One of the nice things about being an architect is that the world is your ongoing precedent research.  Tell people — including security guards — that you’re an architect, and you may be granted special access to spaces not regularly opened to the average citizen (or perhaps even forgiven a slight trespass?).

Although the forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms, architects, landscape architects, and our fellow citizens at large are all invited into the backyards of a selection of (usually fairly upmarket) private residences in the DC area this Saturday as part of the Garden Conservancy’s Garden Open Day program.

There is a modest entry fee for each garden.  We’ve gone several times over the last five years or so … Continue reading

I loathe the term starchitect. All too frequently it’s employed to broadly dismiss any form of new architecture by painting architects (not just the good ones) as a ego-driven prima donnas. So you can imagine my dismay when Frank Gehry, the starchitect’s starchitect, opened his mouth and gave critics plenty of fodder by declaring that sustainability and the LEED rating system were “bogus” and “political.”

On the one hand he has a point. LEED is fraught with shortcomings. The fact that it gives equal weight to bicycle storage, which encourages environmentally responsible behavior, and heat island reduction, which actually provides an environmental benefit, is nutty. LEED-rated buildings in transit-inaccessible locations are generally less environmentally friendly than typical construction in … Continue reading