Roger K. Lewis – RIP

Architect and cartoonist Roger K. Lewis has passed away.

The Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation announced the death of their President and gave a profile:

It is with a heavy heart that the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation announces the passing of our President, Roger K. Lewis, who died on Wednesday at his home in Washington, D.C. after undergoing a medical procedure. He was 83, and is survived by his wife Ellen, their son Kevin and his wife, and four granddaughters.

A celebrated author, architect and journalist, Roger’s history with the Peace Corps and volunteer service dates from his time in Tunisia, where from 1964-66 he worked with local partners to design some 30 government buildings as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After returning to the U.S., he opened his own architecture and urban design firm, and worked on a range of projects that included residential developments, community centers, and affordable housing. At the University of Maryland in College Park, he served on the faculty for 37 years, and was a founding faculty member of the School of Architecture, where he taught and mentored dozens of young architects.

Roger was well known and influential as the author of “Shaping the City”, a column that appeared in the Washington Post for more than 30 years. The column featured his clever cartoons and commentary on the changes in the urban landscape of our nation’s capital and the implications for the people who live and work there.

The Washington Post obituary gives more details on Roger’s Shaping the City column and cartoon:

In the early 1980s, the editor of The Post’s real estate section, Albert Crenshaw, was looking for a new columnist. He normally brought in architects and others for several weeks as guest writers. Mr. Lewis offered to lend a hand.

Crenshaw said he expected Mr. Lewis to be another short-term presence after his first piece debuted in 1984. “But he became so popular with readers that we just kept going,” Crenshaw recalled in an interview.

Mr. Lewis’s Shaping the City column appeared in The Post on varying schedules until 2022, bringing readers his musings and insights on areas such as architectural criticism, city planning, housing prices and historic preservation.

Soon after that first 1984 column became a regular feature at The Washington Post for over thirty years. By the time of that last 2022 column Roger and his column had become sporadic with irregular appearances for years before.

Below is one of Roger’s “Special to The Washington Post” columns sans cartoon from 2021 via Citizen’s Voice.

A Google search for Roger K. Lewis cartoons offers a number of them, some attributed to Architect Magazine.

Prabook gives a snapshot of Roger’s career. As does Roger’s LinkedIn page.

The University of Maryland has a biography of its Professor Emeritus:

Professor Roger K. Lewis, FAIA helped start and subsequently nurture the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, established by the University in 1967. During the School’s early years, in addition to teaching design, he initiated and taught two seminal courses: Introduction to the Built Environment (ARCH 170), a wide-ranging survey of architecture and urban design fundamentals for freshmen and sophomores; and “Economic Determinants in Architecture,” an elective for advanced architectural students focused on the real estate development process.

Roger’s cartoons were celebrated with a 2014 exhibit at the District Architecture Center.

Comics DC’s items tagged Roger K. Lewis