nir buras – Neil Flanagan

Would You McMillan II?

January 22, 2010January 22, 2010Architecture, Localmcmillan two, nir buras, salon1 Comment

Nir Buras is looking to redouble work on his McMillan II plan. He asked me to post this little ad, so of course I obliged.

Recent construction in DC dilutes the character of the City’s built environment and it is on the verge of loosing its identity. Obviously the City and its citizens deserve better. The order and principles of the L’enfant Plan provided the “DNA” of the City. The McMillan Commission (1902) invented the National Mall and created many if not most of the beautiful buildings and landscapes of DC including the Lincoln Memorial, Federal Triangle, Rock Creek Park, the GW Parkway and more. The McMillan II Initiative proposes architecture and City Building principles commensurate with DC’s legacy and its world role. It will enable healthy “green” growth for DC, provide longevity and promote timeless beauty into the 22nd Century and make DC a WorldClass City.

The first round of McMillan II recognized the mile-wide no-man’s land of freeways and underused parks existing along the Anacostia River, much of it on Federal land. This disconnection is the City’s urban, social and political nightmare. DC needs a healing act, both literally and figuratively, stitching together this urban gash for the social, economic and civic benefit of all. The first round of McMillan II was recently made public on the Kojo Nnamdi show and numerous blogs. In the second round we seek participants to assist in further detailing the plan and ground it in the best sustainable, economic, hydrological, financial, urban planning and design practices. Skills sought include collegiality, reading, writing, drafting and computer graphics, modeling and animation, video, sketching and water coloring to further develop and repackage the project.

For participation, please contact Dr. Nir Buras at info@buras-classical.com and state your relevant interests, skills and experience.

Additionally, he and I are intending to hold a salon to discuss the plan, its underpinnings, and its consequences at some point in the future. If you’re not interested in working on the project, or if you’re like me and enjoy a good debate about architecture, that might be more your thing. Stay posted.

McMillan Two gets some feedback

October 22, 2009January 14, 2010Architecture, Localbeyond dc, blogosphere, city block, classicism, criticism, dcist, design, ggw, internet, jdland, kojo nnamdi, mammoth, mcmillan two, nir buras, ryan avent, strassgefuhl7 Comments

Last week, I published the McMillan Two concept, after hearing about it on the Kojo Nnamdi show and interviewing the designer, Nir Buras. I’ve been pretty excited by the dialogue – the post of GGW received 88 comments and several thousand views. Others have jumped in.

First was the excellent constructive criticism by Alex Block. But he outdid himself with another article arguing for an ecologically balanced solution, which built on a post by…

…Mammoth, who delivered a strident critique of the more Eurocentric and anti-wetland flaws in the proposal. I commented on the article, and the exchanges between me, J.D. Hammond, and Rob Holmes are all good dialogue. The example of the Port Lands project in Toronto is worth examining in depth.

Straßgefühl, the only other blog whose name rivals mine, offers a counter-proposal based on the Sumidagawa river in Tokyo. The post opens up a new direction of thought, but it’s marred by insisting that Buras would be building a pseudo-historical development, since the proposal has no pretensions of history.

Obviously there was the news coverage too. BDC offered his thoughts, Ryan Avent jumped in with a skeptical but enthusiastic reception, JDLand noted that the plan exists, and DCist had its usual commentary.

If you’re still thirsty for information, you can look at the earlier reactions: City Block’s initial thoughts and then a look at precedents. Straßgefühl kinda-sorta liked it before; and Spencer Lepler was generally ok as well.

But it is great to see this kind of dialogue happening. The issues of nature, tradition, environment, autonomy, and culture have a lot of intersections not yet explored. The only thing everyone agreed on: tear down the highways. Interesting, no?

Bonus: Here’s an in depth article about Buras from Las Vegas Weekly. Read it!

McMillan Two envisions a Classical Anacostia

October 14, 2009October 15, 2009Architecture, Local, planninganacostia, classicism, crosspost, design, linkedin, master planning, new urbanism, nir buras, paris, planning, river east, rivers, streets, traditionalism, unsolicited architecture, urbanism6 Comments

The public character of Washington has grown around two grand plans. First, Charles L’Enfant laid out the city as a sacred grove for the marking of America’s history. One century later, the McMillan Commission restored and expanded upon that original design to include the history of the Nineteenth Century. Now, The city center has grown up in the second hundred years since then, enough for Congress to declare the Mall closed to new development. Meanwhile, the rest of the city has built up or spread out into suburbs. In light of the last fifty years, a group of traditional Washingtonian architects have developed an audacious proposal for the next lifetime of growth, McMillan Two. Fulfilling some less-known intentions of the McMillan Plan with slight modifications, this plan essentially calls for bringing Paris, mansard , Seine and all, to the Capital of the United States.

Developed by the Build DC Initiative and architect Nir Buras in particular, the design has been sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, the National Civic Arts Society, with some support from the DC chapter of the Congress for New Urbanism. Buras’s philosophy draws hard from tradition: we know what is beautiful and what works – and we should do that. Downplaying strident formal innovation, the relationship buildings have to precedents in a cultural tradition guides design. For McMillan Two, France provides that tradition, particularly L’Enfant’s garden models and the Beaux-arts education of Burnham, McKim, and Olmsted. Though the partners have kept much of the project under wraps, Buras has recently begun sharing the outlines of this radical rethinking of DC’s future, namely that “Washington remains the most beautiful city in the nation.”

current-anacostia-plan — Near Southeast today. All images courtesy Nir Buras.

Continue reading ➞ McMillan Two envisions a Classical Anacostia

North of Tilden: In the name of the Father, the Builder and Community Spirit

September 23, 2009Localautomobiles, beauty, classicism, development, double plus ard, metro, nir buras, opposition, sustainability, tenleytown, tenleytown library, tod, torti gallas, traditionalism, urbanism, yuma study center4 Comments

The Tenleytown area has been a hub of hubbub for the past two weeks, and more is to come. Four long awaited projects made great strides, however, opportunities are still being lost.

First the good news: The Tenleytown Library will break ground today, September 23rd at 10:30 AM, with Mayor Fenty and perhaps some protesters in attendance. The Economic Development office decided to spend $650K-1M to build stronger girders in the rear of the building, to permit future growth above and to the rear of the library. Across Wisconsin, the renovated and restored fields at Fort Reno Park will open on October 3rd. Another contentious site, the three athletic pitches look great. I can’t wait to see people enjoying the park and all its earthly delights again.

The new structure is on the left. Pray for a good contractor. — Top: Yuma Elevation, new structure at left. Bottom: Western elevation. (Image via DCMud)

Opus Dei revealed more details about their plan for the Yuma Study Center, a residential and educational facility behind St. Ann’s Catholic Church. Going before the HPRB, Moses of the Anacostia Nir Buras presented a handsome traditional home that would stand west of the Covenant of the Bon Secours building. Alvin Holm‘s design for the building is in a humbler strand of Classicism than the grandiose variety that Washington is known for, and that’s really good to see. As you can see, the new building would have nearly identical proportions and mass, but would use a more Chesapeake style and add a porch to indicate a residential character. However, I think the building would be better to stand on its own rather than be a redecorated twin. Still, positive.

And below, the ARD gives us Barabbas.

Continue reading ➞ North of Tilden: In the name of the Father, the Builder and Community Spirit