When the Sierra Club advertised a bird-watching kayak tour to Shell Key, Dave and I signed up. True confession: We’ve lived in Pinellas County for 40 years and I’ve...
Florida
Developing a knack for kayaking
Last month, my husband Dave and I finally found the most important feature we were looking for in a kayak – lite weight. Our local dealer introduced us to the Crescent...
Touring the Space Age in Sanford, Florida
One of my favorite parts of the 1960s TV show The Jetsons was George Jetson's chair and all the push button appliances in Jane's kitchen. Of course, as a kid, I didn't...
Two we lost in the fight to preserve cultural icons
The bells pealing on New Year's eve sounded a death knell for two American architectural icons of the 20th Century. The National Trust for Historic Preservation...
Calatrava’s bridge for Florida, Poly Tech
These feather-like arbors surround the building. Two years ago Santiago Calatrava's white feather-patterned arches stopped traffic on I-4, just outside of...
Iconic sea level architecture: risky vs. sensible
With last week’s news confirming that sea levels are rising at a faster rate than predicted, shouldn’t new buildings be moved to higher elevations? Notably, many new...
“Spirit Houses” recall racial injustice
It’s nothing more than a simple metal frame with a gable roof and a stone hearth. The structure is just an outline -- nothing but a ghost image. Not what you would...
Behold! A survivor of a nearly extinct species, brutalist architecture.
John. M. Johansen, the architect who built the The Orlando Public Library in 1966, must be singing heavenly praises that this building still stands. So far, the...
What’s an “iconic” building and why it matters
Rowen Moore and I are activists on a mission to stop the spread of the term “iconic” in architecture. Moore, The Guardian’s architectural critic, opened his review of...
Ignoring rising sea levels is immoral says architectural critic
Built at sea level, Miami's Latin vibe is also it's vulnerability -- live for today! Insurance companies, however, bet on tomorrow. As the climate races toward Global...
SarasotaMod, Saving Iconic Modernism
At the Sarasota Mod Weekend, an audience member asked John Howey, “What makes Modern architecture likable to the public?” Howey responded, “I don’t know. I’m an...
Early environmentally friendly news building demolished
1978 Clearwater bureau commemorative mug given to staffers and VIPs on opening day. Energy Efficiency was a new concept in 1978 when the St. Petersburg Times,...
Kyle Pierson
Florida writer living in
the Pacific Northwest
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Kyle Pierson
I never expected to leave the beach, palm trees, and glorious sunsets of Florida. Seriously! I even have a master’s degree in Florida Studies. So, my move to Washington, the Evergreen State, had to be from a powerful pull. It was; in 2020, my husband Dave and I became grandparents to twin grandsons, and their brother who was born in 2022. Grandparenting adds a new busy dimension to our lives and readers might assume my interest in Florida nature and architecture has faded. But I’m curious about those things here in the PNW too. I’m looking forward to learning like a kid again and having three little guys join me on my explorations!
You’ll find my writings about Florida, North Carolina, and Washington here, along with a new tab, poetry and maybe some drawings. So the journey continues. You’re welcome to come along.