The exterior of the Redmond Cabinette is now complete!

Since the typical Seattle climate is cold and rainy, the polycabonate panels on the south facade add much needed light and warmth to the interior. Additionally, the improved insulation and waterproofing allow the interior to maintain a consistent temperature while inhabiting the space.

The previous roof on the cabinette was undersized and allowed rain to flow down the faces of the building. As a result, we decided that extending the eaves on all four sides would help maintain a water tight envelope while providing a visual “top” to the tiny structure.

The west elevation (above) contains the entry doors, while the north elevation (below) contains the windows for ventilation.

We are currently finishing up the drywall and selecting paint colors for the exterior eaves and interior walls. So far we’re very pleased with the results.

Next up, new flooring!

Friendship Baptist Church

After years of neglect, a strategy to rehabilitate the structure as part of a mixed-use Planned Unit Development was designed and approved by the DC Zoning Commission in 2005. The original application in 2003 sought to raze the old church entirely and build a new 90 foot tall apartment building. This plan was rejected by the commission, beginning the process which eventually led to the HPRB designating the church as a historic landmark.

The approved design proposes a new 70 foot tall L-shaped residential building that wraps around the restored church sanctuary, which will be used as not-for-profit office space. A compromise had been reached. The project was granted additional density and height (although not as much as originally requested) through a rezoning of the property from R-4 to R-5-C and in return the church would be preserved and restored.

PUD Design, Shalom Baranes Architects

Remember, the PUD was approved in 2005 during the height of the building boom. Across the street, the Corcoran Museum of Art, looking to expand its facilities, was negotiating to buy the Randall School from the District. The neighborhood’s future was looking bright. And then came the bust… The housing market collapsed, the Corcoran’s plans unravelled, the project was postponed, and then postponed again. The church sat dormant and vacant.

But now the economy is on the rebound. Construction cranes once again grace DC’s skyline. The master plan for the massive redevelopment of the nearby waterfront, dubbed “The Wharf”, has just been approved. The new owners of the Randall School, the Rubells, plan to convert the building into apartments and an art museum to display their private collection and have hired Bing Thom, the architect of the Arena Stage expansion. Now is the time to build.

Randall School Art Museum, Bing Thom Architects

But it would appear that the PUD extension has now expired. Seven years have passed since the initial approval and one has to wonder if the owner has any intention of developing the property or is just looking to sell. Instead of commencing with construction, the street artist Alex “Hense” Brewer, in association with the Rubell hosted Emerge Art Fair, was invited to paint a mural.

I suppose technically its a mural, but since every exterior face of the church is covered by the new artwork, the label doesn’t seem to fit. The mural isn’t simply painted on a wall, but rather consumes the entire structure. The details of the church vanish beneath the abstract contours and vibrant layers of multicolored paint. Every color of the rainbow. It is stunning how disguised the building is, hidden beneath day-glow camouflage.

It has been transformed into an object, apart and separate from its environment. Unlike a stereotypical urban mural painted on the deteriorating face of a building, there is no overt message being broadcast here. No message of hope or inspiration or despair or thought provoking statement. There is no dialog with the community, only monolog. Context is ignored and the artist is king.

Hence’s work has a distinct style, often painting brightly colorful abstract compositions filled with polkadots and flower-like organic forms. The work nods to his roots as an tagger on the streets of Atlanta. The church mural in DC is essentially the same as the vacant storefront in Atlanta despite the differences in location, building use and history. It is novel and out-of-the-ordinary and surprising. It’s not everyday you see a building awash in bright colors and polkadots, but is it appropriate, especially when considering the historic nature of the site?

This mural is reminiscent of the artistic interventions recently produced in the Brazilian favelas. They are colorful environments that are inhabited rather than viewed as decoration on a wall.

Favela Painting Project, Rio de Janeiro, by Haas & Hahn

Luz Nas Vielas, São Paulo, by Boa Mistura

Besides the obvious visual similarities, these projects in Brazil share with the church a similarity in location. While by no means impoverished to the degree of the favelas in Rio and Sao Paulo, Southwest is, until recently, a neglected and disconnected area of the city that is still recovering from the planning mistakes of the past. It is ironic that the church, one of the few landmarks to survive the destruction of ill-conceived urban renewal, has now been transformed in the name of revitalization.

The original neighborhood is gone and the congregation has moved on. Apartment towers, cul-de-sacs and freeways have replaced the row houses and the street grid. Ownership of history has been lost. There is no longer a connection between the neighborhood and its past. It is very hard to imagine a mural like this happening elsewhere in the city, like Friendship Heights or Dupont Circle. It is not an accident that artists choose “gritty” sites such as these as canvases for their interventions. There is a vacuum created through neglect and deterioration; an opportunity for artists to impose their vision upon a crumbling environment.

Perhaps the best defense for this mural is that it is temporary, an exciting display that will vanish soon enough–no harm, no foul. But how long will it remain and how much damage has been done? I seriously question how painting this mural conforms to the historic guidelines for restoration. Removing the paint will most likely cause additional damage to the structure.

The Bloomberg Balloon

Price tag issues aside, a temporary, non-destructive intervention like the Bloomberg Balloon designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and planned for the Hirshhorn Museum presents a better approach to this type of art. Equally irreverent, whimsical and surprising, as well as much more interactive and referential, I bet it will be a great addition to the National Mall and will be packed away come wintertime without any lasting damage.

Art that exists in the public realm outside a gallery’s walls does not exist in isolation. Context and the site cannot be ignored. The mural’s failure to address the history of the church and its damaging effects to the building should not be overlooked. The church remains vacant, a hollow shell to be viewed with curiosity. It is all style and no substance. A coat of paint, no matter how brilliant the artist, is rarely a substitute for good architecture.

I recently discovered the Hilltop House in Harpers Ferry, WV is closed and awaiting renovations. Built in 1888 and located in the town limits, the hotel has been the host to several notable Statesmen as well as famous characters throughout our nation’s history. Plans have stopped due to a dispute between the developer, SWaN, and a group of local leaders regarding the size and extent of the work. This article goes into greater detail than I care to here and adds some additional information on the history. But that’s not what interests me.

What I’m interested in is the positive impact this renovation would have on the community. It reminds me of another town I’ve been to: Leavenworth, Washington. If you have never been it’s worth a visit to this small Bavarian town located in the Cascade Mountain Range. That’s right I said Bavarian. Believe me, I was shocked the first time I drove through it on my way to hike the Enchantments.

Like Harpers Ferry, Leavenworth had a similar crisis on its hands. Originally a rail and lumber town, Leavenworth started its decline around the turn on the 19th century when the railway moved its line. By the 1960′s the town was almost dead. The community leaders came up with a plan to create a tourist destination by converting the town’s aesthetics. Nestled in the Cascades, known as the American Alps, it made sense to change everything to this German stylized village. Indeed everything looks Bavarian, from local businesses to big-box stores, even Starbucks

 had to change their designs and logos to match the town’s themes. And it worked, Leavenworth is a thriving town with a healthy local and tourist population.

Perhaps, Harpers Ferry, WV could learn a thing or two from another’s example. Besides what’s the alternative? The blight has started, fix it now or it will start to consume everything around it.