AIA|DC is pleased to present recent works by award-winning, Virginia-based artist Vlad Zabavskiy.

The Exhibition

The exhibition is organized in themes, such as landscapes, portraits, species, and still lifes. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to wear polarized 3D glasses in the gallery to view the paintings.

As the exhibition title suggests, Zabavskiy’s paintings are indeed bizarre and extraordinary. Zabavskiy uses a rich palette of colorful oils, including gold leaf, coupled with crackling and layered effects that produce vivid and compelling images. Lines, planes, and shapes are all visible, making an otherwise two-dimensional canvas seem anything but. To his surprise, Vlad discovered a unique three-dimensional quality to his paintings: polarized 3D glasses greatly enhance the painting’s depth of field.

In his most recent paintings, Zabavskiy explores the transition between realism and abstraction. Using algorithms to produce variations in generative design software, such as Processing, Fragmentarium, Structure Synth, and NodeBox, each painting is based on manipulated parameters that create an alternative picture. The results are playful, architectonic expressions that appear almost otherworldly—Cubist-like but not Cubist inspired.

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About Vlad Zabavskiy

Zabavskiy’s art has been exhibited locally at the Arlington Community Federal Credit Union, Del Ray Artisans Gallery, Edison Place Gallery, Gallery Underground, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, National Building Museum, Torpedo Factory Art Center, and Touchstone Gallery; internationally at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France and the World Trade Center in Moscow, Russia.

Zabavskiy is Senior Graphic Designer at the National Building Museum where his artwork has also been exhibited, most recently in Wright on the Walls. Vlad is a member of the Arlington Artists Alliance and The DC Creative Guild. He maintains a studio at the Columbia Pike Artist Studios in Arlington, VA.

To purchase artwork, visit the artist’s website at www.zabavskiy.com.
 

Ancient Urbanism: How the Built Environment Influenced Society in the 11th Century Greater Middle East - Monday, October 16, 2017 (6:30 PM - 8 PM)

The Exhibition highlights 19 works of architecture from the 2014-2016 cycle of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is given every three years to projects that set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture. Through its efforts, the Award seeks to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of societies across the world, in which Muslims have a significant presence. An emphasis is placed on projects that address pluralistic communities and bringing together diverse populations. As Shiraz Allibhai, Deputy Director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, puts it, the Award “serves people, serves community.”

The exhibition emphasizes architectural works that not only provide for peoples' physical, social and economic needs, but that also stimulates and respond to their cultural expectations. The exhibition highlights the attention that is given to building schemes that use local resources and appropriate technology in innovative ways, and to projects likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere.

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About The Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which has a wide range of activities aimed at the preservation and promotion of the material and spiritual heritage of Muslim societies. The AKTC is one of many agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network, a private, non-denominational international development organization, chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. These agencies work to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. Some programs, such as specific research, education and cultural programs, span both the developed and developing worlds. While each agency pursues its own mandate, all of them work together within the overarching framework of the Network so that their different pursuits interact and reinforce one another.

Established by His Highness in 1977, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture’s US$1 million prize is unique from many other architectural prizes in that it selects projects – from slum upgrading to high rise “green” buildings – that not only exhibit architectural excellence but also improve the overall quality of life.

Over the last four decades, it has steadfastly championed the needs and aspirations of human beings within the practice of architecture. The Award is also different because it not only rewards architects but also identifies municipalities, builders, clients, master craftsmen and engineers who have played important roles in the realization of a project.

About the Aga Khan Council for the United States of America

The Aga Khan Council for the United States of America is the social governance structure for Ismaili Muslims. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, The Aga Khan Council is supported by numerous volunteers throughout the country who provide their time and talent toward improving the quality of life of the community. His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam, or spiritual leader, of the Shia Ismaili Muslim Community.

The Ismaili Muslims are a culturally diverse community living in over 25 countries around the world. They adhere to a 1,400-year tradition of Shi'a values that are expressed through a commitment to a search for knowledge for the betterment of self and society; embracing pluralism by building bridges of peace and understanding; and generously sharing of one's time, talents, and material resources to improve the quality of life of the community and those among whom they live.

Images

Moroccan fountain in the Black Market, while most of the objects and vegetation in the park have been imported from other cultural contexts and places. The park allows visitors to encounter and use these alien and exotic objects as an everyday life experience. Image courtesy Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Kristian Skeie.

Located in rural Gaibandha where agriculture is predominant, the project's roofscape merges with its environment. Image courtesy Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora.

View from the south towards the Bridge and Alborz Mountains in the background. Image courtesy Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Barzin Baharlouie.

The project is a great asset to the campus, AUB and Beirut. The professionals describe the design as very contemporary, representative of its time and one that pushes the physical abilities of the materials used to the limit, while the art community views the building as a piece of art. Image courtesy Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Cemal Emden.

Column free prayer hall is raised on eight peripheral columns, in addition to four light courts, random circular roof openings allows daylight into the prayer hall creating an ornate pattern on the floor enhancing spirituality through light. Image courtesy Aga Khan Trust for Culture / Rajesh Vora.

Related Programs

Tuesday, Aug 8, 2017: "Passport Destination: Taipei"
Thursday, Aug 31, 2017: "Greetings from Hometown Washington, DC"

About Exhibition

Travelers from around the world flock to the nation’s capital to experience extraordinary sites: stately buildings that house the government; commemorative structures that honor people and events; and grand institutions that celebrate the arts, humanities, and sciences.

Wish You Were Here! Vintage Postcards from Washington, D.C. takes visitors on a visual journey through the capital city as it was illustrated through postcards from the early-to-mid 20th century. Organized by AIA|DC, the exhibition features over 300 vintage postcards reproduced from collections held at the DC Public Library, Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and National Building Museum. The exhibition highlights sightseeing, transportation, street scenes, museum and government buildings, commercial establishments, sacred spaces, and parks.

The exhibition is divided into six sections: Traveling to Washington; Commencing the Adventure; Navigating the City; Exploring Iconic Landmarks; Discovering Local Places; and Remembering the Journey.

Curator’s Statement

Wish You Were Here! takes visitors on a visual journey through Washington, DC via vintage postcards from the early 20th century. The exhibition is not a history lesson on postcards, nor a complete story about each building or place represented. Rather, the exhibition offers an intimate perspective on the nation’s capital as a sightseer’s destination with many points of interest. The experience invites visitors to step into the world of each postcard and imagine the essence of its place and time.

The exhibition is partly inspired by an interest in cities and urban life, a love of travel, and the notion of time, as well as Lost Washington, D.C., a book by Paul Kelsey Williams which highlights extraordinary buildings in the capital city that no longer exist. Scott Clowney, a resident of Washington, DC since 2004, is Exhibitions Manager at the District Architecture Center. He is an architecture enthusiast, exhibitions specialist, and visual artist originally from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Send Us Your Postcards!

The spirit of mailing postcards is alive and well. Our newest exhibition features postcards that capture moments, places, and people from DC history. We want YOU to be a part of it.

Traveling this summer? Do you have family or friends in faraway places? Send us a postcard! Reach out to folks and ask them to send a postcard to DC from their neck of the woods. Include a note about your adventure or the landmark and landscape on the postcard.

Send postcards to our offices at the District Architecture Center. If you can’t send a postcard through snail mail, use an app like Postagram or TouchNote.

Mailing Address: District Architecture Center | 421 7th Street NW | Washington, DC 20004 | USA

Credits

Organized by AIA|DC for the Suman Sorg Gallery in cooperation with the DC Public Library, Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and National Building Museum.

Special thanks to Jerry A. McCoy, DC Public Library, Washingtoniana Division; Jessica Smith, Historical Society of Washington, D.C.; and Nancy Bateman, National Building Museum.

Conceived, curated, and designed by Scott Clowney, Assoc. AIA

Text edits by Mary Fitch, AICP, Hon. AIA

Installation by Rostin Rostai

Made possible with generous support from ABC Imaging.

Exhibition designed and modeled in ArchiCAD19, courtesy of Graphisoft.

This exhibition highlights 15 award-winning works of landscape architecture from the 2017 Professional Awards of the Potomac Chapter, ASLA. The range of projects encompasses residential, private and public practice, and a variety of project types that includes parks, courtyards, plazas, historic landscapes, and public realm guidelines.  Two awards were given in our new category this year: Social Impact.

The exhibition illustrates the range in scale and scope of the landscape architecture profession and highlights the high quality of work being produced in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. The Chapter’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, Beatriz Coffin, FASLA and Laurence Coffin, FASLA are recognized in the exhibition, as are two Edward B. Ballard Scholarship recipients.

For more information about the Potomac Chapter, ASLA, please visit: http://potomacasla.org/.

About the American Society of Landscape Architects

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a national professional organization representing 17,000 landscape architects. ASLA has 48 state and regional chapters. Founded in 1899, the mission of ASLA is to advocate, to lead, to educate, and to participate in the careful stewardship, wise planning, and artful design of cultural, natural and/or the built environments for human enjoyment. ASLA works to increase the public’s awareness of and appreciation for the profession of landscape architecture. ASLA is an active advocate for the profession at the local, state, and national levels on public policy issues, including licensure, livable communities, sustainable design, surface transportation, the environment, conservation issues, historic preservation, small business issues, and providing outdoor access that exceeds the requirements of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The early visionaries in the profession of landscape architecture noted that the designs of outdoor spaces are created for recreation, inspiration, and essential respite from the emerging urban environment. City parks and green spaces within the urban environment, along with private residential gardens, helps to improve physical and psychological health, strengthen our communities and make neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work. The profession enhances the outdoor environment for both private and public enjoyment. ASLA and its members are at the forefront of efforts to increase respect for the land and our natural environment, particularly on issues of prudent land use and planning, urban design, sustainable development, waste and water management including stormwater, resource preservation, recreation, and land reclamation.

About the Potomac Chapter, ASLA

The Potomac Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects represents nearly 400 landscape architects in DC, Northern Virginia, and Suburban Maryland. The purpose of ASLA is to advance the profession of Landscape Architecture in the eyes of the general public. The Chapter is the main advocacy body to advance the profession on the local level by holding events, meetings, outings and providing information regarding the profession to the local media and schools. The Chapter may also interface with municipal governments regarding local issues that could impact the profession, or the public realm.

Credits

Organized by the Potomac Chapter, ASLA in cooperation with AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery.

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Exhibition Opening Reception: Bees in the City + The Pollinator-friendly Garden
Monday, April 10, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Native Bees—Protecting our Urban Pollinators
Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Birds, bats and butterflies all take part in making our cities green but bees often play the biggest role.  Seventy-five percent of the world’s top 100 food crops rely on pollination from bees and other insects.  Our food supply, our major parks, even the plants in your garden all depend on bees.  How is it our world is so dependent on these tiny creatures and we know so little about them?  Bees in the City covers two types of bees:  honey bees who live in hives, and, native bees, representing about 80% of bee species, many of whom live completely solitary. 

In addition to learning about bees, the exhibition discusses how several world-famous architects have incorporated bee-inspired designs into their major works.  Finally, bees can also help us understand the modern design theory called biophilia, which reminds us that despite our preference to organize ourselves in cities, human beings need a connection to nature.  There is no stronger example of this than our centuries old relationship with bees.

The Pollinator-friendly Garden, an exhibition of botanical artworks by Studio 155 artists on view in the Suman Sorg Gallery through June 3 accompanies this exhibition.

Credits

Organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery.

Graphic Design by Jennifer Byrne, Live. Create. Play. LLC

Made possible with generous support from ABC Imaging. Exhibition designed and modeled in ArchiCAD19, courtesy of Graphisoft.

Exhibition Opening Reception: Bees in the City + The Pollinator-friendly Garden
Monday, April 10, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

The Pollinator-friendly Garden presents botanical artworks from the collection of Studio 155 artists. These artworks highlight flowering plants that attract pollinators such as bees, birds, butterflies, and other pollinating species. Discover decorative plants such as Bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), Goldenrod (Solidago), and Ornamental Onion (Allium), as well as edible plants such as dandelion, eggplant, and squash.

This exhibition inspires you to consider the importance of healthy, productive plant communities for pollinators in the city. Cities with plentiful greenspace and flourishing gardens benefit the environment, contributing to the cycle of nature and fueling the pollinator’s way of life. With threatened pollinator populations, due to habitat loss, pesticide misuse, and disease, healthy garden habitats support everyone. Pollinator-friendly gardens in the city are possible with the right information and a little bit of old-fashioned work.

Studio 155 artists work in various mediums, including colored pencil, graphite, oil, and watercolor. Their work captures subjects from flowering plants and trees to rocks and landscapes. This exhibition complements Bees in the City, an exhibition about bee pollinators on view in the SIGAL Gallery through June 3.

About Studio 155

Studio 155 formed following Botanical Treasures of Lewis & Clark: New Art for the Bicentennial, an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2006. As a group, the artists have exhibited artwork together at the Adah Rose Gallery, Athenaeum, Cosmos Club, Delaware Art Museum, Studio Gallery, United States Botanic Garden, and VisArts at Rockville.

Participating Studio 155 artists include Debbie Bankert, Roberta Bernstein, Elizabeth Ward Carter, Wendy Cortesi, Jill Hodgson, Vicki Malone, Donald Beekman Myer FAIA, Kappy Prosch, Michael Rawson, Ellen Tuttle, and Juliana Weihe.

Credits

Organized by AIA|DC for the Suman Sorg Gallery.

Special thanks to the artists of Studio 155.

Made possible with generous support from ABC Imaging. Exhibition designed and modeled in ArchiCAD19, courtesy of Graphisoft.

This exhibition spotlights winning photos from the #iseeDC2016 Instagram photo contest organized by the AIA|DC Design Excellence Committee.

Of the 700-plus photos posted between October and December 2016, 35 were selected by a jury for the exhibition. Each photo captures a place in our nation’s capital that has special meaning to those who participated in the contest.

The aim for the contest—and exhibition—is to raise public awareness of the built environment in Washington, DC and explore how design can not only delight and inspire, but also reveal order and create a sense of place.

Organized by the AIA|DC Design Excellence Committee in cooperation with AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery. #iseeDC2016 Instagram Photo Contest and Exhibition Planning Committee: Steve Kunin, AIA, LEED AP; Dani Hoge, Assoc. AIA.

Sponsors

Major funding generously provided by: Baskervill and Hoachlander Davis Photography

Additional support generously provided by: EYP, HGA, Martinez + Johnson Architecture, and Peris Construction

With support from: David Haresign, FAIA & Patricia Haresign and Lewis J. Goetz, FAIA

Supported in part by: ABC Imaging

Opening Reception: December 15, 2016, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

This exhibition combines award-winning projects from three of AIA|DC’s largest competitions:

• Unbuilt Awards
• Washingtonian Residential Design Awards
• Chapter 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.

The exhibition features 39 projects organized by competition: theoretical and unbuilt commissioned projects in Unbuilt Awards; single family, multifamily, and mixed-used residential projects in Washingtonian Residential Design Awards; and architecture, interior architecture, historic resources, and urban design/master planning projects, including Presidential Citations, in Chapter Design Awards. Citation categories include Design & Wellbeing, Sustainable Design, and Urban Catalyst.

Credits

Organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery and Suman Sorg Gallery.

Made possible with generous support from ABC Imaging.

Exhibition designed and modeled in ArchiCAD19, courtesy of Graphisoft.

Since 2011, a flurry of building has been changing the landscape of our city, building excitement all around. For each 20 new building projects, a mylar balloon dances and shimmers in the breeze, its height indicating the quantity of permits issued each year. These balloons reflect a new energy felt all over town. At this joyful time of year, however, it is important to remember that all must have a share in the growth. The size of the balloons indicates relative affordability of rental units in the city. It’s time to lift everyone up for a better view!

About EL Studio

EL Studio, an award-winning architecture and design firm, specializes in building finely-crafted, innovative structures within challenging constraints. EL Studio eagerly takes on complex problems and strives for the creative use of techniques and materials to develop resolutions unique to the problems and potential posed in each project. We collaborate with design partners to provide maximum benefit to clients. Not satisfied with the purely theoretical, EL builds what we draw, realizing designs that will enhance the way customers utilize space now and adapt to meet future needs.

Credits

Organized by AIA|DC for the SIGAL Gallery storefront.

Designed by Mark Lawrence, Elizabeth Emerson, Max Rosner, and Karl Gleason of EL Studio.

The most effective way to invite people into a building or landscape is to offer them comfort while they linger and engage the space. Furnishings are key to the success of public spaces.

Along with other furniture pieces designed by Tom Shiner, FAIA, the exhibition will feature new benches and a chair crafted from thermally modified ash for the outdoors.

About the Company M&LF^®

Museum and Library Furniture, LLC provides customers with simple, comfortable, and environmentally sustainable furniture that exhibits the highest standards of design and construction quality for use in museums, public spaces, and cultural environments. M&LF^® is responsible for custom-fabricated seating in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

For more information about M&LF^®, please visit: http://www.mandlf.com/.

About the Designer Tom Shiner, FAIA

Over a career of more than 40 years, Tom Shiner has upheld and advanced the proposition that architects design furniture. Tom uses the skills and creativity of an architect to design and produce furniture that completes public architecture and stands on its own as art.

As an architecture studies freshman at Virginia Tech, Tom won a national, professional furniture design competition sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. His competition-winning chair was exhibited at the Smithsonian in 1971. Tom subsequently studied furniture design at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen.

Tom's furniture designs have been featured in Interior Design, The Washington Post, ArchitectureDC and other publications. Among other honors, his furniture was exhibited in Visions for a New Century at the National Building Museum and Windows on Industrial Design at Apartment Zero.

Credits

Organized by M&LF® in cooperation with AIA|DC for the Suman Sorg Gallery.

Supported in part by ABC Imaging.

Sponsored by Shape Inc.