Financial Center Breaking News

Architects survey reveals growing desire to downsize and green up
According to a survey of architects who design custom homes, the most popular special-function rooms clients desire in a house -- apart from bedrooms, baths, kitchens and living-dining rooms -- are home offices.
Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Landscape architects mix art, engineering, geology to create enjoyable spaces
The aesthetic character of a city depends on the design of open space -- streets and parks, squares and plazas, courtyards and gardens -- as much as the design of individual buildings. Often exterior spaces are no less memorable than grand civic edifices, venerable churches and elegant homes.
Sat, 11 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Family-size apartments in urban areas could help smart-growth communities
If you are a middle-class family with school-age children interested in urban rather than suburban living, and if you prefer an apartment rather than a house, then your chances of finding a dwelling that meets your needs are practically zero.
Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Shaping the City: Overcoming the obstacles to regional cooperation
Most Frederick County residents are unlikely to care much about how Prince William County meets its affordable-housing targets, improves its schools or alleviates its traffic congestion. Likewise, few residents of the District, Alexandria or Manassas worry about affordable housing, schools or tra...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Shaping the City: Let there be light (carefully) in Metro stations
Lately Metro has taken a lot of heat because of persistent subway system deficiencies: lack of air conditioning in rail cars; escalator and elevator outages; and operator or equipment failures resulting in derailments and collisions -- along with injuries and fatalities.
Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Shaping the City: Good design promotes efficient air conditioning
"It's not the heat, it's the humidity!" a complaint often heard in Houston, where I grew up, is wrong. In fact, it's the heat and the humidity.
Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Georgetown's 'Social Safeway' is a monument to changing supermarket architecture
The recently rebuilt "Social Safeway" on Wisconsin Avenue NW, at the northern edge of Georgetown, is not just another remodeled supermarket. It represents a positive evolution in thinking about merchandising strategy and about being a good citizen through pedestrian-friendly architecture and urban...
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EDT