[OT from cottage renovations]
these images are a couple of weeks old, having been taken on 25 November as part of location scouting for another project. I have no idea why I didn't get around to posting them then but late is, one hopes, better than never.
(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)
[OT from cottage renovations]
this afternoon featured a run downtown to catch the Hopper show with friends old and new. the forecast called for unrelenting overcast but some afternoon sun didn't get the word and came out anyway.
(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)
contemporary architecture and its obsession with cast concrete is all too often all about holding down cost, particularly in that part of the public sector tasked with making transit facilities happen (for a contrast, by the end of the weekend I'll try to post some ratty images taken a few years ago in the ruins of Alford Tower -- but that's a different story).
no wonder it tends to leave me cold.
nonetheless, the material is not lacking in potential for creativity in application, a point not completely lost on the designers of Metro's above-ground station facilities. though most of its passengers are more intent upon destination and getting there than on details and setting, it can be worthwhile to look around for a few moments before riding the Red Line.
in the early afternoon sun the array of lighting fixtures seems to show what albino honeysuckle berries would look like. or pokeweed ...
I don't know how long ago the Navy Memorial was put in on the N side of Pennsylvania Avenue. for me the spot has always seemed quite contemplative, even amid the bustle of downtown. most passers by wouldn't give it much heed but coming from a Navy family it's hard to be unaffected, particularly one day after the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbour.
on an early December Saturday afternoon there isn't much bustling going on.
extra credit is due to whoever restored this building for taking the trouble to use curved glass in the turret windows, but what was the point in blanking out every other one?
this wall faces N so by all rights in the afternoon it should be in shadow. across the Avenue, though, S facing windows reflect plenty of light onto its face. by the time it gets there the light has been changed though these images really don't do any justice to what's happening.
inside, the Hopper exhibition completely
blew.
me.
away.
even through it was crowded as all get out
(which, if they had, it wouldn't have been).
having come later than the others I missed the Turner show but that's OK, there's nothing wrong with having a good an excellent reason to go back.
I just have to get around to it before they pack it all up and take it on the road.
the East Wing has been there for, oh, about 30 years. it's far more appealing than the majority of modern slabface buildings and the Calder mobile designed for its atrium never fails to delight.
its W façade is seen here from the E steps of the gallery's main building in the very last of afternoon light.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}