Washington DC – American Dirt.

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46 articles

Front yards in the Federal City: even the close-knit rowhomes feature green plots for garden gnomes. Or (since it’s Capitol Hill) political signs.

April 11, 2021 7 Comments

In these polarizing and emotionally fraught times, it has ostensibly become far more common for people to announce their political loyalties from the front yards of their homes—not just by promoting the campaigns of preferred candidates, but (at least in recent years) to overtly declare one’s stance on a certain issue, or even to declare

Mothballed marvel in Northwest DC: how does Chesapeake House stay neglected in such a wealthy part of town?

March 31, 2021 2 Comments

On a nondescript corner sits perched a mothballed little building, seemingly vacant for years. With plywood on all the windows and doors, it fits the standard characterization of blight. It’s hard to imagine any city with a population over 100,000 in this country that doesn’t have at least one structure sharing this forlorn appearance. Okay,

Corvids or COVIDs? A brief meditation on a misinterpretation.

February 18, 2021 2 Comments

It’s rare—maybe even unprecedented—that I have created an article based almost completely on a social media conversation. This probably has something to do with the fact that I’m not a heavy social media user. But I’m relenting this one time because I want to churn out a quickie article as I prep for a longer

The Supreme Court Building as a public forum: three recent vignettes place political fractiousness on full display. (MONTAGE)

November 30, 2020 7 Comments

For the last three years I have lived within a twenty minute walk of the Supreme Court of the United States. I can’t say it’s quite as banal as a city trash can, but it’s hardly something special at this point, when one lives this close. I’ve walked, run, or biked (and sometimes driven) past

Ravenous rodents resume rummaging amidst the rudimentary and rigorous lockdowns.

November 28, 2020 No Comments

It’s hardly surprising that I might begin a brief blog article with a trash can. Lord knows I’ve featured items even more banal as the central subject. But trash cans in the era of COVID take on an added weight, even when they tend to remain unusually empty. (And COVID is a subject that at

We might expect dissembling wire tapping in the nation’s capital. But what about dangling wire tripping?

November 21, 2020 No Comments

Early in the summer, on an evening run in a little-used park along the west bank of the Anacostia River loosely referred to as the Navy Yard Channel, I encountered a hazard that would be bad enough during the daytime. In the darkness of night, in a meagerly lit area, it was even worse. Can’t

Eisenhower Memorial at Maryland Avenue SE

Unveiling the Eisenhower Memorial. And removing a tiny sliver of Maryland in the process.

October 10, 2020 2 Comments

It’s rare that my work is “hot off the presses”—or, in this case, that it features a subject brand new to the world. But that is most certainly the case with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, unveiled on the 17th of September and, needless to say, still as fresh as a daisy. Over twenty years

Habitat 67: did Montreal’s mega-manifestation manage to make modular marvelous to the masses?

August 24, 2020 3 Comments

In April of 1967, the City of Montreal unveiled an unprecedented architectural showpiece, attendant to hosting the International and Universal Exposition, an event that most people referred by its catchier abbreviation “Expo 67”. This spectacular feat in construction owes a great deal to tradition. Starting with the the World’s Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s

Ann’s Beauty Supply: a serenade to small biz stubbornness.

July 31, 2020 10 Comments

On a relatively quiet block in the densely built, mixed-use Navy Yard neighborhood in Washington DC, a single structure stands out for its modest appearance. But in the Navy Yard, which, according to some measurements, has metamorphosed from a sparse and unsafe industrial zone of the 2000s to what is or soon will be

Reviving the vintage advertising banners: a nostalgia gimmick or a rediscovered commodity?

July 22, 2020 9 Comments

Am I the only one who has noticed the growing presence, particularly in the last few years, of restored advertising banners on the sides of brick buildings, like we used to see in days of yore? Most people know what I’m talking about; here’s an example in a well-preserved historic district a few blocks east