During the first general session of the AIA 2005 National Convention and Design Expo on May 19, the United States Post Office honored “Masterworks of Modern American Architecture” by releasing a set of 12 stamps that exemplifies the best in Modern design. The Nellis Air Force Base Honor Guard and USPS representative Victor Fenimore opened the First Day of Issue ceremony with the presentation of the American flag and a moving a cappella performance of the national anthem. Also on hand were Dr. C. Douglas Lewis, chair of the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee; Anita J. Bozzotto, USPS senior vice president and chief marketing officer; and Adrian Smith, FAIA, consulting design partner with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, whose John Hancock building is one of the 12 buildings chosen for the stamps.

Bozzotto relayed that, when offered the chance to represent the post office at the ceremony, she jumped at the opportunity. “I’m from Chicago,” she explained. “So I spent a lot of time around great architecture. As a child growing up there, walking through the city was like a lesson in the history of architecture. So I’m particularly pleased that Chicago is represented in the Masterworks of Modern American Architecture collection.” She said that as architecture informs our spaces and how we learn and live in them, it is fitting that so many of the selected projects are institutions of learning. She concluded by noting that, just as great architecture should inform, so it should inspire, as do all of the projects selected as Masterworks of Modern American Architecture.

Smith, in turn, said that he was proud to represent the architects whose firms have buildings displayed on the stamps. He explained that the John Hancock Tower, which was initially feared as being overpowering of the buildings around it, was soon nicknamed “Big John” and became an instant and beloved landmark. While any exploration of Modern architecture would be remiss without including examples from the pioneering metropolises of Chicago and New York, the Masterworks collection reveals that Modern architecture is not merely an urban phenomenon, but rather a truly national ideal.

New York City makes an impressive showing with Saarinen’s TWA Terminal, Wright’s Guggenheim, and Van Alen’s Chrysler Building. Chicago is well-represented by Mies’ 860-880 Lake Shore Drive and Bruce Graham/SOM’s John Hancock Tower. More geographically diverse projects are Rudolph’s Yale Art & Architecture Building in New Haven, Conn.; Meier’s High Museum in Atlanta; Pei’s East Building at the National Gallery of Art in the nation’s capital; Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Conn.; Venturi’s Vanna Venturi House in Chestnut Hill, Pa.; Kahn’s Exeter Library in Exeter, N.H.; and, the most recent of all the represented structures, Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A. While these projects span the U.S., they also span the decades from 1930 to 2003.

Following the ceremony, convention-goers had the exclusive opportunity to purchase and cancel First Day of Issue stamps on the Expo floor at the USPS booth in the AIA Bookstore. Framed stamp sets were available through the AIA Bookstore at the convention. The stamps will be available to the general public on May 20.

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