September 14, 2020
The Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently recognized twenty-six exceptional projects designed by Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. architecture firms. The winning projects were announced in a virtual celebration held on August 13. Reader & Swartz was honored to have three projects selected as winners, in three different categories (which we’ve been told is unprecedented):
Historic Architecture: Award of Merit: Rouss City Hall
Institutional Architecture: Award of Merit: Loudoun School for Advanced Studies
Residential Architecture: Award of Merit: The Crooked Bow Tie House
The celebration is now available for viewing on the AIA Northern Virginia YouTube Channel, and you can view all the winning projects in the 2020 Design Award Gallery.
At Reader & Swartz, we aspire to stay fashionable and smart while socially distancing in the office. Our DEVO Energy Domes “collect energy that escapes from the crown of the human head and push it back into the medula oblongata for increased mental energy.” Remember what DEVO said, “When a problem comes along, you must whip it!”
Laura, Kevin & Nathan are currently working from home, and do not wear DEVO Energy Domes, in order to let their mental energy leak out into their children’s brains.
Working remotely and staying safe in the office (and remotely).
This year’s issue features the Crooked Bow Tie House and Stone Wood Blue
Our office has had the pleasure of sponsoring some recent local exhibits at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. Through this fall, the MSV’s seven-acre gardens will be home to a 10-foot-tall daddy long legs, an 18-foot-long praying mantis, and more gargantuan bugs from David Rogers’ Big Bugs! Inside the museum, An Adventure in the Arts presents a “who’s who” of twentieth-century American Art and includes works by Childe Hassam, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol, among many others.
Make plans to visit the MSV and enjoy the new exhibits and wonderful campus, right here in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.
David Rogers’ Big Bugs installation features larger-than-life installations on the campus of the MSV. This praying mantis, co-sponsored by Reader & Swartz, is shown lurking in front of the renovated Glen Burnie Manor House.
Chuck got licensed in DC. They actually have a license card. “This could be important if I ever get pulled over for exceeding the public taste or for the improper use of historical references.” – Chuck
Chuck’s DC license card…
…we’re not sure if there’s a license that would ever cover this, though
We are excited to be working with Habitat for Humanity on five new houses, which will add to our 1992 North Kent Court affordable housing project (now known as Norris Village).
We were launched from obscurity into semi-obscurity by being published in the 1993 Progressive Architecture triannual Young Architects issue.
We are also excited to be designing a treehouse at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley as a tribute to our friend and client, the late Dr. Peter Bullough. Dr. Bullough was an original MSV Trustee and also a MSV Board member. We hope the treehouse will inspire wonder and silliness in young and old alike.
Dr. Peter Bullough and “Poinsettia Nate”, photo from our 2011 Christmas Dress-Up Day shenanigans