THE FABRICOF GREAT PLACES

IN PRAISE OF GREAT ‘BACKGROUND’ BUILDINGS

Jason F. McLennan

Scan the pages of most architecture magazines or follow news coverage of important new buildings, and you’ll notice the focus is often on the most iconic and “heroic” architecture. It makes sense that mega projects and those with great civic and cultural significance get attention. Typically designed by the most notable names in architecture, these projects can help put a neighborhood, a city, or even an entire country on the map. Think about how the Sydney Opera House changed perceptions of Australia, or how The Guggenheim Museum introduced the world to Bilbao, Spain.

Yes, heroic, big-budget projects may serve as high-profile landmarks and places of public gathering. But hero worship has always been a distorted lens through which to look at architecture and the profession as a whole. Seattle is known for the Space Needle and New York for the Empire State Building, but we know both cities are much, much more than that. Indeed, judging the quality of a city by its skyscraper, cathedral, castle, or museum is like judging a person by their hairstyle or wardrobe.

Our day-to-day experience of a place is profoundly shaped not by its famous monumental architecture, but by its urban fabric: the colorful tapestry of hundreds of smaller—often more unassuming—yet equally beautiful buildings that make up the totality of the community. What is the housing stock like? What does the typical building on Main Street look like? How do everyday civic and cultural institutions get expressed architecturally? What is the quality of the streetscape and its urban design? What materials, textures, colors, and shapes comprise the buildings, parks, and public squares?

Imagine yourself for a moment in one of your favorite cities or towns. I’m willing to bet your memories conjure feelings of cultural richness and human connection. These feelings are the hallmarks of a great urban experience; they reflect a place’s unique identity and zietgiest. By the way, I’m also willing to bet your favorite places aren’t your favorite just because of their architectural icons. For me, Barcelona is not just the Sagrada Familia; it’s also Los Ramblas and all of its colorful details, both large and small, grand and subtle, precious and imperfect. The most wonderful places in the world are those whose urban fabric elevates them from standard to sublime.

Background Buildings Defined

World class urban fabrics are quilted with beautiful buildings that have several defining characteristics:

Their architecture and design are perfectly suited to their purpose. Design features are never hyperbolic or superfluous, but rather measured and intentional.

They’re appropriate for their given time, place, and climate. They don’t feel alien to their surroundings, and are generally built from local and regional materials.

They express dignity and elegance without pretension.

They elevate the public realm and enhance the pedestrian experience.

They are conceptually clear—with the outside “speaking to” the insiden a cohesive dialogue.

Their facades aren’t showy, but can offer moments here and there of whimsy and delight.

They serve people’s basic day-to-day needs.

They are human in scale, warm and inviting, and make people feel they belong. They tend to exemplify a “long life, loose fit” ethos, meaning they can be repurposed over time.

Unfortunately, in North America we lost a lot of our rich urban fabric in the 1950s with the dawn of sprawling suburbia, the proliferation of the personal automobile, and a perverted infatuation with capitalism over civic good. Many of our communities are now marked by construction that is banal and soulless, littered with fast food restaurants and architectural one-liners that reflect a commercial brand. Worse yet, many of the new construction buildings in our communities today are barely designed at all, let alone designed by architects; they’re the product of the lowest first-cost budget possible.

I believe there is no better time than now to reinvest in our urban fabric—to design consistently beautiful, thoughtful, functional buildings at every scale (not just the monolithic) and in full support of healthy, sustainable communities. Every building should breathe life, love, and vibrancy into our cities. They should elevate and enrich the human experience of the common place. Today, some of the world’s best examples of these buildings may hide in the shadows of “statement” architecture, but for all they give back to a city and its people, they should be celebrated just as heroically.

This year I had the great honor of reviewing a large volume of work by my colleagues at Perkins&Will and was struck by the number of great “fabric” buildings that the firm in many of its studios across the globe have produced. I’ve selected a few to highlight as exemplars of this type of building in several cities in which we practice.

1222 22nd Street, NW Washington DC

This project was originally built as a Cadillac dealership in 1922 and then had a long history of holding vehicles for White House Secret Service. Built at a time when many buildings had ‘great bones’, the building featured high floor-to-floor heights and a strong, simple structure. The 58,000sf structure was brought back to life with a sensitive new façade that helps activate the ground plane and a completely transformed interior. Ground floor commercial space, a new canopy, and an additional new partial floor on the roof continued its transformation.

The design team let the history of the building speak for itself, without gimmicks or pretension. Looking at before and after photos shows the careful changes to the façade – creating a new cornice line to accentuate the ground plane, use of contrasting brick within the structural grid and new windows, entry canopies and planters. The result is a dignified reinvigoration of a nice piece of the capitals’ history. A strong, purposeful background building. This building achieved LEED Core & Shell Gold Certification.

The project leverages the framework of a pre-depression era structure by infilling the remaining zoning envelope to create a thoughtful and unique integration of building services with a clear, rational, modular expression.