WASHINGTON, DC

Aspiratations
I haven't received a post card in years. Directly attributable to faster, cheaper ways

of going places and staying in touch, I presume. Interestingly, the waning

opportunity to send them, hasn't reduced the seemingly unending opportunities to

create them. The same ingenuity that makes communications faster and cheaper

has provided just about everybody with the ability to capture technically competent

digital images. Around Washington, the District of Columbia, the outcome,

inevitably, is lots of images that look a lot like the ones the mailman would bring.

I am not sure that I would travel to the District to take pictures, but since I have

lived here for all of the years that I have pursued photography I have wound up

with plenty. Some are good and for sure many are bad, really bad. Both

categories contain their share of what only can be called, pejoratively, postcards.

This book contains thirty-five or so images picked, because at least aspirationally,

the composition, the time of day or the weather conditions makes them seem like

something other than postcards.

1
2 Plate 1. Franklin Delano Roosvelt Memorial - Heading the Breadline
THE FDR MEMORIAL
Off the beaten track, seemingly only visited by hordes of high schools kids brought

on buses with drivers made knowledgeable by annual repetitions. Hemmed in by

ball fields and the wrong side of the tidal basin it ranks at the bottom of the

presidential location plie with Grant, Taft and Garfield. ....

 THE BREADLINE
George Segal
As an art student during the late 1940's, Segal was
trained by leading abstractionists of the day. He first
came to public attention during the late 1960's with his
life-sized figures set among ordinary objects. Today,
with a renowned and celebrated body of work, he has
become better known for his bronzes that are sought
for major museums, collections, and public spaces.
His work is best known for subject matter that depicts
and memorializes the common man and everyday
occurrences. His method of sculpting provides him
with pliant, hollow forms that serve as the basic
structure for his compositions.
Mr. Segal's work then seeks to illuminate philosophical
and/or psychological truths about these naturalistic
figures, their actions, and their times. Through simple,
subtle gestures, and specific environments, he is able to
communicate multiple levels of meaning.
Considered to be among the finest and most innovative
of his generation, George Segal's work has received
numerous accolades. Mr. Segal has had retrospective
exhibitions mounted in major museums throughout the
world and is the subject of a PBS documentary and
4
several books.
He designed the letters and placement and carved the
inscriptions that appear throughout the Memorial in
both the outdoor gallery rooms and the passageways
linking them.
With more than thirty years experience and devotion
to the exacting craft of stone carving, John Benson is
widely recognized as America's leading designer and
carver of monumental lettering in stone. Since 1961,
he has worked at the John Stevens Shop in Newport,
Rhode Island, and assumed its ownership in 1973.
Founded in 1705, the John Stevens Shop is one of the
oldest continuously operating business establishments in
the United States. For nearly 300 years, it has
maintained an unbroken standard of excellence in the
carving of stone inscription.
Under Mr. Benson, the shop has executed numerous
prestigious commissions throughout the country,
including the inscriptions on the National Gallery of
Art in Washington, D.C., and the Armand Hammer
Museum in Los Angeles. In 1981, Mr. Benson
participated in the design of the inscriptions for Maya
Plate 3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial - The Breadline

5
6 Plate 4. National Arboretum
COLUMNS
Washington is a city dominated by columns in its public spaces. As the axial load

on a perfectly straight slender column with elastic material properties is increased

in magnitude, this ideal column passes through three states: stable equilibrium,

neutral equilibrium, and instability. The straight column under load is in stable

equilibrium if a lateral force, applied between the two ends of the column, produces

a small lateral deflection which disappears and the column returns to its straight

form when the lateral force is removed. If the column load is gradually increased, a

condition is reached in which the straight form of equilibrium becomes so-called

neutral equilibrium, and a small lateral force will produce a deflection that does not

disappear and the column remains in this slightly bent form when the lateral force

is removed. The load at which neutral equilibrium of a column is reached is called

the critical or buckling load. The state of instability is reached when a slight

increase of the column load causes uncontrollably growing lateral deflections

leading to complete collapse.

7
8 Plate 5. United States Supreme Court
Plate 6. Washington National Cathredral 9
 THE TIDAL BASIN
Reflection and Recreation

he Tidal Basin is a partially man-made inlet adjacent of water running from the Tidal Basin through the
to the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It is part channel. The gates are maintained as navigable by the
of West Potomac Park and is surrounded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who has recently
Jefferson Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt completed a project to restore the functioning of the
Memorial. The basin covers an area of about 107 gates.
acres and is 10 feet deep. The concept of the Tidal
Basin originated in the 1880’s to serve both as a visual The Tidal Basin is lined by approximately 3,750
centerpiece and as a means for flushing the Japanese cherry trees. About 125 of those trees are
Washington Channel, a harbor separated from the "originals" from a 1912 gift of 3,000 trees from
Potomac River by fill lands where East Potomac Park Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki. The trees blossom in
is situated. early spring and the event is marked by the National
The basin is designed to release 250 million gallons of Cherry Blossom Festival.
water captured at high tide twice a day. The inlet
gates, located on the Potomac side of the basin, allow
water to enter the basin during high tide. During this
time, the outlet gates, on the Washington Channel side,
close to store incoming water and block the flow of
water and sediment into the channel. As the tide begins
to ebb, the general outflow of water from the basin
forces the inlet gates to close. This same force is
applied to the outlet gates, which open into the
channel. Silt build up is swept away by the extra force

10
Plate 7. Jefferson Memorial 11
12 Plate 8. Jefferson Memorial.
Plate 10. Jefferson Memorial Plate 9. Washington Monument 13
 THE MALL
Officially established in 1965, National Mall &
Memorial Parks contains some of the oldest protected
park lands in the National Park Service. The areas
within National Mall & Memorial Parks provides
visitors with ample opportunities to commemorate
presidential legacies; honor the courage and sacrifice of
war veterans; celebrate the United States commitment
to freedom and equality.
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14
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Plate 11. Washington Monument 15
16 Plate 12. Washington Monument
Plate 13. Washington Monument 17
18
Plate 14. National Museum of the American Indian 19
 Memorials on the Potomac
Arlington Memorial Bridge and its related architectural, engineering, sculptural

and landscape features are significant as important elements in the neoclassical

urban design of the National Capital as it evolved during the first third of the 20th

century. Successfully integrated with Washington's grand plan, the bridge

composition enhances the monumental city as well as the riverscape. The low, neo-

classical bridge is 2,163 feet long ant 90 feet between balustrades, carrying a 60-

foot-wide roadway and 15-foot sidewalks. Nine broad arches cross the river;

roadways pass through additional segmental-arched openings at either end. Except

for the central bascule draw span, the bridge is of reinforced concrete construction

faced with dressed North Carolina granite ashlar. The draw span is of the double

leaf, underneath counterweight type and is faced with pressed ornamental

molybdenum steel to blend with the masonry spans. Once one of the longest (216

ft.), heaviest (3000 tons), and fastest (one minute) such draw spans in the world it is

now sealed and inoperative.

20
Plate 15. Arlington Memorial Bridge 21
22 Plate 16. Lincoln Memorial
Plate 17. U. S. Marine Corps War Memorial 23
 SNOW IN THE DISTRICT
A rare occcurance
Washington has a temperate climate typical of the
Mid-Atlantic U.S., with four distinct seasons. Summer
tends to be very hot and humid Spring and fall are
mild. Winter can bring cold temperatures, frozen
precipitation and, on occasions, major snowstorms.
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Ernesto Escondido
Plate 18. Constitution Gardens 25
26 Plate 19. Peace Memorial
Plate 20. U.S.D.A. Forest Service Museum 27
 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
Embassy Row is the informal name for a street or area of a city where embassies

or other diplomatic installations are concentrated. Perhaps the best-known of these

is in Washington, D.C., capital of the United States. Washington's Embassy Row

lies along Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., and its cross streets between Thomas

Circle and Ward Circle, although the vast majority of embassies are found between

Scott Circle and Wisconsin Avenue. Considered Washington's premier residential

address in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Massachusetts Avenue became

known for its numerous mansions housing the city's social and political elites. The

segment between Scott Circle and Sheridan Circle gained the nickname

"Millionaires' Row." The first embassy on Millionaires' Row, and still one of the

most prominent, was the British Embassy, directly adjacent to the United States

Naval Observatory. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to combine the offices

and the residence of the ambassador, resembling an English country house in the

Queen Anne style of architecture.

28
Plate 21. Embassy of South Africa Plate 22. Embassy and Chancery of Norway 29
30 Plate 23. Embassy of Finland
Embassy of Finland
Nanny Still Exhibition

More than a diplomatic outpost, the Finnish embassy Nanny Still (1926-), also known by her married name, Still-
is a cultural symbol of a people and their lifestyle. It McKinney, is one of the important modern Finnish designers of
leverages the power of architecture to convey a glass and ceramics. The body of work she created, mainly during
message in a way that spoke and written words can't. the 1950s and 1960s, serves as a reflection of the period's style
But more important than what it's done for Finland is as well as being a harbinger of the coming innovations in structure,
what it's done for the diplomatic world. At first, the color and functionality. She worked with lighting--designing for
construction of the embassy was seen as an Raak-- porcelain, flatware and jewelry, but is best known for her
extravagance to people with a lack of vision. Why glassware and for her woodcarving. The trademarks of her work
bother building such a showcase for a government in both decorative and functional glass, were her experiments with
office? The answer comes in something that large extremes of color and her practice of revisiting traditional processes
corporations have known for years – prestige and to create enduring, elegant pieces.
notoriety. How much free advertising has the Chrysler
corporation gotten over the years from a building it
no longer inhabits? What about the Bank of China?
Or Lloyds of London? The fact is that great
architecture expands an organization's clout, creates
to-of-mind awareness, and enhances credibility without
resorting to brash advertisements. This is exactly what
happened with the Finns. Ernesto Escondido

31
 NON-OFFICIAL WASHINGTON
Suburbs are inhabited districts located either inside a town or city's outer rim or

just outside its official limits (the term varies from country to country), or the outer

elements of a conurbation.

The presence of certain elements (whose definition varies amongst urbanists, but

usually refers to some basic services and to the territorial contiguity) identifies a

suburb as a peripheral populated area with a certain autonomy, where the density

of habitation is usually lower than in an inner city area, though state or municipal

house building will often cause departures from that organic gradation. Suburbs

have typically grown in areas with an abundance of flat land near a large urban

zone, usually with minimal traditions of citizens clustering together for defence

behind fortified city walls, and with transport systems that allow commuting into

more densely populated areas with higher levels of commerce.S

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32
Plate 24. Union Station 33
34 Plate 25. Saint Albans Church Plate 26. Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown
Plate 27. Plate 28. North Capitol Street 35
 Gardens of Washington
Dumbarton Oaks - There are about ten acres (four hectares) of gardens on the

grounds of Dumbarton Oaks, designed from 1922-1947 by the noted landscape

architect Beatrix Farrand in collaboration with Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss. The

gardens comprise a series of terraces built on a hill behind the house, with the

remaining areas laid out informally. They include the Star Garden, Green Garden,

Beech Terrace, Urn Terrace, formal Rose Garden, Arbor Terrace, Fountain

Terrace, Lover's Lane Pool, and Pebble Terrace, as well as a Camellia Circle,

Prunus Walk, Cherry Hill, Crabapple Hill, Forsythia Hill, and Fairview Hill.

Glover-Archbold Public Garden - Another place neighbors mingle is the

community garden site in Glover Archbold Park, at 42nd Street and Tunlaw Road.

Run by the National Park Service, the plots are one of the few "victory garden"

sites in continuous use since World War II.

36
Plate 30. Glover-Archbold Public Gardens 37
38 Plate 31. Dumbarton Oaks
Plate 32. Dumbarton Oaks 39
40 Plate 33. Gardens at the Colonade
Plate 34. Glover-Archbold Public Gardens 41