Community Architect Daily: What is the most liked building in Baltimore?

COVID has spawned all kinds of introspectives coming about when people don't get to travel or to distract themselves in the usual ways. many people started to look at their domestic and local environment with new eyes. The Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF), a sister organization of the Baltimore AIA (the American Institute of Architects) organized an especially creative introspective into Baltimore's built environment, well known especially for its historic treasures. The occasion is this year's 150th anniversary of Baltimore AIA which was founded in 1871. BAF asked the public "what Baltimore area building do you like the most?"

BAM poster

The BAF initially submitted a list of 64 buildings from four different time periods within the last 150 years and allowed the public to submit additional nominations. (The 150 year time limitation excluded the Basilica of the Assumption which was completed in 1821). Voting took place online with the help of survey software. Absent from the list resulting from the nomination round were notable residential structures such as the Nelson Kohl apartments, the Anthem House or the 404 Light Street tower. Also lacking votes to be listed were the UB library or any of the new campus buildings at Morgan.

Befitting the season, the voting process was dubbed "Arch Madness" and was tailored after the NCAA's men's basketball selection process with a first and second round, a "sweet sixteen round", quarterfinals, semifinals and a championship.

Not in the running: UB Law School

The tournament is intended to celebrate 150 years of architecture since the founding of AIA Baltimore in 1871. This is not a definitive ranking of the ‘best’ buildings in Baltimore. We want to see which buildings you love and learn why you love them. BAF’s overall goal is to spread more awareness about Baltimore architecture. (BAF)

While the results of initially only around 500 and for the finals over 1000 votes are certainly not representative, they provide an interesting snapshot into public awareness and preferences regarding architecture, which, as Churchill observed is first shaped by people but then shapes them. The list of buildings and structures up for vote is a powerful reminder of the rich fundus of valuable architecture in our area.

Championship Round: 1,105 votes,
Semifinals: 884 votes
Quarterfinals: 642 votes
Sweet 16 round: 270 votes
Round of 32: 313 cotes
Round of 64: 545 votes (Source BAF)

Of the base-list of structures from different time periods, these historic structures made it to the "Sweet 16" level, representing the first half: The Peabody Library, The Howard Rawlings Conservatory, The Mount Royal Station, the Patterson Park Pagoda, the Enoch Pratt Library, Penn Station, the Bromo Seltzer Tower, the Belvedere Hotel.

Patterson Park Pagoda (Cteative Commons)

Notable structures such as City Hall, the B&O roundhouse, the American Brewery, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters or the Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church didn't make it while much more questionable candidates such as the Belvedere Hotel advanced.

On the more contemporary side the second half of the "sweet sixteen" buildings were: One Charles Center, the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, the Church of the Redeemer, the Temple Oheb Shalom, Camden Yards, and Clipper Mill, the American Visionary Art Museum, and the National Aquarium.

Again, notable structures such as the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the MICA Brown Center or the Coldspring townhomes were left behind.

Maybe the most surprising was the final winner. Eking out a close advance ahead of the Peabody library the winner comes from the set of contemporary buildings. The winner also marks the shift of Baltimore's center of gravity further and further south towards the water. Not the BMA, not Penn Station, not the Belvedere, not the Peabody and certainly not One Charles Center where the winners.

The Peabody was put in second place by a building sitting at the foot of Federal Hill, standing out as a pivotal solitaire where Key Highway curves, with high visibility across the Inner Harbor. A small campus that is deeper anchored in public consciousness than the famous Peabody library which is tucked away in the historic fabric of Mount Vernon Square where every single building is remarkable.

The winner that emerged as the most liked building in all of Baltimore is the Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) !

Designed by Alex Castro, Rebecca Swanston, and Davis, Bowen & Friedel and completed in 1995 with an addition by Cho Benn Holback + Associates (2004), the home of whimsical art in an equally whimsical shell surrounded by whimsical sculptures ("the whirlywig") matches up with Baltimore's identity as a quirky town, a fitting result for a whimsical competition.

Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore (Photo: Timothy Kiefer)
Kiefer, a visitor in 2019:
"The American Visionary Art Museum
in Baltimore
Changed My Life Today"

Klaus Philipsen, FAIA

The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), designated by unanimous vote of the U.S, Congress, is America’s official national museum for visionary, self-taught and intuitive art. AVAM celebrates the power of everyday people who, armed only with their tuition, do things that inspire us all…(AVAM Welcome board)

“From the very start, I wanted a welcoming ‘wonderland’ of a campus—not an urban forbidding fortress for art. When we then won the prestigious, National Award for Excellence from The Urban Land Institute, I was thrilled. But to now win from the hometown hearts of voters in this Baltimore Architecture Foundation competition—out from 64, no less—of my own most admired architectural local treasures, is an unbelievable high and mega-honor. It is also one shared with our outdoor sculptural artists: Andrew Logan, Adam Kurtzman, Dick Brown, The Hagans, and whirligig artist/farmer Vollis Simpson, whose creations punctuate the fun and beauty of our campus! (Rebecca Hoffberger, Founder, Director and Curator of the AVAM)