Wineries, breweries, and distilleries appeal to the senses by attracting patrons through storytelling and placemaking. In Happy Hour Architecture, we feature distinctive and award-winning projects—in and around our nation’s capital—whose design ingredients entice drink enthusiasts to raise a glass in style.

Featured Wineries

• District Winery by HapstakDemetriou+ with Gensler
• Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard by Cunningham | Quill Architects
• Boxwood Estate Winery by Jacobsen Architecture, LLC
• RdV Vineyards by Neumann Lewis Buchanan Architects

Featured Breweries

• Bluejacket by Grizform Design Architects
• Right Proper Brewing Co., Shaw Brewpub & Kitchen by StudioMB
• Guinness Open Gate Brewery & Barrel House by Orbit Design Studio & Design Collective
• Starr Hill Biergarten at The Perch, Capital One Center by Parker Rodriquez with Fine Landscapes & HGA Architects

Featured Distilleries

• District Distilling Co. by Grizform Design Architects
• Tiki TNT & Potomac Distilling Company by StudioMB
• Republic Restoratives Distillery by Mapos with Studio 3887
• George Washington’s Distillery at Mount Vernon by Quinn Evans

Exhibition Credits
Happy Hour Architecture is organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery. The exhibition is made possible with generous support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Additional support provided by Sustaining Firm Affiliate Members.

Coordinating Team

Executive Director: Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA

Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs: Scott Clowney, Assoc. AIA

Proofreading: Katie Spencer

Installation Support: Petra Debelack

Advertising/Publicity: Lily Oberst and Del’arnie Saintal

Print Production 
BluEdge

Special Thanks

Simon Jacobsen, Bill Young, David Neumann, and Ralph Cunningham; Victoria Wetmore, Torchai Opassatavorn, Adam McGraw, and Rachel Rittler; Kathryn Slattery AIA LEED AP, David Bagnoli, and Colin Brice

Additional Thanks

Stone Tower Winery and Bluejacket

Building collapses are rare but can happen for a host of reasons: earthquakes, extreme weather, human error, or a combination of factors. Fortunately, the lessons we learn from building failures make us all safer. These lessons often lead to refinements in construction codes and maintenance protocols, and can even bring about critical retrofits of existing buildings.

We have chosen eight well documented structural failure case studies, highlighting how building safety has been improved in their wake. The exhibition concludes with some speculation as to what we may learn from the recent collapse of a condominium building in Surfside, Florida, in 2021.

The exhibition features some of our nation’s most catastrophic structural disasters—from the South Fork Dam and Tacoma Narrows Bridge to the Northridge Meadows Apartments and the World Trade Center. Each catastrophic collapse offers a story with lessons learned that improved the way we design buildings today.

1889……… South Fork Dam / Johnstown, PA
1922……… Knickerbocker Theatre / Washington, DC
1940……… Tacoma Narrows Bridge / Tacoma, WA
1981……… Hyatt Regency Hotel / Kansas City, MO
1994……… Northridge Meadows Apartments / Los Angeles, CA
2001……… World Trade Center / New York, NY
2005……… New Orleans Levees/Floodwalls / New Orleans, LA
2021……… Champlain Towers South / Surfside, FL
2021……… Western Kentucky Tornado

Acknowledgements

Catastrophic Collapse: Lessons Learned, After the Fall is organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery.

Sponsored by:
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB)
District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA)

Supported by:
Sustaining Firm Affiliate Members

Curatorial Team:
Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA / Executive Director, AIA|DC (script writing)
Scott Clowney, Assoc. AIA / Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, AIA|DC (script writing; proofreading; image collection)
G. Martin Moeller, Jr., Assoc. AIA, Independent Curator (interpretive consultation; editing)
Rupa M. Patel, P.E., LEED AP BD+C / Senior Associate, Thornton Tomasetti (research assistance)
Dara Naderi, PE / Associate, Thornton Tomasetti (research assistance)

Exhibition & Graphic Design:
Rina Alfonso, RGD / Founder & Creative Director, Studio Aorta
Danielle Coates, RGD / Senior Design Associate, Studio Aorta
Arianno Ho / Studio Assistant | Design Associate, Studio Aorta

Print Production:
Print Exhibit Partners, LLC

Special Thanks to these Image Contributors:
California State University Northridge; Dave Eames, Illustrator/Graphic Designer; District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; Fine Homebuilding magazine; Johnstown Flood Museum Archives, Johnstown Area Heritage Association; New School of Architecture and Design; Perkins Eastman DC; University of Washington Libraries

Health and Safety Guidelines*

Please note the following COVID-19 safety measures:

• Proof of vaccination is not required
• Masks are not required
• Social distancing is encouraged during your visit
• Stay home if you are sick, suspect exposure to or have COVID-19

By visiting the District Architecture Center, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19, acknowledge that such matters are beyond the control of AIA|DC and the Washington Architectural Foundation, and agree to abide by our health and safety guidelines.

*subject to change pending updated guidance

The District Architecture Center is proud to present its first in-person exhibition since early 2020. Join us in celebration of reopening to the public.

Since our nation’s first chief executive, the birthplaces, childhood homes, and private residences of U.S. presidents have fascinated American society. These dwellings—modest cottages and farmhouses to fashionable townhomes and mansions—illustrate over 230 years of American architecture. From George Washington to Joseph R. Biden Jr., this exhibition highlights some of the familiar and surprising landmark houses they called home.

Acknowledgements

Presidential Houses is organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery.

District Architecture Center Team:
Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA, Executive Director
Sinclaire Erdwien, Deputy Director
Scott Clowney, Assoc. AIA, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs

Exhibition Support:
Design made possible by ArchiCAD19, courtesy of Graphisoft
Printing provided by BluEdge
Exhibitions supported, in part, by our Sustaining Firm Affiliate Members

Health and Safety Guidelines*

The safety and wellbeing of our visitors and staff is important to us. Please note the following COVID-19 safety measures:

• Schedule visits in advance to reduce visitor capacity
• Proof of vaccination is required to enter the Center; bring your vaccination card with you to show at the door
• Masks must be worn for the entirety of the visit; gaiter-style masks and masks with exhalation valves are not permitted
• Practice social distancing while visiting
• Stay home and reschedule visits if feeling unwell, have tested positive to COVID-19, or suspect exposure to COVID-19 within the last 14 days

By visiting the District Architecture Center, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19, acknowledge that such matters are beyond the control of AIA|DC and the Washington Architectural Foundation, and agree to abide by our health and safety guidelines.

_{*subject to change pending updated guidance}

For the past 14 years, the Structural Engineers Association of Metropolitan Washington (SEA-MW) has hosted a premier gala-style dinner event to celebrate the structural engineering profession, through recognizing outstanding achievements by local firms and individuals.  This year, we are making our awards event open to the public through our professionally curated Awards Exhibition.  The Exhibition will showcase some of the best work performed by Washington DC-area structural engineers in recent years.  

To qualify for the Exhibition, firms throughout the region have submitted projects to our panel of nine judges, who are independent, out-of-market professionals in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry.  Our judges have selected up two project finalists in each category, and these projects are exhibited throughout the week on professionally and thoughtfully designed displays.  At the end of the Exhibition, each of the project finalists will be awarded either the Outstanding Achievement Award (1st place) or the Merit Award (2nd place).

We hope you will join us to celebrate and admire the great work performed by our local structural engineering community!

Visit the exhibition in person at the District Architecture Center June 19-25. No reservations necessary. Masks required.

Exhibition Hours:

• June 19: 12pm-4pm
• June 20: 12pm-4pm
• June 21: 4pm-7pm
• June 22: 4pm-7pm
• June 23: 4pm-7pm
• June 24: 4pm-7pm
• June 25: 4pm-7pm

About SEA-MW

The Structural Engineers Association of Metropolitan Washington (SEA-MW) is a not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the advancement of the structural engineering profession.  Founded in 1988, the original members focused on improving the local community to enhance the business of structural engineering.  SEA-MW is currently comprised of over 70 member firms across Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

 Over the past 33 years, SEA-MW’s mission has grown to include: developing continuing education seminars for structural engineers, identifying volunteer opportunities in the local community, training second responders for natural disasters, organizing events for recent graduates, and creating forums for students to connect with potential employers.  For the past 14 years, SEA-MW’s premier event has been celebrating the structural engineering profession through recognizing outstanding achievements by structural engineering firms and individuals in the local region.

The 2020 Awards Show combines award-winning projects from two of AIA|DC’s largest competitions:

• Chapter Design Awards
• Washingtonian Residential Design Awards

Each year, our competitions recognize practitioners who demonstrate excellence in design. Projects are selected by distinguished juries of design professionals based outside of the Washington metropolitan region.

Congratulations to all the 2020 winners!

Courtesy of EL Studio, PLLC

Did you know that Washington, DC has 3,217 alleys which, when unraveled, total 246 linear miles?  There are 82,397 single-family residential properties with alley frontage in the District.  If each of those properties added alley housing / accessory apartments with an average of 2.28 persons per household, that could be space for 187,900 new residents!

Born of urban pressures in the 19th century, the city’s alleys were later neglected, yet they can be reinvigorated for the 21st century. Through research, analysis, public engagements and physical interventions, the Washington Alley Project examines the city’s informal alley network as a viable site for new modes of urban living, creating opportunities to adapt to the social and technological pressures of the present and future without sacrificing architectural heritage.

Created by EL Studio, this award-winning, ongoing research and public space advocacy initiative has comprised of three phases: Research - mapping the physical evolution of the alleys and establishing an agenda for future development; Outreach - public engagement, creation of awareness and the identification of program; and Advocacy – connecting with stakeholders and the development of design proposals for new built interventions.

This exhibition will share the studio’s process through displays and interactive activities that prompt visitors to engage with the topics, insuring that as Washington, D.C. continues to develop, the unique alley network of public space will not go underutilized.

Organized by EL Studio, PLLC in cooperation with AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery.

Project Partners:
American University Game Lab
Bell Visuals
BluEdge
Congress Heights Community Training and Development Corporation
DC Department of Transportation
DC Preservation League
DC Office of Planning
Ferris Custom Cabinetry
Mount Vernon Triangle CID
Today at Apple
urbanSEED

Patron:
Tarpon Construction

Benefactors:
Alliance Builders
Mount Vernon Triangle CID

Supporters:
Added Dimensions
Comfort Engineering
CS Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Ditto Residential
JLC Engineering LLC
Lighting Environments
Linton Engineering
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald N. Slimp II
POWERHOUSE
Think Make Build, LLC

Casablanca, Morocco; Split, Croatia; Granada, Nicaragua - Artwork by Don Myer

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

 —Walt Disney

The District Architecture Center is pleased to present Doorways: Artistic Reflections of Place by Donald Beekman Myer, FAIA, an exhibition featuring 35 mixed media artworks documented by Myer from his travels around the world. Among places represented are Cuba, Colombia, Croatia, France, and Morocco. With this exhibition, we celebrate Don’s memory and the artistic talents he shared with family, friends, and colleagues throughout the community.

From his travels around the world, Don Myer painted doorways he encountered along his epic journey. These doorways captured his attention by speaking to him about history and design, perhaps even about transitions and the unknown behind doors. Wood or metal, plain or decorated, natural or colored, the variety of doorways he documented signifies the breadth of craftsmanship employed across cultures.

This exhibition features mixed media artworks, mostly watercolor and color pencil, representing places such as Greece, Ireland, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru. Don created each artwork in his studio by referencing photographs from his travels. Labels were designed to be simple, identifying only the locations where doorways were encountered. Any story, feeling, or impression drawn from an artwork shall be a product of the viewer’s imagination—per Don’s wishes.

With this exhibition, we celebrate Don’s memory and the artistic talents he shared with family, friends, and colleagues throughout the community. Thank you for visiting and supporting his legacy.

About Donald Beekman Myer, FAIA

Don Myer came to Washington, DC in the early 1960s to begin a career in historic preservation for the National Park Service. After playing a key role in the restoration of Union Station and the Washington Monument, he went on to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts from the late 60’s until 1997. There, Myer was involved in the design of significant federal landmarks, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Metro system. Later, he served as Clerk of Works at the Washington National Cathedral, and on the faculty of The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning.

Following retirement, Myer dedicated his time and talents to drawing and painting. His artwork frequently focused on the richly detailed genre of botanicals, supported by an architect’s keen attention to texture, shadow, and other nuances of design. After exhibiting his artwork in a group show at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, he joined other artists to form a group called Studio 155. At the time, he explored diverse depictions of the natural world, eventually seeking to capture a “sense of place” in his compositions. Presenting both architectural representations and geographic snapshots, his series of doors serves to illustrate this atmospheric feeling, offering an evocative and introspective experience for the viewer.

Alongside other Studio 155 artists, Myer’s artwork has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Adah Rose Gallery, Athenaeum, Cosmos Club, Delaware Art Museum, Studio Gallery, United States Botanic Garden, and VisArts in Rockville.

Organized by AIA|DC for the Suman Sorg Gallery.

This exhibition was produced in ArchiCAD, courtesy of Graphisoft.

Generously supported in part by BluEdge.

Installation by Tim Anderson.

Special thanks to Ellen Myer for making this exhibition possible.
The Chapter is very grateful to the following individuals and firms who helped support this exhibition: David + Patty Haresign; Ralph Cunningham, FAIA; Mary Oehrlein, FAIA; Steven Spurlock, FAIA; Fox Architects; Hal Davis, FAIA; Thomas Luebke, FAIA; and James Voelzke, FAIA.

Marie Reed Learning Center by Quinn Evans Architects – Photo by Joseph Romeo Photography

Over the last decade, the District of Columbia has made a substantial investment in modernizing its public school buildings, and the city’s public charter schools and private schools have also made major investments in their facilities.

The design of these new and renovated schools has moved the architecture of learning spaces well beyond the basics of traditional school design. Like DC’s widely praised new public library buildings, these modernized school buildings employ innovative architecture to better achieve their mission.

What prompted the District’s school rebuilding effort? What difference does good school design make for student learning? And what design features do the city’s new school buildings incorporate? This exhibition explores these questions by looking at 19 of the District’s modernized public, public charter, and private schools.

Schools of Thought is organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery and Suman Sorg Gallery.

Written and curated by Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA

Designed by Scott Clowney, Assoc. AIA

Edited by Sean O’Donnell, FAIA and Ronald O’Rourke

Fact checking by Sean O’Donnell, FAIA and David Constine

Benefactors
Perkins Eastman DC       
Bell Architects + Newman Architects           

Supporting Sponsors
Bowie Gridley Architects              
cox, graae + spack architects
DLR Group
Hord Coplan Macht   
ISTUDIO Architects
MCN Build Foundation 
Quinn Evans Architects
SK&A DC | Structural Engineers
Studio Twenty Seven Architecture

This exhibition was produced in ArchiCAD, courtesy of Graphisoft.

Generously supported in part by BluEdge.

Wildcat Mountain Residence by David Jameson Architect – Photo by Paul Warchol Photography

The 2019 Awards Show combines award-winning projects from two of AIA|DC’s largest competitions:

• Chapter Design Awards
• Washingtonian Residential Design Awards

Each year, our competitions recognize practitioners, educators, and students within the architecture community who demonstrate excellence in design. Projects are selected by distinguished juries of design professionals based outside of the Washington metropolitan region. Congratulations to all the winners.

Announcing our 2019 Awards Show People's Choice Award Winner: The Grass House by bld.us

2019 Chapter Design Award Winners and Jury:

Ayers Saint Gross and Jonathan Kuhn Architect; bld.us; CORE architecture + design; David Jameson Architect; DLR Group; EL Studio; Hartman-Cox Architects; ISTUDIO Architects; KPF and FOX Architects; McInturff Architects; OTJ Architects; Peabody Architects and Deco Design Studio; Perkins Eastman DC; Reader & Swartz Architects; Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, Architect; Shalom Baranes Associates; SHoP Architects; Stantec Architecture; Suzane Reatig Architecture; Wiedemann Architects LLC

• Andrew West, AIA of Elkus Manfredi Architects
• Barbara A. Campagna, FAIA, LEED AP of Barbara A. Campagna/Architecture + Planning, PLLC
• James E. Richärd, AIA of richärd+bauer
• Michael Gabellini, FAIA of Gabellini Sheppard Associates
• Dina Griffin, FAIA, NOMA, IIDA of Interactive Design Architects

2019 Washington Residential Design Award Winners and Jury:

bld.us; DLR Group; Donald Lococo Architects; Gardner Architects LLC; McInturff Architects; Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, Architect; Studio Twenty Seven Architecture

• David Leven, AIA of LevenBetts
• Richard Buchanan, AIA of Archer Buchanan
• Anne Fougeron, FAIA of Fougeron Architecture

The 2019 Awards Show is organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery and Suman Sorg Gallery.

This exhibition was produced in ArchiCAD, courtesy of Graphisoft.

Generously supported in part by BluEdge.