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In Memoriam

For Carl Abbott, a house began with what was outside it: the movement of sunlight, the shape of the land and the relationship between water and sky helped determine what he built, and how people would live within it.

“Every building we do is in effect a series of viewing platforms for nature,” he told Sarasota Magazine in 2020.

Abbott, the last surviving member of the original Sarasota School of Architecture, died this week at age 90. The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture announced his death after a short illness, joining architects and institutions in remembering a designer whose influence extended well beyond Florida.

His death closes a living chapter of Sarasota’s architectural history. Abbott studied under Paul Rudolph, worked alongside architects who would become international figures and continued developing the region’s modernist ideas through decades of practice. He also shared that history firsthand, through teaching, conversation and guidance to younger architects.

The Sarasota School of Architecture was a regional modernist movement that emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, associated with architects including Ralph Twitchell, Rudolph and Victor Lundy. Its buildings responded to Florida’s heat, light and landscape with deep overhangs, shaded outdoor spaces, natural ventilation and open plans. Large expanses of glass connected rooms to their surroundings, while carefully placed roofs and screens made those connections comfortable. The work helped establish Sarasota as a place where architecture could be both experimental and suited to everyday life. Read More

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