The 555-ft Washington Monument peeps through the cherry blossoms
Literally overnight, the weather in Washington went from freezing to T-shirt and shorts hot. Cherry blossoms seemed to emerge by the hour as the temperature warmed up
Looking west down the Mall from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. The relatively new domed building on the left is the National Museum of the American Indian. Built in 2004, its uneven exterior is clad in pinkish-gold limestone, which evokes natural rock formations shaped by wind and water
The Kogod Courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery/ American Art Museum, designed by Foster and Partners, is a great public gathering space for performances, lectures and events
Honor Pythagoras, Per l- Per Vl, 1964 (detail), Alfred Jensen, Smithsonian American Art Museum. The thousands of shapes and colour strokes symbolize the unity that Jensen saw behind art and science, feeling and thinking
Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, 1995 (detail), Nam June Paik, Smithsonian American Art Museum. The installation evokes both the American interstate highway system, constructed continuously from the 1950s and part of the national culture, as well as the virtual world of electronic media
Arlington Cemetery: With its 300 000 military graves, and an average of 27 funerals taking place every day, Arlington is a place of great sorrow and ambiguity. Washington has more monuments to conflict and war than any other city I have seen
The Kennedy graves - a moving experience
Robert Kennedy's grave, a stark white cross, is similarly moving
The South African connection at Arlington. Robert Kennedy spoke at UCT and Wits University in 1966 and influenced a generation of students
The new (2004) National World War ll memorial in the Mall is surprisingly traditional, even conservative as far as memorials go. Still, it is transformed into a more active space by scores of people paddling in the shallow ponds
Modern Head, Roy Lichtenstein. Modern Head, part of a series by Lichtenstein, was first installed in Battery Park City, one block from the World Trade Centre, in 1996. The sculpture survived the destruction of 9/11, but was subsequently removed for its protection. The Washington Modern Head was donated by a member of the public in memory of his sister
A Downtown SAM, one of 105 safety, hospitality and maintenance employees or 'neighbourhood concierges' of the Downtown DC BID. Established in 1997, the Downtown DC BID has over the years moved beyond the traditional focus on clean and safe streets, and now produces an impressive annual State of Downtown Report. Other strategic initiatives include the DC Circulator public transport system, a fresh produce market, parking pricing policy, energy efficiency and carbon reduction programmes, and homeless services
The Mall in Washington in summer is an amazing, even overwhelming, public space. It carries the original meaning of the word 'mall', namely, a 'large area used as a public walk or promenade' which has sadly become associated with the term 'shopping-mall' in recent decades
Although the grand parade is a great public open space, many have suggested and commented that it needs a central fountain much like the one above or in Adderley Street.
It may not be the best idea given that it will host large event e.g. Fan Fest, but it still seems to be lacking something
Water always adds positively to a public space, and would certainly help to ‘soften’ the harshness of the area. Phase Two of the proposed upgrade had plans for reintroduction of the small channels of water or grachte around the Grand Parade, the traditional method of keeping the space cool. In the interim, I think we could also look at some ‘non-invasive’ interventions to soften the space, such as LED lighting that changes colour at night