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DESIGNArlington'11 Awards Program

To increase public awareness of outstanding design and to recognize and encourage design excellence in Arlington’s built environment, Arlington County is announcing the Call for Entries for this year's DESIGNArlington'11 design awards program. Distinctive architectural, public art, and landscape projects completed within the past five years may be eligible.

Complete program details and information are now available in this year's Call for Entries.

UPDATE: The award-winning projects for DESIGNArlington’11 are scheduled to be publicly announced at the February 14, 2012, County Board meeting. Submitters of award-winning projects will be contacted in advance, most likely at the end of January. More information and details about the awards ceremony will be shared closer to the meeting date.

Questions? Contact: Designarlington(at)arlingtonva.us

Northern Virginia Regional Commission Announces Four Mile Run Cyclist-Pedestrian Bridge Professional Competition Call for Qualifications

The Four Mile Run Restoration Master Plan adopted by Arlington County and the City of Alexandria in 2006 envisioned the stream corridor transforming from a “back alley” for large utility operations to a location celebrating the diversity and vitality of the surrounding neighborhoods. According to the Master Plan, the stream corridor, instead of being a barrier, will actually connect the two communities through a series of new cyclist-pedestrian bridges. The design process for the first of these bridges, which connects the trail near Eads Street in Arlington to the trail near Commonwealth Avenue in Alexandria, will soon begin through an open competition. The signature pedestrian bridge will span and unite the two communities both symbolically and physically in the lower reach of Four Mile Run before it makes its way to the Potomac River.

The Four Mile Run Cyclist-Pedestrian Bridge Design Competition will commence in October through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process published on the Bridge Design Competition website. For more information, please refer to the competition website: http://www.4milerun.org/

Architecture Speaker Series
Beginning in October 2006, a series of speaker series have been hosted in order to help heighten the extent of community discussion around and awareness of current and rising trends in architecture. Presentations have focused on an array of topics and bodies of work, as exhibited in the presentation materials highlighted below.

Lecture #5 - In Sight, In Mind, the Art of Sustainable Public Works (December 4, 2008)
About the Presentation:

William Morrish, Planner and Professor of Architecture, University of Virginia, kicked off the Planet Arlington and Architectural Speaker Series with a lecture on public art and the future of infrastructure design. Mr. Morrish was also the keynote speaker at the Americans for the Arts conference on public art master planning, and is the co-author of the "Phoenix Public Art Master Plan", a seminal work in the field of public art master planning. He was introduced by Maurice Cox, director, Design, National Endowment for the Arts.

Lecture - Part 1

Lecture - Part 2

Lecture #4 - Universal Design (April 17, 2008) About the Presentation: It is possible to design a product or an environment to suit a broad range of users while making it appealing to a wide audience. This approach is known as universal design and targets children, older adults, people with disabilities, people of a typical size or shape, people who are ill or injured, and people inconvenienced by circumstance, in other words, virtually everyone. The presentation covered the emergence and philosophy of universal design, and how universal design is different from accessible design and code compliance. This session will uses examples to review home and community features that work well for all of us, and a few that don't. Richard Duncan, the keynote speaker, has over 24 years of experience working in the Adaptive Environments Center in Boston and The Center for Universal Design in North Carolina. Universal Design Slide Presentation


Lecture #3- Making Green Beautiful (June 14, 2007) About the Presentation: Can “green” buildings be beautiful? Arlington is already recognized as a national leader in green building practices, and continues to explore how we can do more. And with our Fresh AIRE: Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions campaign, we are taking a number of steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help fight global warming. This program featured two well-known design professionals (Travis Price III , AIA, and Susan C. Piedmont-Palladino, RA) who helped us explore how sustainable architecture can contribute to design excellence in the civic realm, while creating energy efficient, resource efficient, and environmentally sensitive buildings where people live, work, and play.

Lecture #2: Balancing Building Security and Openness in Civic Architecture – (January 17, 2007) About the Presentation: This event included a panel discussion on the topic of building security. Achieving the balance between security design and openness in civic buildings continues to challenge design professionals, public officials, and real estate owners, well after 9/11. This program explored how architecture and landscape architecture in public and private buildings contribute to design excellence in the civic realm, while creating safe and secure environments. The techniques to achieve transparent security were presented by a four-person panel comprising Barbara A. Nadel, FAIA , GSA's Chief Architect, Leslie Shepherd, AIA, SOM D.C. Office Director Edward A. Feiner, FAIA, Landscape architect Trini Rodriguez. Presentation 1: Security Design Presentation 2: Balance: Design and Security Presentation 3: Transparency - Part 1 \| Transparency - Part 2 Presentation 4: Landscape Elements

Lecture #1: Enrique Norten (opening keynote) – (October 27, 2006) Internationally recognized architect Enrique Norten kicked off the series with a multi-media presentation at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater, 1611 N. Kent St., on Friday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m. Norten, founder and principal of the firm TEN Arquitectos, discussed his recent work, focusing on the achievement of innovative solutions through architectural design excellence. Presentation - Part 1 Presentation - Part 2