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PASSEGGIATA A FOGGY BOTTOM E GEORGETOWN WATERFRONTS
A CURA E CON GIANNI BRIZZI
22 aprile 2023 ore 10:00 am
in compagnia dei nostri mariti/partners
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.
Heurich Brewing Company
Heurich Brewing Company
Washington Gas Light Corporation
Washington Gas Light Corporation
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.
GEORGETOWN WATERFRONT
The Georgetown Waterfront extends from M Street to the Potomac River and is bound by the Rock Creek Park and Key Bridge. Its development in the present form started in the 1960’ on land previously occupied by dismissed port facilities, construction materials depots, warehouses and light industrial manufacturing plants, including an incinerator. The area is characterized by the presence of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which runs parallel to the Potomac River and was part of its port facilities, and the Whitehurst Freeway, a controversial elevated bypass highway dating back to 1940’. The canal and some of its adjacent sites are registered national historic landmarks. The highway has been frequently targeted for demolition but, at least until now, with unsuccessful results.
Based on successive plans sensitive to the conservation of the uniqueness of its urban environment, large private developers and individual real estate investors revitalized the area by building new structures as well as adaptively re-using existing buildings of historical or architectural value. The most significant interventions include Washington Harbor, Jefferson Courts, the Foundry, Canal Square, Ritz Carlton Hotel and Residencies, the Waterfront Center, Papermill Condos and Court, the Flour Mill condos, the Water Street Condominiums, Cady’s Alley & Georgetown Design District, Georgetown Park, the House of Sweden, and the Harborside Building.
A large stretch of the southern part of the Georgetown Waterfront is parkland. The Waterfront Park is a late addition to the redevelopment of the area. In fact, it was completed and opened to the public only in 2011. The National Park Service which now owns and manages the property contributed to its establishment, thus linking 225 miles of parkland along the Potomac River stretching from Cumberland, Maryland, to Mount Vernon, Virginia. The Waterfront Park includes various design elements such as a labyrinth, a fountain, a pergola, river steps and a bio-edge on the Potomac River, and, finally, rain and pollinator gardens. Visitors to the park can benefit not only of its greenery but also of exercise facilities. Moreover, they can enjoy impressive views of Rosslyn and its skyscrapers on the other side of the river.
Georgetown Waterfront in 1909
Georgetown Waterfront in 1909
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.
THE HOUSE OF SWEDEN, 2900 K STREET
The building houses the Embassy of Sweden. It comprises office space as well as a conference center with exhibition space and an auditorium. The façade of the building is made by glass panels whose surface is interspersed with a framework of wood. This gives the building a feeling of openness and transparency and conveys the image of Sweden as a country blessed by abundance of natural materials such as wood. Wingardh Architects designed the building whose construction was completed in 2006.
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.
JEFFERSON COURTS
Completed in 1984, the complex of Jefferson Courts constitutes a large real estate operation totaling 317,248 SF of office space and an underground parking for 298 cars. Its architectural style is eclectic with the two internal courtyards adorned by decorative elements and fountains inspired to classical Andalusian/Moroccan gardens.
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 SQUARE
Canal Square is a pioneering example of intervention in a valuable historic urban context through the integrated development of new buildings and the adaptive re-use of pre-existing structures. The intervention served as a model for similar operations in other American worn-out industrial areas. The project is best understood from its interior plaza where the skillful matching between new and old is most evident. Such matching includes the aesthetics of and the choice of construction materials for the new buildings as well as the use destination of the pre-existing structures. An interesting note is that the latter were home to Dr. Herman Holerith tabulating company. In 1924, the company and several competing businesses were incorporated as International Business Machines (IBM). So, the origins of IBM are in Georgetown. The Canal Square development is a tribute to architect Arthur Cotton Moore who saved the warehouse from demolition and designed and developed the entire block. The construction of the Canal Square development was completed in 1969. In 1977, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) selected the development for a Honor Award.
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.
RITZ CARLTON GEORGETOWN
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residencies complex comprises an 86-room 5-stars luxury hotel, a 29-unit de-lux condominium and a 600-space parking garage. Built on the site of a dismissed incinerator, the project makes treasure of the archeological industrial appeal of its structure and integrates it with its 140 feet (43 m.) smokestack into the new hotel building. Handel Architects designed the entire complex. Its construction was completed in 2003. In 2016, the hotel building underwent substantial renovation and upgrading.
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.
PAPERMILL DEVELOPMENT
The Paper Mill development comprises a mid-rise condo building of 26 units and 101 townhomes. The townhomes complex slopes towards the Potomac River. The townhomes themselves are arranged along a maze of pedestrian paths greened by trees, shrubs, and floor pots. The development has underground parking facilities which extend under the condo building, the pedestrian paths, and the townhomes. The development was completed in 1978.
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.
THE FLOUR MILL CONDOS
The Flour Mill Condos is a 7-storey building with 59 residential units. It occupies the location of a former mill facing the C & O Canal. Its front is marked by the presence of triangular balconies at the main level of its duplex apartments. The building’s construction was completed in 1985.
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.
CADY'S ALLEY & GEORGETOWN DESIGN DISTRICT
Cady’s Alley is a delicate urban rehabilitation project organized along a 19th Century alley isolated from vehicular traffic. The initiative aimed at adaptively re-using existing buildings without losing their original physical appearance and setting. Cady’s Alley now anchors the Georgetown Design District which consists of more than 20 home furnishing showrooms as well as fashion and specialty boutiques. The project was completed in 2002. Martinez and Johnson Architecture is the firm responsible for its conception and design. In 2005, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) honored the project with a prestigious Award for Urban Design.
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.
GEORGETOWN PARK
Georgetown Park is an extensive mixed-use shopping mall and condominium complex in the heart of the Waterfront area. It includes an underground parking garage of over 300 spaces. By design the complex incorporates a tobacco warehouse predating 1835 which opened directly onto the C & O Canal. Its frontage on M Street preserved the facades of historical townhouses. The Shops at Georgetown Park represent the retail component of the development. It consists of two cavernous three-level interconnected galleries covered by glass domes. The physical aspect and decoration of the galleries with their patterned tile floor, cast-iron railing, Victorian light fixtures, and marble fountain are reminiscent of 19th Century art deco facilities. The architects of the complex are Alan Lockman & Associates, Clark, Harris, Tribble & Li Associates, Roger Sherman & Associates, and Wah Yee & Associates. Its first phase opened in 1981. In 2014 the complex underwent a comprehensive renovation. Now is closed and looking for a new owner.
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