ABOUT
Architecture is an activity, not just a thing. And architecture, the activity, is especially complex in Washington, DC and the surrounding region.
In spite of the tone of the political swirl within which we live, Washington is a fairly high tech and environmentally active place. We have a very complex zoning code which in addition to addressing density and light and air, also incorporates aspects of environmental mitigation and pushes at the affordable housing problem. We have a Green code which resembles the LEED process in many ways. Stormwater Management is also a serious issue, as the city's piping system is well over a hundred years old, and the sewage system is no longer able to handle all that is thrown at it.
I haven't even mentioned the building code, yet, which is evolving rapidly in an effort to keep up with new technologies and materials. The fast changing use of wood in structurally innovative ways is a good example. And since the systems that are used to heat and cool our homes and workplaces are imposing new stresses on our building envelopes, Washington, DC is moving quickly toward a Net-Zero future!
You could say, and I fairly often do, that due to the codes a building might almost design itself. It requires an owners' Program to break the log jam. It is your Program that makes any project even possible.
Program is the variable that introduces the most variation. Thus, as you go about your daily travels, you will see plenty of innovation, imagination, style, ie design. The challenge and the joy of architecture, just as the proportions, colors, materials and sculpture of the finished product are the reward, is the process of getting there. So keep your eyes open. Architecture, the thing, is an activity to be thought about as well as utilized.
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Washington, DC 20016