Gutted IM Pei Building W - 4th and M Streets SW - Washington DC - 2012-10-25
Sky House II -- One of two I.M. Pei buildings at 4th and M Streets SW in Washington, D.C., being gutted. The building to the left is "The View at Waterfront" -- an apartment building.
In the early 1950s, the southwest quadrant of D.C. consisted primarily of residential homes built in the early 1800s. Most of them had fallen into severe decay. Southwest D.C. had become home to a mostly African American population, and segregation and racism left them improverished and uneducated. Few homes had running water, and almost none had sewage hookups. People used latrines, which often were right next to drinking water wells. Most D.C. neighborhoods were built with immense alleys. Once, stables for horses existed in these alleys. In Southwest D.C. by the early 1950s, these stables were now "alley dwellings" -- homes for tens of thousands of black people. Two-, three-, and four-story additions were cobbled together from scrap lumber to add to these alley dwellings, and they were often unsafe and firetraps.
In 1946, the Congress passed the District of Columbia Redevelopment Act, which established the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) and provided legal authority to clear land and funds to spur redevelopment in the capital. Between 1952 and 1960, almost every single home, church, business, office building, and playground in Southwest D.C. was razed to the ground.
New York City real estate developer William Zeckendorff outbid a wide range of other developers to win the right to redevelop nearly all of Southwest D.C. In 1955, Zeckendorff proposed building a "Waterfront Town Center" on the north side of M Street SW (straddling 4th Street SW). The idea was to create an inward-looking mixed-use development: A one-story, small strip mall would contain a grocery story, retail shops,and a restaurant. 4th Street SW would be blocked off between M and K streets, and a plaza and small park created on the north side of the mall. To the east and west of the mall, 11-story high-rise identical office buildings would provide employment in the area. Scattered around the "town center" would be a series of low-rise and high-rise apartment and condo complexes (Tiber River, Carroll Square, Delaware Avenue, Capitol Towers, etc.) to provide housing for middle-income and wealthy families (e.g., whites). Each would be focused inward around a leafy courtyard (some of them with pools and fountains).
The office buildings (Town Center Plaza Towers) were designed by I.M. Pei, then a young Chinese-American architect just beginning his career. The office buildings were in the Brutalist (raw concrete) style, made of pinkish concrete with repetitive square window frames.
Waterfront Town Center failed miserably. The shopping mall never attracted good tenants, and pretty soon became home to discount stores, off-brand clothing shops, and no-name fast food joints. The closed 4th Street SW created a dead zone throughout southwest D.C. The plaza was sizzling hot in summer, and useless in winter, and contributed to drug dealing and crime in the area. The office buildings never attracted good tenants, either, and nearly all the workers in them came from Maryland or Virgina rather than local people from D.C. Meanwhile, the nearby residential complexes became insular and disconnected from the neighborhoods around them.
In 2007, the city provided redevelopment funds as part of its Anacostia Waterfront Initiative to have the mall demolished and 4th Street restored. Developers built eight-story Modernist office buildings (Waterfront Station) with uneven facades to the east and west of 4th Street. Each building had ground-floor retail (grocery store, drug store, restaurants, coffee shops) catering to upper-middle-class people (whites). An athletic field was created north of the west building, and a new park north of the east building. The entrance to the Waterfront Metro station was also radically redeveloped, with a new park, fountains, canopy, and meadow.
In 2012, the two I.M. Pei-designed office buildings had their facades totally removed and their insides completely gutted. Known as "Sky House I" and "Sky House II", they should be open in 2013.
Gutted IM Pei Building W - 4th and M Streets SW - Washington DC - 2012-10-25
Sky House II -- One of two I.M. Pei buildings at 4th and M Streets SW in Washington, D.C., being gutted. The building to the left is "The View at Waterfront" -- an apartment building.
In the early 1950s, the southwest quadrant of D.C. consisted primarily of residential homes built in the early 1800s. Most of them had fallen into severe decay. Southwest D.C. had become home to a mostly African American population, and segregation and racism left them improverished and uneducated. Few homes had running water, and almost none had sewage hookups. People used latrines, which often were right next to drinking water wells. Most D.C. neighborhoods were built with immense alleys. Once, stables for horses existed in these alleys. In Southwest D.C. by the early 1950s, these stables were now "alley dwellings" -- homes for tens of thousands of black people. Two-, three-, and four-story additions were cobbled together from scrap lumber to add to these alley dwellings, and they were often unsafe and firetraps.
In 1946, the Congress passed the District of Columbia Redevelopment Act, which established the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA) and provided legal authority to clear land and funds to spur redevelopment in the capital. Between 1952 and 1960, almost every single home, church, business, office building, and playground in Southwest D.C. was razed to the ground.
New York City real estate developer William Zeckendorff outbid a wide range of other developers to win the right to redevelop nearly all of Southwest D.C. In 1955, Zeckendorff proposed building a "Waterfront Town Center" on the north side of M Street SW (straddling 4th Street SW). The idea was to create an inward-looking mixed-use development: A one-story, small strip mall would contain a grocery story, retail shops,and a restaurant. 4th Street SW would be blocked off between M and K streets, and a plaza and small park created on the north side of the mall. To the east and west of the mall, 11-story high-rise identical office buildings would provide employment in the area. Scattered around the "town center" would be a series of low-rise and high-rise apartment and condo complexes (Tiber River, Carroll Square, Delaware Avenue, Capitol Towers, etc.) to provide housing for middle-income and wealthy families (e.g., whites). Each would be focused inward around a leafy courtyard (some of them with pools and fountains).
The office buildings (Town Center Plaza Towers) were designed by I.M. Pei, then a young Chinese-American architect just beginning his career. The office buildings were in the Brutalist (raw concrete) style, made of pinkish concrete with repetitive square window frames.
Waterfront Town Center failed miserably. The shopping mall never attracted good tenants, and pretty soon became home to discount stores, off-brand clothing shops, and no-name fast food joints. The closed 4th Street SW created a dead zone throughout southwest D.C. The plaza was sizzling hot in summer, and useless in winter, and contributed to drug dealing and crime in the area. The office buildings never attracted good tenants, either, and nearly all the workers in them came from Maryland or Virgina rather than local people from D.C. Meanwhile, the nearby residential complexes became insular and disconnected from the neighborhoods around them.
In 2007, the city provided redevelopment funds as part of its Anacostia Waterfront Initiative to have the mall demolished and 4th Street restored. Developers built eight-story Modernist office buildings (Waterfront Station) with uneven facades to the east and west of 4th Street. Each building had ground-floor retail (grocery store, drug store, restaurants, coffee shops) catering to upper-middle-class people (whites). An athletic field was created north of the west building, and a new park north of the east building. The entrance to the Waterfront Metro station was also radically redeveloped, with a new park, fountains, canopy, and meadow.
In 2012, the two I.M. Pei-designed office buildings had their facades totally removed and their insides completely gutted. Known as "Sky House I" and "Sky House II", they should be open in 2013.