Category Archives: Washington, DC

This police station at 2301 L Street NW seems closed and largely abandoned, although it’s still listed as an active site on the DC Police website. The tilework around the windows is cracking and the mid-century metal lettering on the … Continue reading →

The Woman’s National Democratic Club sits prominently at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and Q Streets NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The building, seen at bottom is a  restrained Victorian-era mansion designed by Harvey L. Page, an architect … Continue reading →

2100 L Street NW is a classic mid-century office building. Its black glass nicely reflects the nearby structures and its mid-rise scale does not overwhelm. However, this part of DC has experienced an ongoing building boom in this area and … Continue reading →

The West End Branch of the District of Columbia Public Library was built in 1966-67 and designed by Albert O. Goenner Associates, a local architect who also designed the Palisades Branch Library. The West End Branch website has a very extensive … Continue reading →

First Trinity Lutheran Church is located at the corner of 4th and E Streets NW in the Judiciary Square area of Washington DC. The church dates from 1959 when the church demolished its previous building and consolidated its work downtown. … Continue reading →

This blog focuses to a large degree on commercial and civic architecture. But an examination of the architecture of the Southwest DC renewal area would be incomplete without touching on some of the innovative residential complexes that were created as … Continue reading →

This church sits directly across from Westminster Presbyterian Church and is dramatically different from its simple, contemporary neighbor. Christ United, with its v-shaped roofline and mix of masonry, glass and brick seems very much of its era. It was completed … Continue reading →

Pictured here is St. Augustine Episcopal Church in Southwest Washington, D.C. the swooping building was designed by Baltimore-based architect Alexander Smith Cochran, a modernist who trained under Walter Gropius and whose work can still be seen around the region. The … Continue reading →

Here is another church from the era of urban renewal in Southwest D.C. The congregation was located elsewhere in Southwest but relocated here in 1964-65, following the large-scale demolition of the area. The church at the corner of Fourth and … Continue reading →

This Brutalist-style complex was constructed in 1964-65 for the Hawthorne School, a private educational establishment. Architect Charles Goodman designed it around an existing building, formerly housing the Metropolitan Boys Club. Goodman is well-known for his work in DC and surrounding … Continue reading →