By Doug Gordon
A minimalist curve of exposed-aggregate concrete columns and spandrels floating above bands of plate glass—the whole serving as a setting for The Octagon House and respecting its 19th century, pedestrian-oriented setback from the street—the AIA headquarters building is a masterpiece of Modern architecture. Designed by The Architects Collaborative and completed in 1973, the building has seen a brace of re-roofings, an interior retrofit or three, and various mechanical upgrades in its 35 years. But now it’s time to step back and entirely re-evaluate its rightful place in the 21st century.
The revival of the AIA headquarters building was the topic of a plenary session February 22 at the AIA Grassroots meeting in D.C., and the AIA component leadership stood firm and clear that they wanted to see the AIA building returned to its original Modernist glory. Very much like SOM’s Weyerhaeuser headquarters building—the 2001 AIA Twenty-five Year Award recipient—the AIA building originally had an open plan awash in natural light. Over the years, enclosed offices and above-eye-level shelving have replaced the 4.5-foot REF System partitions and file cabinets that originally served as workspace for most employees here. The sun still cycles left to right across the front of the building every day. But little of it penetrates to the back walls or interior offices. There are the inevitable leaks from time to time, the venerated VAV air-handling system too-often leaves occupants either shivering or perspiring. The relatively new carpeting is VOC-free, yet people still worry about air quality. And some opine that the building could do a better job of encouraging us to get up and move around a bit.
The team from Studios Architecture, the firm selected to design the building’s renewal, courageously stood before 800 AIA members and component executives during that February 22 session and opened the floor to comments and suggestions. The results, as you can see in this week’s article, were forthright and generally very positive.
One interesting point that came out of the discussion, with regard to replacement window treatment and other energy-efficient upgrades, was that the preservation of Modernism is arguably much more about the theory of minimalist expression of utility and structure, as well as human-scaled accommodation, and perhaps less about outmoded building systems.
But what about materials? Can (should) triple-glazed argon-filled—perhaps operable—windows replace the plate glass that defines the building’s façade?
On another level, a member broached the concept of building systems integration as it might apply to Modernist preservation: Every element should have multiple contributions, and not just for resource efficiency and occupant facility, but also for cultural, historic, contextual, and social synergy. Most uplifting of all during the session, it is clear that the Studios team will be considering the building at these and many, many other levels.
Watch this space next week for a blog entry by Abram Goodrich, of Studios Architecture, in which he will outline some of the goals of transforming the AIA building into the 21st Century Workplace when he will ask you directly:
What do you think?