When I applied to grad school last year, I sort of rushed through the preparation of my portfolio. The final product was ok, and it did its job, but I was never really happy with it. To that end, I've spent many hours the past few weeks working to update and overhaul the whole thing. I've finally finished. Have a look!
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
February journal
It has been concluded - and I am sure all of the eminent readers of these pages would agree - that February is not really a month. Rather, it is a collection of tiny, rapid moments moving with bewildering velocity toward spring break. The so-called month is already almost over and I've barely been able to remember that it's not still January (the weather certainly isn't helping). In any event, here are a few snippets from weeks recently gone by.
The first of the month was sunny and bright, allowing a bit of fresh air. I hauled out my bike and rode downtown via the Metropolitan Branch Trail. I continued on through the entangling spaghetti of bike paths, sidewalks, and overpasses near the Lincoln Memorial to reach Georgetown. I will remind readers that Georgetown is basically on three levels: the topmost is M Street and everything north, then there is a middle level along the defunct but scenic C&O Canal, and, finally, the riverfront is lowest. I was at the lowest level, riding along the riverfront. After passing underneath the Key Bridge, K Street dead ends at the old Georgetown Yacht Club clubhouse, where the Capital Crescent trail begins. I followed the trail from there on along the Potomac.
It's amazing how much of a transition one experiences riding out of Georgetown. The city, since it is vertically unimpressive, disappears rapidly from the senses. Since the harborfront of Georgetown was situated at the uppermost navigable point of the river, the Potomac becomes much more rocky and swift upstream. Herons and other wildlife were readily visible along the way. The Capital Crescent trail is paved and mostly flat. It parallels the C&O Canal, which also has a multi-use trail alongside of it (all the way to Cumberland, Maryland). However, since both trails terminate on different levels in Georgetown, they only gradually slope toward one another, though they are only separated by a few yards laterally. I stopped at the point where both trails meet for the first time. There is a small historic cottage beside the canal. It was once the home of the lock-keeper, as this is the point where the first set of locks is necessary. On the Potomac side of the trail is a little picnic area and park. I paused for a bit and then turned around and went home. It was a 24 mile round trip when all was said and done.
The following day was the Superbowl and the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (one has to imagine this is one of the very few times they coincide). Alas, the Lord did not present us with a very entertaining football game. A much more interesting occurrence was at mass that morning, when Cardinal Wuerl dedicated the second-to-last major mosaic to be completed in the Basilica of the National Shrine. All that is left to complete in the Upper Church is the central dome, which will depict the Most Holy Trinity and Our Lady. There is no specific timeline now, but they hope to have work complete by the church's centennial celebrations in 2020.
After it's happy beginning, February took a turn for the brutal as far as weather is concerned. Last week we were blanketed with 8-10" of snow across the metropolitan area, which, needless to say, crippled everything. We had snow days Thursday and Friday. These should've been more productive, but, alas, I was roped into watching the highly addictive show House of Cards which prevented me from being too dangerously industrious.
Most of the rest of the month has been thus far preoccupied with organizing an exhibition of student work at the District Architecture Center downtown. The exhibit features the work of myself and seven other groups and individuals who participated in the Sacred Space and Cultural Studies studio last semester with Claudio Silvestrin. Though the semester ended flat for almost everyone (myself included), I am thrilled to be able to have work on public view. Julio, our professor (and my boss, as I am his research assistant), put in a lot of time an effort to make last semester a success, and has done the same to get this exhibition going. The work will be on view until March 25th, so if you're going to be in DC (first of all, let me know!) stop by the gallery.
I just realized that this is the first time I've shown images of this project. I worked in partnership with Eric Hofmann, and our project is a design for a national museum for American immigration to be located on the National Mall. Our proposal is largely subterranean, with the visitor descending through layers of stone symbolizing the strata of historic periods. A large, central courtyard offers a place of meditation and reflection on the American experience.
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| The Key Bridge and frozen Potomac from the Capital Crescent Trail |
The first of the month was sunny and bright, allowing a bit of fresh air. I hauled out my bike and rode downtown via the Metropolitan Branch Trail. I continued on through the entangling spaghetti of bike paths, sidewalks, and overpasses near the Lincoln Memorial to reach Georgetown. I will remind readers that Georgetown is basically on three levels: the topmost is M Street and everything north, then there is a middle level along the defunct but scenic C&O Canal, and, finally, the riverfront is lowest. I was at the lowest level, riding along the riverfront. After passing underneath the Key Bridge, K Street dead ends at the old Georgetown Yacht Club clubhouse, where the Capital Crescent trail begins. I followed the trail from there on along the Potomac.
It's amazing how much of a transition one experiences riding out of Georgetown. The city, since it is vertically unimpressive, disappears rapidly from the senses. Since the harborfront of Georgetown was situated at the uppermost navigable point of the river, the Potomac becomes much more rocky and swift upstream. Herons and other wildlife were readily visible along the way. The Capital Crescent trail is paved and mostly flat. It parallels the C&O Canal, which also has a multi-use trail alongside of it (all the way to Cumberland, Maryland). However, since both trails terminate on different levels in Georgetown, they only gradually slope toward one another, though they are only separated by a few yards laterally. I stopped at the point where both trails meet for the first time. There is a small historic cottage beside the canal. It was once the home of the lock-keeper, as this is the point where the first set of locks is necessary. On the Potomac side of the trail is a little picnic area and park. I paused for a bit and then turned around and went home. It was a 24 mile round trip when all was said and done.
The following day was the Superbowl and the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (one has to imagine this is one of the very few times they coincide). Alas, the Lord did not present us with a very entertaining football game. A much more interesting occurrence was at mass that morning, when Cardinal Wuerl dedicated the second-to-last major mosaic to be completed in the Basilica of the National Shrine. All that is left to complete in the Upper Church is the central dome, which will depict the Most Holy Trinity and Our Lady. There is no specific timeline now, but they hope to have work complete by the church's centennial celebrations in 2020.
 |
| Cardinal Wuerl blessing the mosaic (Photo credit: USCCB) |
After it's happy beginning, February took a turn for the brutal as far as weather is concerned. Last week we were blanketed with 8-10" of snow across the metropolitan area, which, needless to say, crippled everything. We had snow days Thursday and Friday. These should've been more productive, but, alas, I was roped into watching the highly addictive show House of Cards which prevented me from being too dangerously industrious.
 |
| The snow that brought the city to a halt |
Most of the rest of the month has been thus far preoccupied with organizing an exhibition of student work at the District Architecture Center downtown. The exhibit features the work of myself and seven other groups and individuals who participated in the Sacred Space and Cultural Studies studio last semester with Claudio Silvestrin. Though the semester ended flat for almost everyone (myself included), I am thrilled to be able to have work on public view. Julio, our professor (and my boss, as I am his research assistant), put in a lot of time an effort to make last semester a success, and has done the same to get this exhibition going. The work will be on view until March 25th, so if you're going to be in DC (first of all, let me know!) stop by the gallery.
I just realized that this is the first time I've shown images of this project. I worked in partnership with Eric Hofmann, and our project is a design for a national museum for American immigration to be located on the National Mall. Our proposal is largely subterranean, with the visitor descending through layers of stone symbolizing the strata of historic periods. A large, central courtyard offers a place of meditation and reflection on the American experience.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Why isn't the District of Columbia square?
If you've ever looked at a map of Maryland and Virginia and wondered why the otherwise regular boundaries of the District of Columbia only enclose land on the Maryland side of the Potomac, you aren't alone. I, too, found this truncation curious, as the original Residence Act passed in 1790 stipulated a district that was to be ten miles by ten miles square. It turns out, this was originally the case. When the Organic Act of 1801 placed the newly delineated District of Columbia under the exclusive purview of Congress, it included the new federal city of Washington, the existing city of Georgetown, the existing city of Alexandria, and many acres of rural land.
The map above, though from much later, shows how the District's boundaries would've looked in 1801. Since Washington did not undergo a major period of population until after the Civil War, the region was quite rural and sparsely populated for much of the Nineteenth Century. Throughout the Antebellum period, government of the District was split between the three city governments of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria (which were referred to as Georgetown, DC, and Alexandria, DC, at that time), and the two county governments of Washington County on the north side of the Potomac and Alexandria County (later, Arlington County) on the south side of the Potomac.
As the Nineteenth Century sped toward the Civil War, the Virginia side of the District began agitating to be freed of federal domination and return to Virginia. This was partly because Alexandria had lost much of its share of the trading economy to Georgetown, and partly because there were rumors that slavery was to be outlawed in the District. Thus, in 1846, the retrocession of Alexandria and Alexandria County to Virginia was completed. This left the District of Columbia with land only on the Maryland side of the Potomac.
Eventually, due to the rapid growth of the capital after the Civil War, the population growth was such that the city of Washington annexed all of the County of Washington, and eventually took Georgetown too. This process was completed in 1871, when a the District was consolidated into a single local government unit - an arrangement that exists to this day. When Georgetown was absorbed into the consolidated government, all of the streets were renamed to match the existing conventions present throughout the rest of Washington. Thus, though the streets are much older, the main thoroughfares have rather modern names. M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, the two major thoroughfares, were originally named Bridge Street and High Street, respectively.
The map above, though from much later, shows how the District's boundaries would've looked in 1801. Since Washington did not undergo a major period of population until after the Civil War, the region was quite rural and sparsely populated for much of the Nineteenth Century. Throughout the Antebellum period, government of the District was split between the three city governments of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria (which were referred to as Georgetown, DC, and Alexandria, DC, at that time), and the two county governments of Washington County on the north side of the Potomac and Alexandria County (later, Arlington County) on the south side of the Potomac.
As the Nineteenth Century sped toward the Civil War, the Virginia side of the District began agitating to be freed of federal domination and return to Virginia. This was partly because Alexandria had lost much of its share of the trading economy to Georgetown, and partly because there were rumors that slavery was to be outlawed in the District. Thus, in 1846, the retrocession of Alexandria and Alexandria County to Virginia was completed. This left the District of Columbia with land only on the Maryland side of the Potomac.
Eventually, due to the rapid growth of the capital after the Civil War, the population growth was such that the city of Washington annexed all of the County of Washington, and eventually took Georgetown too. This process was completed in 1871, when a the District was consolidated into a single local government unit - an arrangement that exists to this day. When Georgetown was absorbed into the consolidated government, all of the streets were renamed to match the existing conventions present throughout the rest of Washington. Thus, though the streets are much older, the main thoroughfares have rather modern names. M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, the two major thoroughfares, were originally named Bridge Street and High Street, respectively.
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