The Straight Torquer

1875 H Street, NW, Washington, DC

A sculpture in the lobby of 1044 Connecticut Avenue.

Maya Lynn’s current exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art is an exercise in space-altering installation.  These deceptively scientific sculptures impress into the surfaces and volumes of the occupied rooms, redefining the spatial character as perceived.  Along with being intricate and pleasing constructions of minimalist techne, these formal representations actually trace the lines of digitally mapped geological regions and formations from around the planet.  Mountain ranges, underground water sources, and the ocean floor are some of the ‘landscapes’ re-engineered here at a scale provocative to the human.

Tucked neatly beside and over two traditional brick buildings, the embassy of Mexico presents a futurist vision of architecture where new pieces of construction are ensconced in, under, and between the existing fabric of the city.

An exciting interdisciplinary collaboration between the veterinary and architecture departments at Virginia Tech was recently highlighted by Dwell magazine.  This outstanding masters degree thesis project is by industrial designer turned architect, Nathan King, a graduate student at Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies.  The small building functions as a portable research station for biologists researching primates in western Tanzania.  Each piece of the dissembled structure can be carried by two people through the jungle and the entire building can be assembled without any tools.  Here is a link to the Dwell magazine article:  http://www.dwell.com/blogs/plug-projects-jungle-research-station.html

An apartment building near Howard University.

990 Florida Avenue NW, Washington DC

The Swiss Embassy in Washington is comprised of a spacious landscape with two buildings.  The newer of the embassy buildings is an epitomizing statement of minimalist architectural aesthetics.  The plan is a clear evocation of the national symbol, the cruciform, which can be found in many levels of detail on the site, down to the permeable paving units in the drive and the pattern of the mechanical air intake vents on the older mid-twentieth century modernist embassy building.

This wi the building that inspired me to start The Straight Torquer.  That real, elegant, modern design is being built and appreciated in this city gives me wonderful hope.