I was gone from The Hill for a few weeks between the holidays and business. When I got back to work I realized how much I enjoy walking the neighborhood streets surrounding the capitol building. This picture to the left is one of my favorite houses in the area. I often walk by it on my lunch break. Not only do I like the house, but the wonderful alleyway beside it. Capital Hill is full of great buildings, great houses. Some are two stories, some are three, some are even four stories with garden apartment basements. Some houses have bay windows that are enclosed in copper - there is one on Independence Ave. being renovated. Some have rounded bay window filled rooms - some have square windows while others have flat facades. I love that you find every style and color right next to eachother on the hill. I love the variety and the unexpected nature of architecture in the city.
The fact that the houses bring me great joy and happiness just affirm my actions for the past few months. The net surfing, the research, the emails, the book reading, the browsing, the begging, the pleading, the fee paying ... and now the waiting. I am doing what many people do after college graduation and after working in "the real world" for a year or so. We do it to get ahead and get "involved" in something we can imagine doing for 40+ hours a week. WE APPLY TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL. We apply to a graduate program ... and to me this a huge deal.
Let me just say it outloud here ... I am applying to go back to school. Many of you may know this, but perhaps many of you don't really know for what or what exactly it all means. I am applying for an MA or an MS (depending on the school's program) in Historic Preservation. Basically I want to help save old buildings and utilize our existing urban landscape in new and modern ways. Before you groan and role your eyes let me set something straight - I am not about the historic house as a museum. I want the here and now - the present - to be evident in an old building. I want new uses in old places because old places have deep souls - like Jimmy T's (above) down the street from my work.
In attempts to help this blog live up to its name here is an excerpt from my letter of intent to school. I hope this conveys my sentiments towards Historic Preservation and shows my love of juxtaposition just like this picture below I took around Chinatown/Gallery Place in downtown DC.
Historic Preservation is where the past meets the present and when orchestrated correctly, it will pave the way for the future. The built environment, like the people that make up communities, has historical context reflected in the details of individual buildings and collective neighborhoods. My interest lies in the area of interface between the old and the new – juxtaposing historic and contemporary architecture, as well as past and present notions of community, in order to strengthen and enrich neighborhoods. The preservation of historic structures provides depth to the cultural landscape. It is this depth that I wish to pursue in my graduate research. Through the practice of adaptive reuse, material culture is preserved and better utilized in architecture and urban planning. Buildings, as a form of material cultural, act as a visual language to connect people to each other, to the past, and even to a locale, much the way literature, music and art does. However buildings are living material culture, providing a backdrop for community life and utilized in everyday activity. Giving new life and purpose to historic buildings keeps neighborhoods alive while upholding their character.
Wish me luck and cross your fingers for me ... I will keep you all posted - good or bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment