Washington, D.C.

In 1791, French-born architect Pierre L’Enfant was commissioned by Georges Washington to imagine and design the layout of the US capital city. The plans developed by L’Enfant transformed Washington D.C. into a modern city with broad avenues and monumental public buildings. Washington is different from other American cities because it was primarily designed to symbolize and encapsulate the ideals of American democracy through its built environment. As the city evolved, it was confronted to common modern urban issues such as population growth, housing, and crime. Today Washington is at the start of a new chapter in which it is trying to reconcile two profiles: one as the national symbol and capital city, the other as a modern 21st century city that hopes to fulfill the needs of its residents.

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Washington D.C. is the city of monuments and memorials. Sculptures, buildings, walls, fountains and countless other objects and spaces are scattered around the city as reminders of past events, historic figures or fallen soldiers. The design style and aesthetics of those monuments, that stretch from baroque to post-modernism, left us wondering about the obscure field of monument design.

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Washington is the seat of government but also a city with best practice models for sustainability and preservation. One example is the Metrorail, a local landmark and a masterpiece of brutalist architecture that ranks as one of the best public works of the 20th century. It was designed in the late sixties by Chicago architect Harry Weese who studied at MIT under Alvaar Aalto. and was later influenced by his contemporaries Charles and Ray Eames. To innovate its existing transit system, the city recently introduced a new generation of bike stations that can house 130 bicycles in its 1600 sq. ft. of free standing glass and steel design.

National Museum of the American Indians

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The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum complex that includes 19 museums, 17 of which are located in Washington D.C. One can look at it as a cluster of varied architectural buildings or a giant display of over 136 million objects, artworks and specimens. Visitors have free access and usually make the effort to walk the long distances from one building to another – the Smithsonian website clearly advises people to wear comfortable shoes before a visit.

Due to our limited schedule, we narrowed our visit to the National Museum of the American Indian (pictured above). We were initially attracted to its controversial postmodern design which was previously referred to as “native by design” by the National Geographic magazine. The building was designed by several Native American architects – Douglas Cardinal, a Blackfeet Indian; Johnpaul Jones, a Cherokee/Choctaw; Ramona Sakiestewa, a Hopi, Donna House, a Navajo/Oneida, and Lou Weller, a Caddo Indian – and its construction was assisted by a Native American Design Collaborative known as the Table Mountain Rancheria Enterprises.

The museum has an exterior cladding of Kasota dolomitic limestone that give the building the appearance of a stratified stone mass that has been carved by wind and water. The interior is unfortunately more conventional and consists of dark gallery spaces generously filled with over a million artefacts.

A temporary exhibition called Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America caught our attention. By looking beyond the traditional representations of Native American culture, this show reflects indigenous culture in a 21st century context. We learned that skateboarding has inspired many Native American youths to start their own companies and build community-based skate parks in the United States. By fusing design, graphic art, filmmaking, and music through skateboard culture, those individuals are affirming their identity within contemporary American society, perhaps to also show that their heritage is vibrant and alive.

National Building Museum, Washington D.C.

The National Building Museum was a surprising find in DC. The building is an adapted re-use of the former US Pension Bureau Headquarters, a building inspired by two Italian models. The exterior is a red brick semi-replica of the Michelangelo-designed Palazzo Farnese, an imposing palace located in Rome. The interior, on the other hand, boasts an open arcade gallery space inspired by the Palazzo della Cancelleria, a renaissance style palace of the sixteenth century.

This museum is a place where architecture and the built environment are put into perspective rather than simply put on show. Their past exhibitions include topics such as recycling, green houses, the places where we live, New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, or design for public spaces. Our first viewing was the Washington: Symbol and City exhibition, a very dense collection of images and texts documenting the architectural and social history of the capital from its conception to the twentieth century. This exhibition raises questions about the effects of urban planning on social well-being and highlights the capacity of design to connect all aspects of everyday life including transportation, housing, commerce, energy, and institutions. In a separate modern gallery space was shown Green Community, an interactive and playful display of sustainable best practices from around the globe. Waste management, land conservation, technologies, mass transit systems were amongst the priority issues at stake. Their award-winning interactive installations successfully engage the viewer to consider sustainability on a personal, global and community level.