In the documentary Jens Jensen The Living Green, filmmaker Carey Lundin explores the innovative ideas of Jens Jensen to make the modern city livable for all. Jensen was a pioneering conservationist, creator of the Prairie Style in landscape architecture, and considered “dean of landscape architects.” Following the screening, Lundin discusses Jensen's activism and relevance today. 1.5 LU (AIA) / 1.5 CM (AICP) / 1.5 PDH (ASLA)
Teachers construct model buildings featuring sustainable components. Photo by Kevin Allen
Investigate the relationship between landscape architecture and visual arts and explore how to use landscape architecture to teach interdisciplinary lessons. Discover the work of landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden & Associates in the exhibition The New American Garden, visit a nearby site designed by the firm, and create a photographic artwork of your own.
This black-and-white photograph, Sunrise over East Lawn taken at the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana emphasizes the design of the landscape using light, tone, and contrast. Photo by Alan Ward
Alan Ward, FASLA, masterfully uses the photographic process to see and interpret the essence of designed landscapes. In this program, he describes his process for capturing space, texture, bright light, and dappled shade in mostly black-and-white images, challenging us to see landscapes with new eyes. This talk complements the exhibition Luminous Landscapes: Photographs by Alan Ward, which will be open to attendees prior to the program. 1.5 LU (AIA) / 1.5 CM (AICP) / 1.5 PDH (LA CES)
Re-Ball! is an open design competition to turn 650,000, 3-inch, white, translucent plastic balls into a site-specific installation in the Dupont Underground’s 14,000-square-foot east platform. The balls were previously part of the National Building Museum’s blockbuster summer destination The BEACH. Be the first to see the winning design team's concept before Re-Ball! opens to the public in May. For more information, visit go.nbm.org/reball. 1.5 LU (AIA)
Built by Women D.C. (BxW DC) is a crowd-sourced competition organized by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) to recognize and support the diverse women working in design and construction. This weekend, view the winners that are on display in the Great Hall. On Saturday, attend tours of projects selected as outstanding that will be included in the BWAF’s BxW archive. For more details and to register for the tours, visit go.nbm.org/BxWDC.
Should urban economic development continue to “attract and retain” nonlocal business? Absolutely not, argues economist and attorney Michael Shuman in his latest book, The Local Economy Solution (Chelsea Green, 2015). Instead, cities should spread self-financing “pollinator” enterprises that nurture locally owned businesses through local planning, entrepreneurship, partnerships, purchasing, and investment. Shuman signs copies of the book after his talk. This talk is offered as part of Smart Growth programming. 1.0 LU HSW (AIA) / 1.0 CM (AICP) / 1.0 PDH (LA CES)
Tour the new U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters on the west campus of historic St. Elizabeths, featuring an 11-story office building providing nearly 1.2 million square feet of office and support space for 3,860 employees, a separate central utility plant, and two seven-story parking garages. The building, designed by Perkins + Will, Andropogon Associates, and HOK, keeps a low profile on the historic campus while scoring high on design aesthetic, user experience, and client-mandated requirements. The building is LEED(r) Gold certified.
Thirty-five years ago today, an Act of Congress established the nation’s only museum dedicated to the history and impact of the built environment. To celebrate our birthday, we’re throwing open our doors and offering free admission to all, as well as birthday festivities throughout the day. Learn more at go.nbm.org/35years.
Author R. Andrew Bittner discusses the techniques used to build the Washington National Cathedral in his newly-released book from Arcadia Publishing (2015). The construction of this neo-Gothic cathedral is presented in photographic detail. A book-signing follows the talk. Book price: $19.80 Member | $21.99 Non-member.
Washington’s Brookland neighborhood gained a jolt of artistic energy with the renovation of Dance Place studio and construction of Brookland Artspace Lofts. Dance Place incorporates a theater, office space, and an expanded dance studio. Brookland Artspace Lofts, a 78,000-square-foot residential development, provides 40 affordable live/work studios for working artists. Yolanda Cole, AIA, IIDA, LEED AP; Holly Lennihan, RA, LEED AP; and Starr Ashcraft, LEED AP BD+C with Hickok Cole Architects lead a tour of the buildings and explains how the programmatic needs unique to artists impacted their final designs. 1.5 LU HSW
This design/build competition, sponsored by the Washington Architectural Foundation, features amazing structures made entirely of canned goods by local architecture and construction teams. Canstruction benefits the Capital Area Food Bank. See entries on display in the Great Hall from November 22–29 and watch De-Canstruction on November 30 as the teams disassemble their entries to donate the canned food used in their projects. Visit go.nbm.org/canstruction for more information.
The AIA|DC Emerging Architects Committee (AIA|DC EAC) has partnered with Price Modern, a national furniture solutions dealer, to announce its inaugural RE-Form Competition. RE-Form aims to bridge the boundaries of the design industry and promote a multidisciplinary dialogue towards design solutions. Through an industry-wide design competition, RE-Form helps widen the definition of design work creative professionals do throughout the country. The design competition launches nationally through AIA|DC EAC’s online platforms on August 31st 2015, with entries due on October 19th 2015. Award winners will be announced at a gala reception at Washington, D.C.’s District Architecture Center (DAC) on November 12, 2015. Winning entries will be showcased at DAC’s gallery space and online via Architect Magazine.
The AIA|DC Emerging Architects Committee (AIA|DC EAC) is excited to announce our presenters for the second-annual Thesis Showcase. Five recent B.Arch and M.Arch graduates from schools around the world will present their thesis projects to members of the AIA|DC and the public. The showcase event aims to bridge the gap between recent graduates and local practicing architects, by providing an opportunity for practitioners to view a sample of the work hailing from architecture schools around the country and abroad. The selected presenters will showcase their work at AIA|DC’s District Architecture Center (DAC) on August 27, 2015 at 6:00pm. Following the presentations a networking reception will occur at DAC’s gallery space in Penn Quarter.
Earlier this month, after viewing the contenders in the US World War I Centennial Commission’s competition to redesign the National World War I Memorial in Washington DC, organizations like The Cultural Landscape Foundation began to began to voice their opinion regarding the reach of the competition. With the cultural importance of the site in mind, such organizations had hoped that the redesign would maintain the existing Pershing Park, but were disappointed to discover that the majority of the competition’s design proposals seek to demolish the existing landscape.
Although left off of the competition’s shortlist, KAMJZ Architects’ proposal for the World War I memorial addresses these concerns by leaving Pershing Park almost completely intact. Leaving alone the park’s seating areas, agora, and landscaping, the design proposal unifies the park by adding an outer ring of trees “along the borders of the site [to] provide an acoustic barrier from the noisy adjacent streets.”
Gallaudet University, the world’s only university for deaf and hard of hearing students, has launched an international competition to re-design its historic Washington DC campus. Participants will be challenged to "create a new campus gateway and redefine the University’s urban edge as a vibrant, mixed-use, creative and cultural district." Design proposals are not required during the competition's first stage; teams will be shortlisted based on their "understanding of the institution and project, team composition and past experience."
If you are interested in the nexus between health, design, and the urban setting, join researchers, policymakers, practitioners, designers and others for an evening of dynamic, diverse presentations, conversations, and drinks to celebrate the launch of this exciting new initiative.
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