Archinect - News

Congress' search for the new Architect of the Capitol continues

2023-06-09T12:30:00-04:00

A nationwide hunt is underway for a new architect of the Capitol, the federal official in charge of the operations and maintenance of the Capitol complex — the heart of American democracy and in more recent years, dysfunction. A special congressional commission is searching for potential candidates on university campuses and museum boards, and in the military, major transit systems and even theme parks.

Congress has retained Reffett Associates to aid in its candidate search for the low six-figure position, which sufficed to say, they see as a “unicorn.” The firm has apparently selected more than twenty candidates thus far, with further help from the AIA. Whoever is hired will oversee 18.4 million square feet of facilities (in addition to a yet-remade Union Station) and more than 2,000 employees.

2023 AIA President Emily Grandstaff-Rice says: “This job requires the skills of an architect, especially in terms of space planning. [But] because you have great access to many decision makers within the government, it’s a people-facing position as well.”

Thomas J. Caroll, who served in an acting role before Brett Blanton's tenure, told the New York Times, “Getting away was a great break.”

AIA gets involved in the search for the next Architect of the Capitol

2023-05-24T17:16:00-04:00

With disgraced former Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton now facing punishment for his misuse of office, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced their involvement in the Congressional search process to find a new permanent head for the over 2,000-person office.

The Institute says it has representatives working with both Congress and the executive search firm that was hired to aid in the search for the new AOC position, which is currently held on an interim basis by Chere Rexroat.

Blanton was fired by President Biden in mid-February after a three-month investigation into his alleged wrongdoings, which reportedly entailed the use of government-owned vehicles and an incident where he deliberately misrepresented himself as a law enforcement official, among a choice of actions labeled as “fraud, waste, and abuse against not only the AOC but also the taxpayer” by the federal Inspector General.

Other key staffers were let go last month as a product of their involve...

KieranTimberlake completes three-year Folger Shakespeare Library revamp

2023-04-26T16:40:00-04:00

Washington, D.C.’s Folger Shakespeare Library has set an opening date following a three-year $80 million renovation led by KieranTimberlake.

November 17th will mark the public reopening of the collecting institution, which was founded in 1932 by Standard Oil executive Henry Clay Folger. The project seeks to revamp the library’s aging Capitol Hill facilities while constructing a new, 12,000-square-foot underground wing that will supplement the overhauled original Paul Cret design with two large exhibition spaces, a learning lab, and a new gift store.

Image courtesy Studio Joseph

Landscaping design by OLIN will complete the program with a set of surrounding gardens to the site’s east and west orientations. Native plants and vegetation inspired by the bard’s long oeuvre welcome visitors into the revamped existing space, which now features the learning lab, a set of new study rooms, and exhibition designs by Studio Joseph and Studio A.

Image courtesy Studio Joseph

Retained bas-reliefs hav...

SHED's “Ghost Cabin” honors a historic Seattle site with a playful mystery

2018-10-17T14:15:00-04:00

SHED Architecture & Design's Ghost Cabin isn't exactly a haunted house like its name suggests. The new courtyard art installation pays tribute to a site dubbed “Grandma's House” in the Chophouse Row development in Seattle's Capitol Hill. While building the Chophouse Row in 2013, contractors unearthed the mysterious site, which revealed the foundation of a small house that was once part of a late 19th-century pioneer settlement. The contractors then nicknamed the structure “Grandma's House” because whenever the Chophouse Row ran into construction delays, they would joke that “Grandma's ghost” had returned to slow down their progress.

In 2017, Chophouse Row owner and developer Liz Dunn commissioned an art installation for the courtyard above Grandma's House that had to create a sense of community as well as respect the site's history.

Photo: Rafael Soldi.

In response to that, SHED proposed the Ghost Cabin, whose name was inspired by the Grandma's House story. While designing the artw...

Architect Paul Michael Davis shares his favorite pitstops around Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood

2015-11-20T13:30:00-05:00

No two people, let alone architects, perceive even the most frequented cities in the same way. How do designers experience their cities as locals?

The coastal city of Seattle, Washington is not as "sleepy" as some would assume. It's full of gems that the architecturally inclined traveler can appreciate — aside obvious landmarks like the Seattle Central Library, the Experience Music Project, the Olympic Sculpture Park, and of course, the Space Needle, among other tourist hotspots. Not too far away from the central downtown area is Capitol Hill. Never heard of it? No need to be a bespectacled, coffee-guzzling, plaid-sporting millennial to enjoy this part of town. Archinect reached out to locally based architect Paul Michael Davis, who shared some of his favorite spots around this charming neighborhood that non-locals might overlook.

Give Paul Michael Davis' "stops" a try the next time you venture out to Seattle, and you might discover something new about this part of the Pacific Northwe...