November 9, 2006
Photo of the Day: November 9, 2006
It's Architecture Thursday, or something. Flickr user Grundlepuck took this great shot of the National Association of Realtors building reflecting a gorgeous sky. Commenter IntagibleArts smartly noted, "The building certainly blends into the clouds better than it blends into the neighborhood." True enough, but it makes for good photography. EXIF.
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That slender little building is one of my favs. It's nice to see a break from marble monumentalism, and I'm surprised they got this past all the planning & preservation muckity mucks.
i'm SO happy it got past the muckity mucks....it's good to see this town get shaken out of it's rut once in a while. we could use some more interesting architecture around here!
it's not only interesting in appearance, but green too: http://www.construction.com/GreenSource/projects/0606mag_NAR.asp
The photo on the cover of the new (4th) edition of the "AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington DC" features a nice shot of the Capitol, and this building.
As for IntagibleArts comment, did the prior building on this site, a service station, do a better job of "blending in" with the neighborhood?
ah, that smell of petrol in the morning... It smelled like....... victory.
I dig the NAR building as a photogenic object, but for my money, the stout, older buildings are far superior (the old firehouse & Kogod across the street, for crissakes!). The new contemporary stuff going up everywhere has no soul, man, no soul. They suck the identity from a neighborhood and leave us with pretty little angel-boats like this NAR building, begging for a Godzilla foot...
Are you dismissing contemporary across the board, or just in DC?
I think I remember hearing that a construction worker died building it. The important thing is that there is decent coffee available in the ground floor of it(unless you are a starbucks hater). The Billy goat tavern (also on the ground floor) seems to have an odd terrerium vibe to it. I haven't been in yet, but you can kind of see right through it. The odd tables in the small plaza outside are quite funny looking when people sit on the built-in highchairs. People seem to always twist uncomfortably around in them.
Oh, and I like the shot! Great picture.
Not dissin' modern style across the board. Contemporary architecture which incorporates the surroundings into the design can be gorgeous. I just hope our little orgy of development will be sensitive to the unique flavor of DC. Warts & all, it's my favorite city.
But this is way the hell off-topic; it's a great photo. Another classic Grundlepuck!
That's a LEED certified building! www.usgbc.org