AIA Florida Southwest
Committed to service, excellence, and community.
The American Institute of Architects Florida Southwest community is deeply saddened by the passing of fellow AIA members. An architect's life work along with the people who make the work possible, has always and will continue to provide spaces for shelter, connection, and healing. For this contribution we are forever grateful and forever in their debts. Memorialized in brick and mortar, their natural gifts and talents bolstered by their dedication to the craft will continue to stand warm in the sun to enrich the lives of southwest Floridians for generations to come. Our sincerest condolences are with all who are feeling the gravity of loss at this time. |
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Please join us for a celebration of life to be held November, 2022.
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants,
Remembering Andrea Clark Brown June 2022 “Andrea Clark Brown was unique in her brilliance, and she used it with purpose and elegance to sculpt space in a way that communicated her understanding of what it means to be human. In this effort she leaves our community the gentle gift of her humanity, available to speak to us quietly with dignity and grace whenever we choose to listen.” Adriane René Orion, AIA 2022 Vice President, AIA Florida Southwest AIA Florida Southwest, We experience the gravity of loss and the joy of remembrance as we mourn the passing of Andrea Clark Brown. Founding her firm in 1986 Andrea has designed many important landmarks such as Sugden Community Theatre, Sugden Plaza, churches, commercial spaces, and custom residential projects. Additionally, she was generous in sharing her expertise. Andrea taught at Harvard University and Syracuse University as well as frequently participating in lectures, sitting on juror panels, and writing. In addition to being a recipient of the Rome Prize in 1979, one of the profession's most prestigious awards, Andrea Clark Brown had her design of St. Agnes Catholic Church in Naples named one of Florida’s Best 100 Buildings in 100 Years by the American Institute of Architects. Andrea’s contribution in establishing the architectural fabric for the Naples community was foundational. While refined in the understanding of how functional and programmatic requirements should shape a building, her work simultaneously engaged a uniquely human‐centric approach to design with a focus on how space was going to ‘feel’ rather than how it looked. Andrea employed a methodology that didn’t hesitate to push the boundaries, or in her words, “when designing, one needs to know where the inside corners are, but also where the outside corners are too.” As an architect, I can recognize how Andrea understood the importance of being able to dissipate the boundaries between the interior and exterior of a space, making sure that the tropical landscape of the sites she worked on were never relegated as an afterthought. She understood the importance of connecting her designs to the context and site in not just in a quantitative way, but in a qualitative way as well. One example of this can be observed by the use of horizontal datums in her work which responds and respects rather than rejects the essence of the Florida landscape, the horizon. Andrea was a deeply creative person whose passion for exploring and celebrating new ideas did not stop with her architectural pursuits. Instead, she made space in each of her designs specifically to celebrate fine art and the creativity involved in the art of making. Prominent in her designs, the display of creative art invited the user a moment of pause to enjoy an experience of delight in the unexpected, the playful and profound. We all have memories of Andrea. When Naples was just a young town, she was instrumental in bringing in many architects that stayed to come and call our community home. I am not exempt for this cohort as it was her offer after graduate school in 2014 that had me move home to Naples to work at Andrea Clark Brown Architects, before being inspired by her, to start my own architectural practice. She was able to connect with young architects because she had a nurturing and robust approach to mentorship that was rare in our profession. I can recall hours long conversations waxing poetic about architectural philosophy blended with frank discussions about how critical it is in our profession to never assume anything. Although I met her in person for the first time as an adult, I was a child the first her architecture met me. He conception of space through architecture greeted my family and I at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, a church she designed in the 1990’s. This warm greeting every week was the first part of her gentle nudge to help us understand the importance of community. Once inside we participated in mass in a circular formation, always able to see our community. Her playful heart communicated to us how important it was to keep our spirit light, by the tricky ways she made sunlight sparkle on the sanctuary depending on the time of year. As a sophisticated pianist Andrea knew how important it was to dramatically control the sounds of Christmas performances in a way that artfully wrapped our entire being with Christmas joy. As a child I had no concept of hierarchical geometry, solar altitude and azimuth, or reverberation time, but Andrea did, and made it essential parts of her work. Andrea Clark Brown was unique in her brilliance, and she used it with purpose and elegance to sculpt space in a way that communicated her understanding of what it means to be human. In this effort she leaves our community the gentle gift of her humanity, available to speak to us quietly with dignity and grace whenever we choose to listen. Adriane René Orion, AIA 2022 Vice President, AIA Florida Southwest |
Lyndon Thurman Pollock
January 2021 
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