During a time of great political divide across the nation and widespread distrust of bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., can architecture offer a practical solution to partisan politics?
Deadlock continues to fester on Capitol Hill. Congress’ approval rating ended the year at a meager 17%, and has hovered below the historic average (31%) since mid-2009. President-elect Donald Trump has stated that he plans to work with those on both sides of the aisle in Congress to accomplish his goals. Observers and experts predict Trump will have a tough go at it, even with a GOP-controlled Congress.
This begs the question, Is the “aisle” part of the problem in Washington? I’m not referring to the metaphorical divide between political parties, rather the physical layout of legislative spaces.
From K-12 schools to offices to universities, building owners across practically every sector are retooling their spaces to meet the needs of today’s innovation economy. Why not legislative spaces?
“In such a tumultuous period, shouldn’t we be questioning whether these spaces are working?” wrote New York Times architecture writer Allison Arieff, in a Nov. 2 opinion piece.
So much has changed in the business of governing—social and mass media, electronic voting, global convenings—yet the vast majority of spaces for political congregation remain virtually untouched, “frozen in time,” wrote Arieff.
She points to a study by Amsterdam-based creative agency XML that breaks down the design of 193 legislative buildings across the world. The most prominent layouts—opposing benches, classroom, and semicircle—were developed 165–215 years ago and remain intact with little modification. When updates are required, governments tend to restore these spaces, rather than rethink the layout.
There are outliers, though, including a meeting hall with zero tables and chairs for the European Union Council in Brussels. The layout, designed by XML and Jurgen Bey, utilizes blocky, interlocking furniture pieces that encourage council members to mingle. Check out XML’s report here.
Related Stories
| Nov 2, 2010
Wind Power, Windy City-style
Building-integrated wind turbines lend a futuristic look to a parking structure in Chicago’s trendy River North neighborhood. Only time will tell how much power the wind devices will generate.
| Nov 2, 2010
Energy Analysis No Longer a Luxury
Back in the halcyon days of 2006, energy analysis of building design and performance was a luxury. Sure, many forward-thinking AEC firms ran their designs through services such as Autodesk’s Green Building Studio and IES’s Virtual Environment, and some facility managers used Honeywell’s Energy Manager and other monitoring software. Today, however, knowing exactly how much energy your building will produce and use is survival of the fittest as energy costs and green design requirements demand precision.
| Nov 2, 2010
Yudelson: ‘If It Doesn’t Perform, It Can’t Be Green’
Jerry Yudelson, prolific author and veteran green building expert, challenges Building Teams to think big when it comes to controlling energy use and reducing carbon emissions in buildings.
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Nov 1, 2010
Vancouver’s former Olympic Village shoots for Gold
The first tenants of the Millennium Water development in Vancouver, B.C., were Olympic athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Now the former Olympic Village, located on a 17-acre brownfield site, is being transformed into a residential neighborhood targeting LEED ND Gold. The buildings are expected to consume 30-70% less energy than comparable structures.
| Oct 27, 2010
Grid-neutral education complex to serve students, community
MVE Institutional designed the Downtown Educational Complex in Oakland, Calif., to serve as an educational facility, community center, and grid-neutral green building. The 123,000-sf complex, now under construction on a 5.5-acre site in the city’s Lake Merritt neighborhood, will be built in two phases, the first expected to be completed in spring 2012 and the second in fall 2014.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
| Oct 13, 2010
Test run on the HP Z200 SFF Good Value in a Small Package
Contributing Editor Jeff Yoders tests a new small-form factor, workstation-class desktop in Hewlett-Packard’s line that combines performance of its minitower machine with a smaller chassis and a lower price.
| Oct 13, 2010
Prefab Trailblazer
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
