September 21, 2007
  Mount Vernon Graciously Enhances the Visitor Experience
Two new facilities blend harmoniously with the Virginia plantation and its surround
The outcome of 10 years of planning, GWWO inc./Architects (GWWO) of Baltimore recently designed two elegant, innovative facilities, which opened in October 2006 at George Washington’s Mount Vernon: the Ford Orientation Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. These facilities, totaling 71,000 square feet, tell the dramatic story of Washington’s life, his influence on our country, and his magnificent estate to a million visitors annually. To blend the buildings into the landscape and lead the visitor on a logical journey through the grounds, the design team concluded that creating two buildings was the best solution. With the orientation center nestled into a hillside, and the larger museum and education center built largely underground, the resulting blend of traditional and modern design gracefully complements the visitors’ experience and the historic grounds.

A Common Path from Paper to Plaster
International Masonry Institute’s week-long camp helps architecture graduates and masons build a better relationship
The International Masonry Institute’s Masonry Camp has architectural interns and masons learn about the six primary types of masonry and also asks them to design and build a project in an integrated team atmosphere. The camp fosters communication across the two professions and gives architecture graduates the chance to take a more focused view of masonry and materiality while affording masons the opportunity to consider the multidimensional concerns architects deal with while designing.

Planting Community in Fallow Fields
Detroit developer uses the suburbs to fuel a 1,200-acre redevelopment project
A team of residential developers and home builders are planning a 1,200-acre redevelopment project for Detroit’s far eastside. Though it borders much more prosperous suburbs, this neighborhood has been largely abandoned and left to rot. The New Far Eastside Detroit development company is attempting to rebuild and re-brand this area as an urban neighborhood with access to suburban amenities in the hopes of attracting young professionals in the market for their first home.

 

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This is the home of the weekly Best Practices column, news of tips and tools that you can use in your day-to-day practice and case studies illustrating “how-tos” and “lessons learned” for all stages of practice. The Practice Zone also features reports of research in architecture and related fields.