For Immediate Release: April 6, 2009
Media Contact: Marketing and Communication Department
Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture: Beauty vs. Barricades
WHO/WHAT
How can Washington, D.C. balance the need for security with accessibility, transparency, and aesthetics in its buildings?
On Tuesday, April 14th at the National Building Museum, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Robert Campbell, an architecture critic at The Boston Globe, will discuss what he refers to as "security mania" in D.C, citing the FBI Headquarters and the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center among his examples.
In a recent Boston Globe article on the subject, Campbell wrote, "Dealing with security, with the threat of terrorism, is now an obsession in Washington, not only at the Capitol. Sometimes it's done well. Philadelphia landscape architect Laurie Olin, for example, has created a low car-bomb barrier that entirely circles the Washington Monument, but you never notice it because it also serves as a comfortable dark granite seating bench. And at the National Museum of the American Indian, vehicles are blocked at one corner by a handsome sculptural pile of 'grandfather rocks'…that are an improvement on Jersey barriers and steel bollards."
Our buildings say much about the national mood and can provide a larger metaphor for how we view ourselves and our government from the neo-classical look of D.C. to the remaking of the mall as part of the 1902 McMillan Commission. What will future generations think about the buildings and security measures we are designing and constructing today?
Dedicated to providing a forum for discourse on the planning and design of Washington, D.C., the Charles H. Atherton Memorial lecture series commemorates the life and legacy of Charles Atherton, who served for almost four decades as Secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The series examines the architectural, historical, and natural context of the city and its development to promote visionary planning and design excellence in the nation's capital.
WHERE
National Building Museum
401 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(Judiciary Square Metro, Red Line)
WHEN
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 / 6:30 – 8:00 pm: Lecture
TICKETS
$12 Museum members; FREE students; $20 non-members; to register, visit www.nbm.org or call 202.272.2448. Advance registration requested; walk-in registration based on availability.
MEDIA CONTACT
Marketing and Communications Department, 202.272.2448, ext. 3458
Email or call to request a press pass, or register for one online.
BACKGROUND
The Charles H. Atherton Memorial Lecture is supported by generous contributions to the Charles H. Atherton Memorial Fund.
The National Building Museum is America’s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions, educational programs, online content, and publications, the Museum has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the world we build for ourselves. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit www.nbm.org. Connect with us on Twitter: @BuildingMuseum and Facebook.
