Edward R. Ford
Curriculum Vitae
BOOKS
Searching for Authenticity: Rustic Architecture in America, 1887-1940 (ORO Editions, 2025).
The Architectural Detail (Chinese Edition, Phoenix Publishing & Media, Inc., 2016).
The Architectural Detail (Princeton Architectural Press, November 2011).
Five Houses, Ten Details (Chinese Edition, China Architecture & Building Press, 2015).
Five Houses, Ten Details (Princeton Architectural Press, July 2009).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2 (Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Maruzen, Summer, 1999).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 1 (Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Maruzen, Summer, 1999).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996), Paperback Ed., 2003.
The Details of Modern Architecture (German Edition, Berlin: Birkhauser, 1994).
The Details of Modern Architecture (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990), Paperback Ed., 2003.
BOOK EXCERPTS
“Thoughts on Being Pixilated,” Book chapter, Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu, Puzzling Assemblies, ORO Editions, Forthcoming (2025).
“Animism and Architecture: Architectural Lessons from Anthropology,” Book chapter, David Leatherbarrow and ShI Yonggao, Communicative Construction, Southeast University Nanjing, China Artifice Press, 2025.
“Regionalism and its Discontents,” Book chapter, Peter MacKeith and Jonathan Boelkins, Radical Practice: The Work of Marlon Blackwell Architects, Princeton Architectural Press, 2022.
“The VDL Research House,” Book chapter, Wiley Companion to Architecture, Vol. IV, 2017.
Book introduction, Luis Pancorbo and Ines Martin, A. Lawrence Kocher: American Architect, ORO Press, 2025.
Book introduction, Leonie Manhardt-Zech, Architecture / Photography—Three Buildings By Karl Schwanzer, Springer Verlag, Vienna-New York 2004. My article “Inexactitude, Precision, Drawing and Photography” is reprinted as an Introduction.
Book introduction, Alexis Gregory, Comprehensive Tectonics: Technical Building Assemblies from the Ground to the Sky, Routledge, 2019.
Book introduction, Chad Schwartz, Introducing Architectural Tectonics, Routledge, 2016.
MAJOR ARTICLES
“The Invention of the Window,” Forthcoming.
“The Long Wait for the Inevitable: Metanarratives of Construction,” Technology Architecture + Design. 7:1, Jun 2023.
“The Great Work of Fiction,” in ”Future Details of Architecture,” Mark Garcia ed., Architectural Design, Wiley 2015.
“The Age of Anxiety: Thoughts on Stability,” Oz, 2021.
“Beyond Nostalgia: Contemporary Architects Select the Best Modern Homes of the New South,” Oxford American, Spring 2008.
“A Short History of Incrustation,” eaV 11 (Versailles) 2005–2006.
“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Textile Block Houses,” Detail, (Munich) Summer 2003.
“A Short History of Cladding,” B (Copenhagen), 2005.
“The Louis Sullivan Architectural Photographs,” (Book Review) by Jeffrey Plank L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui (Paris), Spring 2003.
“Frank Lloyd Wright + Lewis Mumford: Fifty Years of Correspondence” (Book Review) L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Fall 2002.
“Inexactitude, precision, drawing and photography,” 8th Viennese Architecture Congress, Vienna Arkitektur Zentrum, 2001.
Thomas Beeby, “Toward a Technological Architecture?: Case Study of the Illinois Institute of Technology Commons Building,” With a response by Edward R. Ford, Perspecta: The Yale School of Architecture Journal, 2000.
“The Theory and Practice of Impermanence,” Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998.
“The Inconvenient Friend: On inaccuracy, Exactitude. Photography and Drawing,” Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998.
TEACHING
University of Virginia, Visiting Professor, 2023.
University of Arkansas, Fay Jones Visiting Professor, 2021.
University of Texas, Austin, McDermott Visiting Professor, 2020.
Washington University, Visiting Professor, 2019.
University of Oregon, Peitro Belluchi Distinguished Visiting Professor, 2009.
University of Virginia, Associate Professor 1986, Professor 1999, Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor of Architecture, 2004–2018.
Columbia University, Adjunct Assistant Professor (part time), 1985–1986.
Princeton University, Lecturer (part time), 1981–1986.
Rice University, Visiting Instructor, 1980.
University of Kansas, Assistant Professor, 1979.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2024 Fellow American Institute of Architects.
2023 Fellow MacDowell.
2018 Fellow MacDowell.
2017 Studio Prize Architect Magazine.
2014 Artist in Residence Great Basin National Park. 2014 Fellow MacDowell.
2013 Artist in Residence, Cape Cod National Seashore.
2013 Special Guest, Artist in Residency Program, Grand Canyon National Park.
2013 Designers and Books names Details of Modern Architecture as a Book every architect must read.
2011 Artist in Residence Petrified Forest National Park.
2004 Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge.
1998 Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award.
1996 Co-Chairman of 1996 ACSA National Technology Conference.
1993 USA Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1991 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 2.
1986 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture.
MAJOR LECTURES AND PAPERS
“Reflections on the Death of Structural Rationalism,” Construction History Society of America, 2025.
“The Invention of the Window,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2025.
“Craft in the Age of Digital Perfection,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2025.
“Drawing on Glass with Soap,” Lutyens Society of America, 2025.
“Lessons from Anthropology,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2021.
“Outside the Frame: Carlo Scarpa and Sverre Fehn,” Washington University, 2021.
“The Long Wait for the Inevitable,“ Southeast University, Nanjing, China, 2021.
“Intolerance: Craft in the Age of Digital Perfection,” ACSA Conference, 2019.
“Dastardly Acts,” Lecture, University of Cincinnati, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2015.
“Gray Matters,” Lead discussion group at Virginia Film Festival, 2015.
“Architecture in the National Parks,” Grand Canyon National Park, 2013.
“The Ford House,” Extreme Homes, House and Garden Channel, 2013.
“The Architectural Detail,” Book Reading, Boston Society of Architects, 2013.
“Dastardly Acts: Fictive Histories of Architecture,” University of Virginia, 2011.
“On the Virtues of Joinery,” Washington University, Tulane University” 2011.
“Recent Work,” University of Oregon, 2010.
“Confessions of a Failed English Major,” University of Virginia, 2009.
“Reflections on the Death of Structural Rationalism,” Architecture and Engineer Conference, Helsinki, 2009.
“Contemptible Details,” 2009 ACSA National Meeting. Portland, 2009.
“A Short History of the Joint,” University of Houston, 2007.
“Principles of Curtain Wall Design” Rice University, Houston 2007.
“Some Thoughts on Architecture at Virginia,” Society of Fellows, University of Virginia, 2005.
“History, the Hybrid and the Canon,” ASSA Cranbrook Teachers Seminar, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 2004.
“Detailing as a Subversive Activity,” The Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles, The University of Cambridge, IIT Chicago, 2004.
“The Theory and Practice of Construction,” The University of Cambridge School of Architecture, 2004.
“Technology, Craft, Art: Constructing Mies in America,” Illinois Institute of Technology and MOCA Chicago, Symposium, 2002.
“Theory and Practice,” New Jersey AIA Design Day: Education, the Foundation of Critical Thinking, Trenton, NJ, 2001.
“Architecture and Craft,” Lecture, AIA Colorado, Vail Design Conference, 2001.
“On Inaccuracy, Exactitude. Photography and Drawing,” Vienna Arkitektur Zentrum, Vienna 2000.
“Wood as Wood, Brick as Brick, Stone as Stone: Material and Architectural Form,” Norwegian Academy of Architecture, Oslo, 2000.
“Detailing as a Subversive Activity,” Mississippi State University, University of British Columbia, Georgia Tech, 2000.
“Homage to Catalonia: Reflections on Gaudi, Calatrava and Miralles,” University of Pennsylvania, 1998.
“Corb’s First Paycheck,” National Building Museum, 1997; Clemson 1998.
“Architectural Design and Aircraft Design: 1921-1952,” University of Maryland, 1994.
“The Artifacts of Industrialization,” Parsons School of Design, New York, 1994.
“Innovation in the Machine Age,“ and ”Educating for Innovation,” Virginia AIA Design Forum, 1994.
“Beyond Literal Transparency: Asplund, Aalto, and Neutra,” Catholic University, 1993.
“Frank Lloyd Wright and American Building,” Syracuse University, 1992.
“The Brick Wall and Modernism: Kahn, Lewerentz, and Venturi,” University of Michigan, 1992.
“Viennese Rationalism and American Modernism,” Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago, 1987.
“McKim, Wagner and Wright: Constructional Ideas at the Turn of the Century,” Ohio State University, 1986.
“Architectural Detailing,” A Series of Four Lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, 1983.
“New Materials and Architectural Practice,” ACSA Summer Technology Conference, 1983.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
2013 Washington Unbuilt Architecture Award for Park and Recreation Structures Revisited. And a Commendation for Trinity +1.
2011 Virginia AIA research Award.
2003 Ford House is published in arq: the University of Cambridge, The New American House IV and Inform.
2002 Honor Award, Virginia AIA Design Awards Program for the Ford House.
1992 “A House with Three Tables” published in 18 Houses. W. Jude LeBlanc, Ed. Princeton Architectural Press.
1990 Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, See: Competitions I, Winter 1991:25.
1990 Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In.”
1986 Work exhibited in “Drawing toward Building” Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago.
SERVICE
Consultant to 1992 American Heritage Dictionary.
AIA Virginia Design Committee, 2015–2025.
Numerous AIA Design Awards Juries.
Manuscript Review MIT Press, Yale Press, Princeton Arch Press. Advisory Board, Architectural Graphic Standards, 12th Edition, Wiley.
BIOGRAPHY
1947 Born Tulsa Oklahoma.
1972 Received M.Arch Washington University, B.S. Washington University, 1971.
1972-1979 GBQC Architects Philadelphia and Princeton.
1980-1981 Assistant Professor University of Kansas.
1980-1986 GBQC Architects Philadelphia and Princeton. Part time teaching in Princeton and New York.
1975 Passed architectural licensing examination in Pennsylvania. Currently licensed in Virginia.
1983 Joined the faculty at the University of Virginia.
1986 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture.
1990. Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, “Matteson Public Library Competition.” See: Competitions I, Winter.
1991 Details of Modern Architecture Volume 1, published Recognized in Lingua Franca “Breakthrough Books in Architecture.”
1990 Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In” judged by Hiroshi Hara.
1991 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 2.
1993 USA Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1996 Association of American Publishers Award.
1998 Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award.
2002 Honor Award, Virginia AIA Design Awards Program for the Ford House.
2004 Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge.
2009 Pieitro Belluchi Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Oregon.
2011 Artist in Residence, Petrified Forest National Park Virginia AIA Research Award. Artist in Residence Grand Canyon National Park.
2012 Cape Cod Modern House Trust Visiting Fellow.
2013 Washington AIA Unbuilt Architecture Award “Park and Recreation Structures Revisited”Washington AIA Unbuilt Architecture. Citation “Trinity +1”
2014 Artist in Residence, Great Basin National Park.
2014 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2017 Architecture Studio Prize with Luis Pancorbo.
2018 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2019 Visiting Professor, Washington University.
University of Texas Austin. McDermott Visiting Professor.
2023 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2024 Fellow American Institute of Architects.
BOOK REVIEWS FOR PUBLICATIONS
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 1 & 2
Neil Jackson, The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review]. Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 45, Winter 1991.
Peter Davey, “Architectural Truths,” Architectural Review 189, March, 1991.
Nadia Currimboy, The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review], Interiors 150, April 1991. The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review].Metropolitan Home, March, 1991.
The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review]. Architecture (New Zealand), March/April1991. Michael Stacey, “Layer and Monolith: Detailing Modernism” Architects Journal (London) 193, 19 June, 1991.
Frank F. Drewes, “Baukonstruktion: Five Houses, Ten Details,” Bauwelt 39-40, 2009, 52.
Manfredo di Robilant, “Ricordarsi I dettagagli per non delirare,” Il Giornale dell’Architettura, No, 78. November, 2009, 26.
Richard Dinham, “Five Houses, Ten Details,” InDesign, 2010.
Paige Magarrey, “Five Houses, Ten Details,” Azure, January/February, 2010.
Kevin Greenburg, “Attention Must be Paid” Five Houses, Ten Details.”
The Architect’s Newspaper, March 19, 2010.
“Five Houses, Ten Details,” Architectural Record, March, 2010, 35.
The Architectural Detail
A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books, Book Review: The Architectural Detail, January 30, 2012.
A Critic Under the Influence, December 28, 2011.
Architect Magazine, February 12, 2012.
ArchDaily, March 25, 2012.
Build Blog, February 10, 2012.
Notable Book List of 2011, Designers & Books.
Details, Details, Los Angeles Review of Books, March 23, 2012.
PUBLISHED ARCHITECTUAL WORK
Alpine Mountain Hut Competition, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Free Union Country School Competition, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Ford House, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Peter Carolin, "The House on Farish Street: Not Only but also Either and Both,” arq: The Architectural Research Quarterly of the University of Cambridge Vol. 7, No. 3-4, 2003.
Il Kim and James Truelove, The New American House IV, Watson-Guptil 2003.
Vernon Mays, “The Choices Not Made.” Inform Summer 2003.
Matteson Public Library Competition, 1991
“Matteson Public Library Competition.” Competitions I, Winter 1991:25.
Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, 1990.
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Japan Architect Competition, 1990
Hiroshi Hara, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In” (Competition) Japan Architect, November/December 1990:9.
Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, 1990.
House with Three Tables, 1992
W. Jude LeBlanc, Ed. 18 Houses. Princeton Architectural Press, 1992.
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
© 2025–2026
Edward R Ford, Architect
All Rights Reserved
Edward R. Ford
Curriculum Vitae
BOOKS
Searching for Authenticity: Rustic Architecture in America, 1887-1940 (ORO Editions, 2025).
The Architectural Detail (Chinese Edition, Phoenix Publishing & Media, Inc., 2016).
The Architectural Detail (Princeton Architectural Press, November 2011).
Five Houses, Ten Details (Chinese Edition, China Architecture & Building Press, 2015).
Five Houses, Ten Details (Princeton Architectural Press, July 2009).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2 (Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Maruzen, Summer, 1999).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 1 (Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Maruzen, Summer, 1999).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996), Paperback Ed., 2003.
The Details of Modern Architecture (German Edition, Berlin: Birkhauser, 1994).
The Details of Modern Architecture (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990), Paperback Ed., 2003.
BOOK EXCERPTS
“Thoughts on Being Pixilated,” Book chapter, Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu, Puzzling Assemblies, ORO Editions, Forthcoming (2025).
“Animism and Architecture: Architectural Lessons from Anthropology,” Book chapter, David Leatherbarrow and ShI Yonggao, Communicative Construction, Southeast University Nanjing, China Artifice Press, 2025.
“Regionalism and its Discontents,” Book chapter, Peter MacKeith and Jonathan Boelkins, Radical Practice: The Work of Marlon Blackwell Architects, Princeton Architectural Press, 2022.
“The VDL Research House,” Book chapter, Wiley Companion to Architecture, Vol. IV, 2017.
Book introduction, Luis Pancorbo and Ines Martin, A. Lawrence Kocher: American Architect, ORO Press, 2025.
Book introduction, Leonie Manhardt-Zech, Architecture / Photography—Three Buildings By Karl Schwanzer, Springer Verlag, Vienna-New York 2004. My article “Inexactitude, Precision, Drawing and Photography” is reprinted as an Introduction.
Book introduction, Alexis Gregory, Comprehensive Tectonics: Technical Building Assemblies from the Ground to the Sky, Routledge, 2019.
Book introduction, Chad Schwartz, Introducing Architectural Tectonics, Routledge, 2016.
MAJOR ARTICLES
“The Invention of the Window,” Forthcoming.
“The Long Wait for the Inevitable: Metanarratives of Construction,” Technology Architecture + Design. 7:1, Jun 2023.
“The Great Work of Fiction,” in ”Future Details of Architecture,” Mark Garcia ed., Architectural Design, Wiley 2015.
“The Age of Anxiety: Thoughts on Stability,” Oz, 2021.
“Beyond Nostalgia: Contemporary Architects Select the Best Modern Homes of the New South,” Oxford American, Spring 2008.
“A Short History of Incrustation,” eaV 11 (Versailles) 2005–2006.
“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Textile Block Houses,” Detail, (Munich) Summer 2003.
“A Short History of Cladding,” B (Copenhagen), 2005.
“The Louis Sullivan Architectural Photographs,” (Book Review) by Jeffrey Plank L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui (Paris), Spring 2003.
“Frank Lloyd Wright + Lewis Mumford: Fifty Years of Correspondence” (Book Review) L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Fall 2002.
“Inexactitude, precision, drawing and photography,” 8th Viennese Architecture Congress, Vienna Arkitektur Zentrum, 2001.
Thomas Beeby, “Toward a Technological Architecture?: Case Study of the Illinois Institute of Technology Commons Building,” With a response by Edward R. Ford, Perspecta: The Yale School of Architecture Journal, 2000.
“The Theory and Practice of Impermanence,” Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998.
“The Inconvenient Friend: On inaccuracy, Exactitude. Photography and Drawing,” Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998.
TEACHING
University of Virginia, Visiting Professor, 2023.
University of Arkansas, Fay Jones Visiting Professor, 2021.
University of Texas, Austin, McDermott Visiting Professor, 2020.
Washington University, Visiting Professor, 2019.
University of Oregon, Peitro Belluchi Distinguished Visiting Professor, 2009.
University of Virginia, Associate Professor 1986, Professor 1999, Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor of Architecture, 2004–2018.
Columbia University, Adjunct Assistant Professor (part time), 1985–1986.
Princeton University, Lecturer (part time), 1981–1986.
Rice University, Visiting Instructor, 1980.
University of Kansas, Assistant Professor, 1979.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2024 Fellow American Institute of Architects.
2023 Fellow MacDowell.
2018 Fellow MacDowell.
2017 Studio Prize Architect Magazine.
2014 Artist in Residence Great Basin National Park. 2014 Fellow MacDowell.
2013 Artist in Residence, Cape Cod National Seashore.
2013 Special Guest, Artist in Residency Program, Grand Canyon National Park.
2013 Designers and Books names Details of Modern Architecture as a Book every architect must read.
2011 Artist in Residence Petrified Forest National Park.
2004 Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge.
1998 Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award.
1996 Co-Chairman of 1996 ACSA National Technology Conference.
1993 USA Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1991 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 2.
1986 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture.
MAJOR LECTURES AND PAPERS
“Reflections on the Death of Structural Rationalism,” Construction History Society of America, 2025.
“The Invention of the Window,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2025.
“Craft in the Age of Digital Perfection,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2025.
“Drawing on Glass with Soap,” Lutyens Society of America, 2025.
“Lessons from Anthropology,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2021.
“Outside the Frame: Carlo Scarpa and Sverre Fehn,” Washington University, 2021.
“The Long Wait for the Inevitable,“ Southeast University, Nanjing, China, 2021.
“Intolerance: Craft in the Age of Digital Perfection,” ACSA Conference, 2019.
“Dastardly Acts,” Lecture, University of Cincinnati, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2015.
“Gray Matters,” Lead discussion group at Virginia Film Festival, 2015.
“Architecture in the National Parks,” Grand Canyon National Park, 2013.
“The Ford House,” Extreme Homes, House and Garden Channel, 2013.
“The Architectural Detail,” Book Reading, Boston Society of Architects, 2013.
“Dastardly Acts: Fictive Histories of Architecture,” University of Virginia, 2011.
“On the Virtues of Joinery,” Washington University, Tulane University” 2011.
“Recent Work,” University of Oregon, 2010.
“Confessions of a Failed English Major,” University of Virginia, 2009.
“Reflections on the Death of Structural Rationalism,” Architecture and Engineer Conference, Helsinki, 2009.
“Contemptible Details,” 2009 ACSA National Meeting. Portland, 2009.
“A Short History of the Joint,” University of Houston, 2007.
“Principles of Curtain Wall Design” Rice University, Houston 2007.
“Some Thoughts on Architecture at Virginia,” Society of Fellows, University of Virginia, 2005.
“History, the Hybrid and the Canon,” ASSA Cranbrook Teachers Seminar, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 2004.
“Detailing as a Subversive Activity,” The Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles, The University of Cambridge, IIT Chicago, 2004.
“The Theory and Practice of Construction,” The University of Cambridge School of Architecture, 2004.
“Technology, Craft, Art: Constructing Mies in America,” Illinois Institute of Technology and MOCA Chicago, Symposium, 2002.
“Theory and Practice,” New Jersey AIA Design Day: Education, the Foundation of Critical Thinking, Trenton, NJ, 2001.
“Architecture and Craft,” Lecture, AIA Colorado, Vail Design Conference, 2001.
“On Inaccuracy, Exactitude. Photography and Drawing,” Vienna Arkitektur Zentrum, Vienna 2000.
“Wood as Wood, Brick as Brick, Stone as Stone: Material and Architectural Form,” Norwegian Academy of Architecture, Oslo, 2000.
“Detailing as a Subversive Activity,” Mississippi State University, University of British Columbia, Georgia Tech, 2000.
“Homage to Catalonia: Reflections on Gaudi, Calatrava and Miralles,” University of Pennsylvania, 1998.
“Corb’s First Paycheck,” National Building Museum, 1997; Clemson 1998.
“Architectural Design and Aircraft Design: 1921-1952,” University of Maryland, 1994.
“The Artifacts of Industrialization,” Parsons School of Design, New York, 1994.
“Innovation in the Machine Age,“ and ”Educating for Innovation,” Virginia AIA Design Forum, 1994.
“Beyond Literal Transparency: Asplund, Aalto, and Neutra,” Catholic University, 1993.
“Frank Lloyd Wright and American Building,” Syracuse University, 1992.
“The Brick Wall and Modernism: Kahn, Lewerentz, and Venturi,” University of Michigan, 1992.
“Viennese Rationalism and American Modernism,” Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago, 1987.
“McKim, Wagner and Wright: Constructional Ideas at the Turn of the Century,” Ohio State University, 1986.
“Architectural Detailing,” A Series of Four Lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, 1983.
“New Materials and Architectural Practice,” ACSA Summer Technology Conference, 1983.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
2013 Washington Unbuilt Architecture Award for Park and Recreation Structures Revisited. And a Commendation for Trinity +1.
2011 Virginia AIA research Award.
2003 Ford House is published in arq: the University of Cambridge, The New American House IV and Inform.
2002 Honor Award, Virginia AIA Design Awards Program for the Ford House.
1992 “A House with Three Tables” published in 18 Houses. W. Jude LeBlanc, Ed. Princeton Architectural Press.
1990 Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, See: Competitions I, Winter 1991:25.
1990 Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In.”
1986 Work exhibited in “Drawing toward Building” Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago.
SERVICE
Consultant to 1992 American Heritage Dictionary.
AIA Virginia Design Committee, 2015–2025.
Numerous AIA Design Awards Juries.
Manuscript Review MIT Press, Yale Press, Princeton Arch Press. Advisory Board, Architectural Graphic Standards, 12th Edition, Wiley.
BIOGRAPHY
1947 Born Tulsa Oklahoma.
1972 Received M.Arch Washington University, B.S. Washington University, 1971.
1972-1979 GBQC Architects Philadelphia and Princeton.
1980-1981 Assistant Professor University of Kansas.
1980-1986 GBQC Architects Philadelphia and Princeton. Part time teaching in Princeton and New York.
1975 Passed architectural licensing examination in Pennsylvania. Currently licensed in Virginia.
1983 Joined the faculty at the University of Virginia.
1986 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture.
1990. Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, “Matteson Public Library Competition.” See: Competitions I, Winter.
1991 Details of Modern Architecture Volume 1, published Recognized in Lingua Franca “Breakthrough Books in Architecture.”
1990 Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In” judged by Hiroshi Hara.
1991 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 2.
1993 USA Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1996 Association of American Publishers Award.
1998 Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award.
2002 Honor Award, Virginia AIA Design Awards Program for the Ford House.
2004 Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge.
2009 Pieitro Belluchi Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Oregon.
2011 Artist in Residence, Petrified Forest National Park Virginia AIA Research Award. Artist in Residence Grand Canyon National Park.
2012 Cape Cod Modern House Trust Visiting Fellow.
2013 Washington AIA Unbuilt Architecture Award “Park and Recreation Structures Revisited”Washington AIA Unbuilt Architecture. Citation “Trinity +1”
2014 Artist in Residence, Great Basin National Park.
2014 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2017 Architecture Studio Prize with Luis Pancorbo.
2018 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2019 Visiting Professor, Washington University.
University of Texas Austin. McDermott Visiting Professor.
2023 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2024 Fellow American Institute of Architects.
BOOK REVIEWS FOR PUBLICATIONS
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 1 & 2
Neil Jackson, The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review]. Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 45, Winter 1991.
Peter Davey, “Architectural Truths,” Architectural Review 189, March, 1991.
Nadia Currimboy, The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review], Interiors 150, April 1991. The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review].Metropolitan Home, March, 1991.
The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review]. Architecture (New Zealand), March/April1991. Michael Stacey, “Layer and Monolith: Detailing Modernism” Architects Journal (London) 193, 19 June, 1991.
Frank F. Drewes, “Baukonstruktion: Five Houses, Ten Details,” Bauwelt 39-40, 2009, 52.
Manfredo di Robilant, “Ricordarsi I dettagagli per non delirare,” Il Giornale dell’Architettura, No, 78. November, 2009, 26.
Richard Dinham, “Five Houses, Ten Details,” InDesign, 2010.
Paige Magarrey, “Five Houses, Ten Details,” Azure, January/February, 2010.
Kevin Greenburg, “Attention Must be Paid” Five Houses, Ten Details.”
The Architect’s Newspaper, March 19, 2010.
“Five Houses, Ten Details,” Architectural Record, March, 2010, 35.
The Architectural Detail
A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books, Book Review: The Architectural Detail, January 30, 2012.
A Critic Under the Influence, December 28, 2011.
Architect Magazine, February 12, 2012.
ArchDaily, March 25, 2012.
Build Blog, February 10, 2012.
Notable Book List of 2011, Designers & Books.
Details, Details, Los Angeles Review of Books, March 23, 2012.
PUBLISHED ARCHITECTUAL WORK
Alpine Mountain Hut Competition, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Free Union Country School Competition, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Ford House, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Peter Carolin, "The House on Farish Street: Not Only but also Either and Both,” arq: The Architectural Research Quarterly of the University of Cambridge Vol. 7, No. 3-4, 2003.
Il Kim and James Truelove, The New American House IV, Watson-Guptil 2003.
Vernon Mays, “The Choices Not Made.” Inform Summer 2003.
Matteson Public Library Competition, 1991
“Matteson Public Library Competition.” Competitions I, Winter 1991:25.
Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, 1990.
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Japan Architect Competition, 1990
Hiroshi Hara, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In” (Competition) Japan Architect, November/December 1990:9.
Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, 1990.
House with Three Tables, 1992
W. Jude LeBlanc, Ed. 18 Houses. Princeton Architectural Press, 1992.
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
© 2025–2026
Edward R Ford, Architect
All Rights Reserved
Edward R. Ford
Curriculum Vitae
BOOKS
Searching for Authenticity: Rustic Architecture in America, 1887-1940 (ORO Editions, 2025).
The Architectural Detail (Chinese Edition, Phoenix Publishing & Media, Inc., 2016).
The Architectural Detail (Princeton Architectural Press, November 2011).
Five Houses, Ten Details (Chinese Edition, China Architecture & Building Press, 2015).
Five Houses, Ten Details (Princeton Architectural Press, July 2009).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2 (Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Maruzen, Summer, 1999).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 1 (Japanese Edition, Tokyo: Maruzen, Summer, 1999).
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2 (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996), Paperback Ed., 2003.
The Details of Modern Architecture (German Edition, Berlin: Birkhauser, 1994).
The Details of Modern Architecture (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1990), Paperback Ed., 2003.
BOOK EXCERPTS
“Thoughts on Being Pixilated,” Book chapter, Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu, Puzzling Assemblies, ORO Editions, Forthcoming (2025).
“Animism and Architecture: Architectural Lessons from Anthropology,” Book chapter, David Leatherbarrow and ShI Yonggao, Communicative Construction, Southeast University Nanjing, China Artifice Press, 2025.
“Regionalism and its Discontents,” Book chapter, Peter MacKeith and Jonathan Boelkins, Radical Practice: The Work of Marlon Blackwell Architects, Princeton Architectural Press, 2022.
“The VDL Research House,” Book chapter, Wiley Companion to Architecture, Vol. IV, 2017.
Book introduction, Luis Pancorbo and Ines Martin, A. Lawrence Kocher: American Architect, ORO Press, 2025.
Book introduction, Leonie Manhardt-Zech, Architecture / Photography—Three Buildings By Karl Schwanzer, Springer Verlag, Vienna-New York 2004. My article “Inexactitude, Precision, Drawing and Photography” is reprinted as an Introduction.
Book introduction, Alexis Gregory, Comprehensive Tectonics: Technical Building Assemblies from the Ground to the Sky, Routledge, 2019.
Book introduction, Chad Schwartz, Introducing Architectural Tectonics, Routledge, 2016.
MAJOR ARTICLES
“The Invention of the Window,” Forthcoming.
“The Long Wait for the Inevitable: Metanarratives of Construction,” Technology Architecture + Design. 7:1, Jun 2023.
“The Great Work of Fiction,” in ”Future Details of Architecture,” Mark Garcia ed., Architectural Design, Wiley 2015.
“The Age of Anxiety: Thoughts on Stability,” Oz, 2021.
“Beyond Nostalgia: Contemporary Architects Select the Best Modern Homes of the New South,” Oxford American, Spring 2008.
“A Short History of Incrustation,” eaV 11 (Versailles) 2005–2006.
“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Textile Block Houses,” Detail, (Munich) Summer 2003.
“A Short History of Cladding,” B (Copenhagen), 2005.
“The Louis Sullivan Architectural Photographs,” (Book Review) by Jeffrey Plank L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui (Paris), Spring 2003.
“Frank Lloyd Wright + Lewis Mumford: Fifty Years of Correspondence” (Book Review) L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Fall 2002.
“Inexactitude, precision, drawing and photography,” 8th Viennese Architecture Congress, Vienna Arkitektur Zentrum, 2001.
Thomas Beeby, “Toward a Technological Architecture?: Case Study of the Illinois Institute of Technology Commons Building,” With a response by Edward R. Ford, Perspecta: The Yale School of Architecture Journal, 2000.
“The Theory and Practice of Impermanence,” Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998.
“The Inconvenient Friend: On inaccuracy, Exactitude. Photography and Drawing,” Harvard Design Magazine, Fall 1998.
TEACHING
University of Virginia, Visiting Professor, 2023.
University of Arkansas, Fay Jones Visiting Professor, 2021.
University of Texas, Austin, McDermott Visiting Professor, 2020.
Washington University, Visiting Professor, 2019.
University of Oregon, Peitro Belluchi Distinguished Visiting Professor, 2009.
University of Virginia, Associate Professor 1986, Professor 1999, Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor of Architecture, 2004–2018.
Columbia University, Adjunct Assistant Professor (part time), 1985–1986.
Princeton University, Lecturer (part time), 1981–1986.
Rice University, Visiting Instructor, 1980.
University of Kansas, Assistant Professor, 1979.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2024 Fellow American Institute of Architects.
2023 Fellow MacDowell.
2018 Fellow MacDowell.
2017 Studio Prize Architect Magazine.
2014 Artist in Residence Great Basin National Park. 2014 Fellow MacDowell.
2013 Artist in Residence, Cape Cod National Seashore.
2013 Special Guest, Artist in Residency Program, Grand Canyon National Park.
2013 Designers and Books names Details of Modern Architecture as a Book every architect must read.
2011 Artist in Residence Petrified Forest National Park.
2004 Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge.
1998 Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award.
1996 Co-Chairman of 1996 ACSA National Technology Conference.
1993 USA Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1991 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 2.
1986 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture.
MAJOR LECTURES AND PAPERS
“Reflections on the Death of Structural Rationalism,” Construction History Society of America, 2025.
“The Invention of the Window,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2025.
“Craft in the Age of Digital Perfection,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2025.
“Drawing on Glass with Soap,” Lutyens Society of America, 2025.
“Lessons from Anthropology,” Southeast University Nanjing, China, 2021.
“Outside the Frame: Carlo Scarpa and Sverre Fehn,” Washington University, 2021.
“The Long Wait for the Inevitable,“ Southeast University, Nanjing, China, 2021.
“Intolerance: Craft in the Age of Digital Perfection,” ACSA Conference, 2019.
“Dastardly Acts,” Lecture, University of Cincinnati, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2015.
“Gray Matters,” Lead discussion group at Virginia Film Festival, 2015.
“Architecture in the National Parks,” Grand Canyon National Park, 2013.
“The Ford House,” Extreme Homes, House and Garden Channel, 2013.
“The Architectural Detail,” Book Reading, Boston Society of Architects, 2013.
“Dastardly Acts: Fictive Histories of Architecture,” University of Virginia, 2011.
“On the Virtues of Joinery,” Washington University, Tulane University” 2011.
“Recent Work,” University of Oregon, 2010.
“Confessions of a Failed English Major,” University of Virginia, 2009.
“Reflections on the Death of Structural Rationalism,” Architecture and Engineer Conference, Helsinki, 2009.
“Contemptible Details,” 2009 ACSA National Meeting. Portland, 2009.
“A Short History of the Joint,” University of Houston, 2007.
“Principles of Curtain Wall Design” Rice University, Houston 2007.
“Some Thoughts on Architecture at Virginia,” Society of Fellows, University of Virginia, 2005.
“History, the Hybrid and the Canon,” ASSA Cranbrook Teachers Seminar, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 2004.
“Detailing as a Subversive Activity,” The Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles, The University of Cambridge, IIT Chicago, 2004.
“The Theory and Practice of Construction,” The University of Cambridge School of Architecture, 2004.
“Technology, Craft, Art: Constructing Mies in America,” Illinois Institute of Technology and MOCA Chicago, Symposium, 2002.
“Theory and Practice,” New Jersey AIA Design Day: Education, the Foundation of Critical Thinking, Trenton, NJ, 2001.
“Architecture and Craft,” Lecture, AIA Colorado, Vail Design Conference, 2001.
“On Inaccuracy, Exactitude. Photography and Drawing,” Vienna Arkitektur Zentrum, Vienna 2000.
“Wood as Wood, Brick as Brick, Stone as Stone: Material and Architectural Form,” Norwegian Academy of Architecture, Oslo, 2000.
“Detailing as a Subversive Activity,” Mississippi State University, University of British Columbia, Georgia Tech, 2000.
“Homage to Catalonia: Reflections on Gaudi, Calatrava and Miralles,” University of Pennsylvania, 1998.
“Corb’s First Paycheck,” National Building Museum, 1997; Clemson 1998.
“Architectural Design and Aircraft Design: 1921-1952,” University of Maryland, 1994.
“The Artifacts of Industrialization,” Parsons School of Design, New York, 1994.
“Innovation in the Machine Age,“ and ”Educating for Innovation,” Virginia AIA Design Forum, 1994.
“Beyond Literal Transparency: Asplund, Aalto, and Neutra,” Catholic University, 1993.
“Frank Lloyd Wright and American Building,” Syracuse University, 1992.
“The Brick Wall and Modernism: Kahn, Lewerentz, and Venturi,” University of Michigan, 1992.
“Viennese Rationalism and American Modernism,” Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago, 1987.
“McKim, Wagner and Wright: Constructional Ideas at the Turn of the Century,” Ohio State University, 1986.
“Architectural Detailing,” A Series of Four Lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, 1983.
“New Materials and Architectural Practice,” ACSA Summer Technology Conference, 1983.
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
2013 Washington Unbuilt Architecture Award for Park and Recreation Structures Revisited. And a Commendation for Trinity +1.
2011 Virginia AIA research Award.
2003 Ford House is published in arq: the University of Cambridge, The New American House IV and Inform.
2002 Honor Award, Virginia AIA Design Awards Program for the Ford House.
1992 “A House with Three Tables” published in 18 Houses. W. Jude LeBlanc, Ed. Princeton Architectural Press.
1990 Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, See: Competitions I, Winter 1991:25.
1990 Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In.”
1986 Work exhibited in “Drawing toward Building” Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago.
SERVICE
Consultant to 1992 American Heritage Dictionary.
AIA Virginia Design Committee, 2015–2025.
Numerous AIA Design Awards Juries.
Manuscript Review MIT Press, Yale Press, Princeton Arch Press. Advisory Board, Architectural Graphic Standards, 12th Edition, Wiley.
BIOGRAPHY
1947 Born Tulsa Oklahoma.
1972 Received M.Arch Washington University, B.S. Washington University, 1971.
1972-1979 GBQC Architects Philadelphia and Princeton.
1980-1981 Assistant Professor University of Kansas.
1980-1986 GBQC Architects Philadelphia and Princeton. Part time teaching in Princeton and New York.
1975 Passed architectural licensing examination in Pennsylvania. Currently licensed in Virginia.
1983 Joined the faculty at the University of Virginia.
1986 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture.
1990. Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, “Matteson Public Library Competition.” See: Competitions I, Winter.
1991 Details of Modern Architecture Volume 1, published Recognized in Lingua Franca “Breakthrough Books in Architecture.”
1990 Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In” judged by Hiroshi Hara.
1991 Graham Foundation Grant for The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 2.
1993 USA Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1996 Association of American Publishers Award.
1998 Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award.
2002 Honor Award, Virginia AIA Design Awards Program for the Ford House.
2004 Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge.
2009 Pieitro Belluchi Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Oregon.
2011 Artist in Residence, Petrified Forest National Park Virginia AIA Research Award. Artist in Residence Grand Canyon National Park.
2012 Cape Cod Modern House Trust Visiting Fellow.
2013 Washington AIA Unbuilt Architecture Award “Park and Recreation Structures Revisited”Washington AIA Unbuilt Architecture. Citation “Trinity +1”
2014 Artist in Residence, Great Basin National Park.
2014 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2017 Architecture Studio Prize with Luis Pancorbo.
2018 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2019 Visiting Professor, Washington University.
University of Texas Austin. McDermott Visiting Professor.
2023 Fellow, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire.
2024 Fellow American Institute of Architects.
BOOK REVIEWS FOR PUBLICATIONS
The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol. 1 & 2
Neil Jackson, The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review]. Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 45, Winter 1991.
Peter Davey, “Architectural Truths,” Architectural Review 189, March, 1991.
Nadia Currimboy, The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review], Interiors 150, April 1991. The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review].Metropolitan Home, March, 1991.
The Details of Modern Architecture, by Edward R. Ford [book review]. Architecture (New Zealand), March/April1991. Michael Stacey, “Layer and Monolith: Detailing Modernism” Architects Journal (London) 193, 19 June, 1991.
Frank F. Drewes, “Baukonstruktion: Five Houses, Ten Details,” Bauwelt 39-40, 2009, 52.
Manfredo di Robilant, “Ricordarsi I dettagagli per non delirare,” Il Giornale dell’Architettura, No, 78. November, 2009, 26.
Richard Dinham, “Five Houses, Ten Details,” InDesign, 2010.
Paige Magarrey, “Five Houses, Ten Details,” Azure, January/February, 2010.
Kevin Greenburg, “Attention Must be Paid” Five Houses, Ten Details.”
The Architect’s Newspaper, March 19, 2010.
“Five Houses, Ten Details,” Architectural Record, March, 2010, 35.
The Architectural Detail
A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books, Book Review: The Architectural Detail, January 30, 2012.
A Critic Under the Influence, December 28, 2011.
Architect Magazine, February 12, 2012.
ArchDaily, March 25, 2012.
Build Blog, February 10, 2012.
Notable Book List of 2011, Designers & Books.
Details, Details, Los Angeles Review of Books, March 23, 2012.
PUBLISHED ARCHITECTUAL WORK
Alpine Mountain Hut Competition, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Free Union Country School Competition, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Ford House, 2003
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Peter Carolin, "The House on Farish Street: Not Only but also Either and Both,” arq: The Architectural Research Quarterly of the University of Cambridge Vol. 7, No. 3-4, 2003.
Il Kim and James Truelove, The New American House IV, Watson-Guptil 2003.
Vernon Mays, “The Choices Not Made.” Inform Summer 2003.
Matteson Public Library Competition, 1991
“Matteson Public Library Competition.” Competitions I, Winter 1991:25.
Second Prize, Matteson Public Library Competition, 1990.
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.
Japan Architect Competition, 1990
Hiroshi Hara, “A House as an Electronics Device for Living In” (Competition) Japan Architect, November/December 1990:9.
Third Prize, Shinkechiku-Sha (Japan Architect) Competition, 1990.
House with Three Tables, 1992
W. Jude LeBlanc, Ed. 18 Houses. Princeton Architectural Press, 1992.
Five Houses, Ten Details, Princeton Architectural Press, July, 2009.