching
influence is most easily witnessed here. More than anyone in this city,
he paved the way for fresh, modern architectural solutions, starting with
I.M. Pei's National Gallery East Building on the Mall and continuing to
the present day, notably with the National Museum of the American Indian
now under construction. You can give Carter Brown credit for opening the
door for something as bold as Frank Gehry's proposed addition to the Corcoran
Gallery.
As chairman of the jury for the Pritzker Prize since
its inception, he visited every single building of the persons who had
been nominated. He chased down these buildings all over the world. And
he absorbed that experience. One result was the extraordinary opportunity
for him to bring all kinds of fresh, new architectural ideas back with
him to the Commission.
I think he raised everybody's consciousness in this
city. People became aware of design a great deal more in his administration
as chairof the Commission of Fine Arts. And when people appeared before
the Commission, they sure as hell did their homework, which further raised
the bar for the quality of architecture.
Everybody respected Carter's knowledge of architecture
and his passionate love for it. Just as you don't want to disappoint when
you come to a commission like this, you sometimes also want to be cheered
on. And Carter did that as he invoked a kind of challenge to architects
appearing before the Commission. You could sense it in their presentations
and designs. He brought out the best in a lot of architects when they
came to this city, and that's very hard to do in a bureaucratic framework.
The architectural experience was a narrow slice
of all of the fine arts that fell under Carter Brown's influence. Yet
it was important to him, just as this city was important to him. Everything
that affected it, including the landscape, the planting of trees and the
building heights were a passionate interest of his.
In the 1970s there were some real threats to lifting
the building heights in Washington. He fought like a tiger for maintaining
the building-height limits and was one of the biggest opponents of Philip
Johnson's great Port America Tower down near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge,
which would have been 750 feet high.
Carter used the wonderful sense of humor he had
even when he was destroying projects with a few gentle words. In the testimony
on Capitol Hill against the Port of America, he explained how Philip Johnson
had said to him, "When you fly into Washington, the first thing you'll
see is the Washington Monument, then you'll see the Mason's Washington
Monument in Alexandria, and then my monument." That little turn of
humorpointing out the high company Philip put himself indid
a lot to win people over to Carter's side.
That is the J. Carter Brown I will remember. Exceedingly
bright, always curious, and ever ready and able to use his wit and humor
to add an edge to a discussion or soften one.
Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects.
All rights reserved.
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