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Good morning, Washington. The week surrounding the holidays is almost always a certifiably slow news period, so you can bet good money every local media outlet in the country is shamefacedly relieved to be able to find their own angle on the terrifying fatal San Francisco Zoo tiger attack. Sister site SFist has the roundup of Bay Area coverage, and the Examiner steps up to the plate with the D.C. version of the story -- the National Zoo is "prepared to finetune safety protocols." Phew! More scintillating post-Christmas reporting below.
New D.C. Developments Use More Glass: The Post's Paul Schwartzman takes a look at a handful of new office buildings that have been erected recently in Washington and determines that they are more modern looking than older buildings. The explosion of glass-based building design apparently means the city has become a "cosmopolitan hub." How nice!
Traffic in Tysons Expected to Worsen: Apparently the early stages of the Dulles Rail expansion will probably create an even worse traffic nightmare around Tysons Corner. You don't say?! We're shocked, of course.
Democrats, Republicans Disagree About Virginia: The Washington Times wraps up the morning's Believe It or Not headlines with the groundbreaking story that Democrats think they have a shot to carry Virginia this election year, while Republicans think the opposite. In all fairness, Virginia's political affiliations are in flux, but it's hardly surprising that state leaders from each party might trumpet their relative chances at the polls in 2008.
Briefly Noted: Armed robbers strike four times in Fairfax ... Carbon monoxide sickens eight in Northwest home ... Funding for needle exchange program in place ... Man shot in Northeast overnight.
This Day in DCist: In 2006 we interviewed New Year's Eve mainstay performer Peaches O'Dell, and in 2004 we got excited about a new Wegmans in Fairfax.
Photo by john.sonderman
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I have to wonder how energy-efficient all that glass is going to be, and how much AC/heat will just leak out onto the street. I take it these aren't the "green buildings" that Fenty was lauding a while back? And would it kill architects to design openable windows? Sealed glass cubes may be aesthetically pleasing but they're sick building syndrome breeding grounds, what with centralized heat/AC systems that are rarely if ever cleaned. I saw a documentary on the subject that turned my stomach: the building manager pulled out the condensation trap tray beneath the building's central AC and there was about 9 inches of mold growing in a pool of stagnant water. It looked like a green chinchilla sweater on a pool of jello, and THAT was what people were breathing 8-10 hours a day.
OMG - there is not a single window in the bunker (I mean building I work in) ... I think I am going to puke now!
monkey: i work for an architecture firm (one of our goals is trying to reduce / irradicate sick building syndrome), and i sure as hell hope the companies designing these new glass buildings are taking the same steps we are on our curtain-wall work. you'd be surprised how energy efficient the walls can be - most are double-skinned, and have ventilation systems built into them to help circulate the air. there are also various window shades / films that can be used to reduce heat gain.
also, a lot of the sick building syndrome comes from the carpeting, glues, paints, and building materials . . . they give off toxic gasses over time. there's a bunch of materials out there being developed that don't have this effect, and hopefully these architects are being smart and using them instead.
the AIA has a bunch of information on green building and sustainability and the US Green Building Council also has great information about LEED work and certification.
as for the breeding ground in the AC systems, that's just nasty . . . and i totally believe it.
Glass can be pretty darn energy efficient these days, even over just a few years ago. If I recall correctly what I've read before, these newer windows are basically double-paned, with a gap in between, sometimes filled with argon or another gas, that helps keep heat in during winter and out during summer. Of course, that's assuming these new buildings use such glass. (I haven't read the story yet, so hopefully I'm not repeating anything)
Erin, according to the Post article the developers are reluctant to use double-skinned walls. Yeah, it'd pay for itself in a couple of years with the energy savings, but they want the money now.
I really, really, really hate glass cube architecture. It can work for skyscrapers, since they're usually pinnacles rather than cubes, but it'd take a miracle for it to work with our streetscape. Not to mention the tourist impact -- no tourist goes to see a modernist steel-cage-and-glass building unless it's really fricking tall. But they do come here to see the neoclassical and colonial buildings, because they're actually attractive in their own right.
SM, the robberies were in Fairfax County, not Fairfax. FREDTERP
Tysons Corner is on my last nerve.
No one comes to DC to see the architecture. Neoclassical or not. It's for the culture and the importance of the buildings. Because the architecture (including the neoclassical, especially) is second rate government work. There are much better examples of neoclassical work in the U.S. and much of those don't look as oppressively socialist as things like the Federal Triangle. The U.S. capitol itself is a gigantically ugly monstrosity. And not at all a fine example of neoclassical architecture.
There are beautiful cities like Berlin for example that have low glass buildings that are designed to showcase the future of the country and the designers that make that country great in the present. If the Federal government and DC in general are going to reform themselves to being the world class center of innovation and culture that it needs to be to not further slip into irrelevance (And yes, I think DC is probably the most irrelevant capital in the world) than it needs to embrace contemporary design. We understood this in the 1950s and 1960s and those buildings are some of our most interesting still.
"(And yes, I think DC is probably the most irrelevant capital in the world)"
More so than Canberra, Australia?
“No one comes to DC to see the architecture. ”
Really? Really?!
“It's for the culture...”
REALLY?!
Awesome. Then we can knock down the MLK library and the Third Church of Christ, Scientist and no one will notice!DC already has one of the most unique styles of architecture in the country, if not the world. I've never seen barrel-style roofing like you do in Southwest anywhere else.
Yes, those hauntingly beautiful 1960s designs. Like the FBI building?
Heck, tiger attacks! In DC we have a MUCH worse problem: cougar attacks! I barely escaped Rumors with all my limbs!
The cougar problem at Tumors is nothing compared to the one at The Prime Rib. Hot fifty-ish trophy wives of eighty-ish lawyer/doctor types. They're looking for the kind of meat and jus that isn't on the menu.