FOGGY BOTTOM WATERFRONT 

The area of Foggy Bottom is the site of one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the District of Columbia. In 1763, Jacob Funk, a German immigrant, subdivided 130 acres of land. Other Germans settlers followed suite and in 1765 established the town of Hamburg. Any trace of this original town disappeared after the creation of the District of Columbia. While the northern part of Foggy Bottom, which sits afield from the shores of the Potomac River, developed into a residential and an institutional area, its riverfront was used for industrial purposes. Until the beginning of the 1960’, the Washington Gas Light Corporation operated a plant on the area presently occupied by the Watergate Complex, and the Heurich Brewing Company set on the area presently occupied by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 

WATERGATE COMPLEX

The complex includes residential units, office space, hotel rooms, commercial and service facilities. It was developed between 1963 and 1971 after the Washington Gas Light Company ended its operations in the area. The development of the complex was sponsored by Società Generale Immobiliare (SGI), a real estate firm owned by the Vatican State. SGI recruited famed Italian architect Luigi Moretti to design the complex. The architectural lexicon is reminiscent of a modern interpretation of baroque architecture. Its creativity, richness and expressive intensity defy aging. The architectural style was consonant with the original curvilinear design of the Kennedy Center which was planned next to the Watergate Complex along the Potomac River. However, the envisaged curvilinear structure of the building was subsequently modified into an antithetic boxy volume inspired to a modernistic classical lexicon. Now the two famed developments sit next to each other in strident contrast yet interesting and provocative combination. 

KENNEDY CENTER PERFORMING ARTS

Though Eleanor Roosevelt had already contemplated the creation of a national cultural center, the actual roots of the Kennedy Center date back to 1958, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed bipartisan legislation creating a National Cultural Center. The National Cultural Center 

Act included four basic components: it authorized the Center's construction, spelled out an artistic mandate to present a wide variety of both classical and contemporary performances, specified an educational mission for the Center, and stated that the Center was to be an independent facility, self-sustaining, and privately funded. These same principles still guide the Center’s work today. Two months after the assassination of President Kennedy in November 1963, Congress passed legislation renaming the National Cultural Center into Kennedy Center, as a “living memorial” to the deceased statesman. The design of the present structure is the work of architect Edward Durrell Stone. The construction and equipping of the center were completed in 1971, and the center opened to the public in September of the same year. Within its massive frame, the center has three main theaters (Eisenhower, Opera House, Concert Hall) and 5 other minor performance venues (Family Theater, Terrace Theater, Theater Lab, Millennium Lab, and Terrace Lab). These facilities are served by two impressive entrance halls (Hall of Nations and Hall of States) and an encompassing foyer. Two interesting notes: 1) the marble of the Kennedy Center was donated by the Italian Government and consists of 1,250 square feet of 16-inch-thick Bianco Carrara C tiles; and 2) the soundproofing of the theaters has been achieved by enclosing them as isolated structures in the Kennedy Center’s general structure, which acts as a protective containing box, and by using special soundproof glasses and insulation materials, which isolate the entire box from its external environment. 

THE REACH AT THE KENNEDY CENTER 

The REACH is the Kennedy Center’s first expansion since its opening in 1971. It adds to the original Center a state-of-the-art cultural campus and arts incubator, a place where visitors, audiences, and artists come together for collaboration, experimentation, and exploration. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the REACH complex opened in September 2019. It consists of three interconnected pavilions (Welcome, Skylight and River) partly buried under a carefully designed garden graced by ponds and sculptures. Defined by curving white titanium concrete walls, the three signature pavilions emerge from the garden as sculpted masses themselves, characterize the local landscape, and create an ingenious visual transition towards the Edward Durrell Stone-designed Kennedy Center, the nearby Potomac River and the distant silhouettes of the city. The REACH complex totals 72,000 square-foot and houses classrooms, 10 interior stages, performance and rehearsal space, a multi-purpose room, and a 5,500-square foot events pavilion for lectures and symposia associated with the performing arts. 

WASHINGTON HARBOR

Washington Harbor is a large mixed-use development which includes restaurants, retail space, offices, residential units, and vast underground parking facilities. It faces the Potomac River with a boardwalk which also works as a berthing facility. The complex consists of two curved waterfront buildings which encompass a round square with a large central pond and fountain. The norther part of the complex includes three other building separated by internal alleys. Architect Arthur Cotton Moore designed the complex. Its looks are influenced by post-modernist architectural lexicon, a lexicon that Moore adopted in his late professional career. The construction of the complex begun in 1981 and was completed in 1986. 

HARBOURSIDE BUILDING

The five-story building comprise 129,269 SF of office space. Its impressive design is due to architect Arthur Cotton Moore. Its architectural style presents a curious combination of modernist and post-modernists elements. The construction of the building was completed in 2006. 

THE FOUNDRY

The complex consists of a new office building of 226,172 SF and an adjacent preexisting warehouse rehabilitated to host commercial facilities and office space. The design of the complex is in modern international style inspired to the rationalist movement. It is due to architect Arthur Cotton Moore and represents his second intervention in the Georgetown Waterfront area after Canal Square. The construction of the building was completed in 1975. 

CANAL BUILDING

Canal Building was constructed in 1963 and was the first major new building that contributed to the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Georgetown Waterfront area under the strict supervision of the District of Columbia Zoning Commission and the United States Commission of Fine Arts. After several revision prompted by the later Commission, architect Vladimir Koubek designed the 5-storey building in modern Federalist-style. Originally destined to office functions, in 2008 the structure was renovated and transformed into a luxury hotel. 

WATERFRONT CENTER

Waterfront Center is an office building completed in 1986. Thus, it represents one of the early waterfront’s redevelopment operations. The building is noticeable for its slanted frontage, modernist design and internal open-air atrium that covers the entire length and height of the structure. 

CANAL HOUSE

Canal House is a retail store and condo building obtained from the renovation and adaptive re-use of a warehouse originally built in 1878 to store the feed and horses of the Georgetown Railroad Company. The warehouse was renovated in 1980. Many of 35 condo units offer custom finishes such as vaulted ceilings, fireplaces, exposed brick and office nooks and walk-in closets. 

WATERSTREET CONDOMINIUMS

Completed in 2004 after the demolition of a standing warehouse, the building represents one of the latest renovations of the waterfront’s original urban fabric. The 7-storey structure was designed by architect Richard Williams. Its architectural lexicon is reminiscent of the industrial buildings that occupied the area. 

GEORGETOWN MARKET

Built in 1865, the Georgetown Market is a living testament of Georgetown’s long history of commercial activity. The Georgetown Corporation operated the market until Georgetown was incorporated into the District of Columbia in 1871. In 1935, when the District Commissioners wanted to get out of the market business, the building was leased to private firms which made multiple different uses of it. In the mid 1990’, Dean and Deluca, a gourmet food and gift store, continued the Georgetown Market’s original plan for the place until their closure in 2019. The building is listed in the registry of historic landmarks.