Masterworks on Stamps

Blair Kamin reports on the United States Post Office's 2005 Commemorative Stamp Program's twelve stamps titled "Masterworks of Modern American Architecture."



I could only skim Kamin's piece, since in the very first paragraph he rips on his least favorite building, Soldier Field. He says, "I often write about BIG THINGS -- skyscrapers that soar into the clouds, exhibition halls bigger than 14 football fields, blockbusting stadiums that tower over their neighborhoods" (my italics). I think BK needs to get over this; he lost the fight to stop the renovation and he needs to move on.



Regardless, he whines about Chicago buildings (SOM's Hancock and Mies' 860/880 LSD) being featured only on two stamps. That's two of twelve. Sixteen percent. One less than New York City. That's plenty, to me.







The twelve stamps are:



:: Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright

:: Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry

:: Yale Art and Architecture Building by Paul Rudolph

:: Chrysler Building by William Van Alen

:: 860/880 Lake Shore Drive by Mies van der Rohe

:: High Museum of Art by Richard Meier

:: Vanna Venturi House by Robert Venturi

:: East Building of the National Gallery of Art by I.M. Pei

:: Phillips Exeter Academy Library by Louis I. Kahn

:: TWA Terminal by Eero Saarinen

:: Glass House by Philip Johnson

:: Hancock Center by SOM



More information on the stamps can be found on the USPS Press Release.