In this suburb of the nation's capital, the Fort Washington, Maryland YMCA project is overshadowed by all the surrounding built history. Yet this rehabilitation of a former supermarket should not be underestimated. The firm of GTM Architects has successfully transformed the nondescript building into a "Y" that is at once visually poetic, pragmatically functional, and admirably committed to its community. Published 2006.0719
In addition to the usual challenges facing an architect designing a synagogue, Joseph Boggs confronted a few special ones at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Any contemporary U.S. synagogue designer has to create a sanctuary large enough to hold the High Holiday full house while creating a space that still feels intimate when mostly empty during the weekly services. Published 2006.0503
The 179-year-old Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is one of the cultural gems of Baltimore, a city that seldom receives the recognition it deserves for its rhythmic 19th-century classical architecture, occasionally edgy 20th-century modernism, and outstanding cultural and educational institutions. Published 2006.0111
In an era when the fabric of traditional neighborhoods is being torn so that grotesquely oversized houses can be squeezed into normal-sized lots, at least one firm in Maryland is doing it differently. GTM Architects renovated and expanded the home of firm founder George Myers, and in its detailing showed respect for the century-old neighborhood. Published 2004.1117
From the Iron Age to the age of the Internet, the city has always both absorbed and promoted change. It thrives on reinvention. Today, the North American city is enjoying an upswing in popularity. Published 2002.0522
For 35 years, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has worked hard to protect and restore the damaged ecosystems of the largest estuary in North America. Their latest effort to combat air and water pollution is manifest in their new home, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center near Annapolis, Maryland. Published 2001.0418