Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Part 2 opens with a press release from the Green Builders of America and the Turner Foundation (an environmental philanthropy organization) announcing the “20 x 20 x 20” (107) architectural competition. The competition honors the 20th anniversary of Bernadette Fox’s creation of the Twenty Mile House, an early experiment in sustainable architecture. The press release notes that the Twenty Mile House no longer stands, few photographs exist, and that Bernadette Fox is rumored to have destroyed the plans. 

The press release is followed by an email from Professor Paul Jellinek to his student, Jacob, who spotted Bernadette in Seattle. Jellinek notes that Bernadette “has obviously made a choice to get lost” (108). He also forwards a profile of Bernadette written for an upcoming issue of Artforum. The PDF of the Artforum article occupies 20 pages and relates Bernadette’s story in the form of an oral history made up of excerpts from interviews with various people involved in Bernadette’s early career. 

The profile begins with comments from Ellie Saito, one of Bernadette’s fellow students at Princeton, and with Michael Graves, a celebrated architect in real life who appears in the novel as Bernadette’s early mentor. Both note Bernadette’s intense focus on the practical and technical aspects of architecture.