The 70,000-square-foot (6,500-square-meter) building for the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C., is set on a narrow peninsula at the confluence of Rock Creek and the Potomac River. Surrounded by water on three sides, the peninsula faces south and commands spectacular views up and down the Potomac.
The prominent site called for an emblematic building through which the essence of Swedish culture, technology, design sensibility, and governance would be expressed. — Published 2008.0910
The Newseum building by Polshek Partnership Architects adds vitality and a sense of time and place to Pennsylvania Avenue, a street that, like so many important streets in Washington, D.C., had been devoid of movement and three-dimensionality in massing.
A museum about news, the aptly named Newseum moved from across the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, where it had outgrown its space. Its parent organization, the Freedom Forum, sought a location more heavily frequented by tourists. — Published 2008.0903
Washington D.C. has long been a conservative city for architecture, at least since Pierre L'Enfant laid out the city in 1791. As decreed by the McMillan Plan of the early 1900s, buildings could be no taller than the U.S. Capitol dome. This has resulted in a low-scale skyline that some find retrograde for a world capital. — Published 2005.0105
Building by building, Cesar Pelli is adding his touch to the staid architecture of Washington, D.C. In 1997, his terminal at Reagan National Airport, just south of the city, opened to rave reviews for its soaring, light- and art-filled bays beneath open trusses and for its dramatically silhouetted, metal-sheathed tower and terminal modules. — Published 2002.0206
It may look like Captain Kirk's command station as he navigates the Starship Enterprise through a TV episode of Star Trek. In reality, it's XM Satellite Radio, Inc.'s new broadcast operations center. The high-tech facility was beamed up by Studios Architecture out of a century-old printing plant in Washington, DC. — Published 2001.1024
The recently dedicated Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. is a crisp, sleek structure that restates some of the basic language of modern architecture in a fresh, new way.
Designed by the Washington office of Leo A Daly, the 100,000-square-foot (9300-square-meter) center houses artifacts from the Vatican, interactive exhibits exploring faith and culture, and an "interfaith think tank." — Published 2001.0404
Architecture Design and Building in Washington, D.C., USA
