ReInvention AIA, DC

Robert Gurney Associates Glass House

City Center Washington DC

Four Pavillion House

SeaUA

E/L Studio

E/L Studio

Salt and Pepper House

Salt and Pepper House

City Center rooftops

Robert Gurney Associates Glass House

Robert Gurney Glass House

Izzo here: Jose and I recently took part in the the AIA's Reinvention housing convention in Washington, DC where we toured some good residential architecture and sat in on some informative lectures.  Highlights of the event were the awesome tours of housing by local architects.  SeaUA, a shipping container multifamily project by Travis Price Architects started the day.  Pretty interesting.  Next up was a huge housing project on the site of the former DC convention center right downtown.  A massive project, it had some of the most awesome roof decks I had ever seen. These were half apartments and half condos with over 300k sf of retail on the ground level which is already leased up! An amazing feat in and of itself. This project was designed by Shalom Baranes and Foster Partners. A single family house by KUBE Architects dubbed the Salt and Pepper house (no relation to  Salt n pepa) started the single family dwellings. Not a huge house, but it certainly had a lot of fun surprises around every corner. Another live work house by E/L Studio was on the tour. A small architecture office on the first floor, and a small living quarters on the second floor.  Really nice use of tight quarters and really cool ceiling details.  The Four Pavillion house by esteemed architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen designed in the mid 1970s and restored recently by Richard Williams, AIA.  Another great small house within a very private suburban lot.  Really well done. And last but certainly not least, an over the top mansion in Georgetown by Robert Gurney Associates. I mean, check out that kitchen and wine cellar!

Make that 3 more registered architects!

Our latest happy architects

You might recall Blake's gross beard. You might recall his unusually gruff personality lately. Well, we're proud to say Blake is back to his old self. After months of agonizing over his exams, he became our office's latest registered architect.  He joins Marissa and Sam, who have also passed all their exams in the past month or so.  The weird thing is, they all near each other in the office. Something in the water over there? Maybe. Cheaters? Impossible.  They just have great support for one another and are always encouraging.  Look at that love!

Educational Video about a Career in Architecture Starring JKR Architects!

Izzo Here: A few months ago, Tiffany (formerly of JKR, but still a close ally to the office) and I embarked on some uncharted territory.  We were approached by an awesome organization called GreenTreks to star in short film about careers in STEM or science, technology, engineering and Mathematics. This was the result.  Hopefully this will inspire you or someone you know to become an architect! Grab some popcorn!

Marissa is now officially an Architect!

Marissa, the architect

Look at that smile! After months of studying, and agonizing, and stressing, and dealing with NCARB and all the other negative words associated with the Architecture Registration Exam, Marissa has conquered the tests! All of them! She has risen to the top and has earned the right to call herself Marissa McMurtrie, AIA.  She's been beaming all morning! Flying from desk to desk! She's walking on air.  And if you aren't familiar with the exams, the ain't easy.  This is a big deal. I think we have a couple more people in the office about to become architects in the not too distant future. Check back here for updates.

New Barnes Foundation

my personal favorite

Izzo Here: I was feeling inspired last week, and I wanted to get to the Barnes before the year was over.  If you've never been, you should make it a point to go.  I would say this is the best piece of architecture our city has gotten in a long time (our projects excluded of course).  Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have been some of my favorite architects since I first saw them give a lecture my junior year of college.  I am sure this is their highest profile building, and they did not disappoint.  Check out the snaps.  Not bad for a pretty cloudy day.  Oh and the images looked good even before the instagramming.