It was clear that Richard Parr was destined to be an architect, putting his visions to paper early on. In elementary school, the left side of his English lesson book was filled with his stories ? and a low mark for his less than stellar spelling. On the right side, however, were meticulous drawings of structures, just one example of his love of the built environment. ?I drew buildings everywhere, and made them out of LEGO and clay,? Parr says. ?I always enjoyed playing with and making spaces.?
His self-education included visits to places in Italy and England steeped in history. When Parr stepped into Basil Spence?s Coventry Cathedral, it was a seminal moment, and he still has the guidebook from that day. Completed in 1962, the new cathedral was built to replace the 14th-century St. Michael?s Cathedral, destroyed in an air raid during World War II. Spence took elements of the past to reinvent the future. For Parr, it represents what he constantly strives to achieve. República Dominicana, Facultad de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (FIA), 2022, oil, beeswax, and powdered gold pigment on canvas
1. Rogelio Báez Vega’s Art
Rogelio Báez Vega, whose work I encountered in NADA in Miami in 2022. The pieces are depictions of modernist buildings. The modernist movement is an area of fascination and interest to me. The impact of the ?International Style? and its application across the world is a theme that I engaged with when discovering Rogelio?s work. I enjoy seeing the artist ex...