Shortly before we all went home for the pandemic, I noticed that the Australian Embassy had rented space in the National Geographic Society building at the corner of M and 17th Streets NW. I had already seen the demolition, or the beginnings of demolition of the old embassy building at Scott Circle, a couple of blocks away. After that, it was a while before I was downtown much.
I did see work going on the new building, but observed it with half an eye. Then, a month or so ago, I noticed backups on Massachusetts Avenue, as construction equipment was loaded onto trucks for removal. I supposed that the construction was mostly done. The other week, I saw the flag in front of the building, and understood that it was completed.
The new building is modernist, as the old one had been, but modernist of the 2020s rather than the 1960s. No doubt it is more efficient in its heating, cooling, and lighting. It will not require soon require draping with heavy fabric to prevent bits from falling on pedestrians, as the old one did for a while.
Meanwhile, the National Geographic building is now closed for renovations, which should be completed by 2026. It seems to be only partially closed, for I saw persons with building badges leaving it the other day. It could be that only the public areas, not the offices, will be renovated.
Why couldn't they do something fun like make it in the shape of a giant kookaburra? ZMKC
ReplyDeleteRobert Venturi (I think) coined the term "duck" for that sort of building--if you search the web for "Venturi duck", you will find a lot of information about such buildings. It might be hard to accommodate the staff that an embassy needs, and still come in under the Washington, DC, height limits
DeleteI do look forward to seeing again the Surfing Santa Claus pulled by kangaroos--I trust they left room for it.
I was thinking more of emulating one of Australia's many big things the Big Merino at Goulburn would be a model to emulate:
Deletehttps://zmkc.blogspot.com/2010/01/go-goulburn.html?m=1