Commercial Architecture July 2017 - 12

FEATURE

new urbanism

PARK VAN NESS

Urbanists, Pasadena, CA. "They encapsulate important

"Remember simultaneous algebra equations where

Torti Gallas + Partners, Silver Spring, MD, was the
recipient of a CNU Charter Award for Park Van Ness,
a six-story, 271-unit apartment building that features
ground-floor retail near a transit stop on Connecticut
Avenue in Washington.
This Art Deco building is a striking addition to
a major urban thoroughfare, terminating in a vista
at the end of a cross street with a grand, twostory archway that leads into a 5,000-sq.-ft. public
plaza overlooking Rock Creek Park. The building
acknowledges the vista with a view of nature framed
by architecture that makes the pedestrian experience
more interesting by breaking up the large building
into two halves. The street-level view of the park's
magnificent tree canopies, highly visible because of
a drop-in grade, is a gift to the community.
Options for walking, bicycling, and transit are
plentiful-as is on-street parking-and so the
Park Van Ness includes fewer than one parking
space for each unit. A courtyard faces the primary
thoroughfare.

environmental and sustainable considerations in making

you solve for several things at one time?" Torti asked.

towns. It's a way of trying to restore the sense of commu-

"That's what this is really all about. You're solving for the

nity that people can share with one another in neighbor-

form of the city and how it behaves. You're solving for the

hoods and towns and restore balance between the natural

quality of the space between the buildings, the public

world and development."

space or public realm, or squares, or piazzas, or parks.

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

JULY 2017

You're solving for a mix of anything you could think of.
ARCHITECTURE OR PLANNING?

It's possible that I could live and possibly even work, play,

New urbanism is about a combination of architecture

go to school, or shop in the same neighborhood without

and city planning. "It's absolutely both," Moule agreed.

getting into my car every time I leave the house. Making

"There really aren't fantastic cities, towns, and neighbor-

those kinds of environments come alive again is import-

hoods that don't have beautiful architecture. Architecture

ant. It's also not only a mix of physical things, it's a mix of

contributes to the kind of visceral qualities of a place as

people," Torti said.

much as anything, and the way that buildings are de-

"One of the things that my firm, Torti Gallas + Part-

signed contributes positively to walkability or not. For

ners, prides itself in is creating neighborhoods for

instance, the way that a building faces the street, whether

mixed-income people, people that live on the same block

there might be a curb cut or two for an automobile, may

with one another, in the same neighborhood, that come

disrupt a pedestrian experience on a sidewalk. The façade

from different economic backgrounds and are racially di-

that a building presents toward the city can be interesting

verse as well. This is possible; this is the way the United

or not and induce more walking or discourage more walk-

States grew up once upon a time. It is not the way the

ing. That's a question of scale; it's a question of material;

suburbs have developed since World War II, which were

it's a question of how the sidewalk, the entire street front-

really more about separation and division rather than con-

age, is managed," she said.

nectivity and inclusiveness," Torti explained.

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