DAC

The District Architecture Center is the newly-opened home of the DC chapter of the AIA. Winners of a design contest for the space Hickok Cole Architects have put together a wonderfully flexible environment, perfect for sharing architecture with the community. According to its mission statement, "the District Architecture Center is a place for both the public and the professional to celebrate architecture" (quoted from http://aiadac.com/about/mission-0). Perhaps most compelling in the walking district of Penn Quarter is the DAC's inviting floor-to-ceiling first floor windows, which allow visual connection from inside to the street, so that passersby can take a peak at what's going on within.

Perhaps one of the greatest failings of the National Building Museum (http://www.yelp.com/biz/national-building-museum-washington) is that it gives visitors a misrepresentation of the current state of architecture. Historic though it may be, it's not a particularly compelling or engaging building, with columns so grandiose and overblown that one feels obliged to whisper so as not to echo within the enormous central hall. The DAC, by contrast, is built to a refreshingly human scale, and is occupied by, amongst others, the Alliance Française, whose students invigorate the building with their comings and goings, and a certain je ne sais quoi that adds an air of international refinement to an already luxe space.

While the lobby area houses the occasional exhibition, it also serves as a decent post-work event space. And the subterranean classrooms feel anything but, thanks to glass walls, channel glass walkways above, and the double-height space that connects the basement to the first floor. Thus the two floors seem almost continuous, which I have to believe was the architects' design - I have to believe it because according to Michael Woods' blog on the Association of Architectural Organizations page, the DAC's concept "evolved from a conviction that the project should express light, transparency and a connection with the city. The team [at Hickok Cole] created a two-story space to provide a sense of unity and interconnectedness between both floors of the space" (quoted from http://174.143.144.209/blogs/michael-wood?page=4). The building is a success in that regard - the openness from first floor to below seems to open the lobby into one larger space. I would venture to guess that, though in its infancy, the DAC will also succeed in bringing more of a public awareness to architecture in the District through its highly transparent façade along one of the more pedestrian-oriented streets in the city.

posted to Yelp! on 12.15.2011