This month, join Scott O’Barr, AIA, NCARB for a moderated discussion about Washington: The Classical City a National Civic Art Society documentary about how Washington, D.C. became an iconic classical city. Beginning with the Founding Fathers’ classical vision for the nation’s capital, the film (25:31) delves into the history of the city’s design, including the L’Enfant Plan, the construction of the U.S. Capitol, and the 1901 McMillan Plan that created the magnificent National Mall and Monumental Core as we know them. After World War II, the federal government introduced Modernism and Brutalist buildings, breaking the aesthetic integrity of the city.
J. Scott O’Barr, AIA, NCARB is an Associate at VMA in Philadelphia. Scott has extensive experience in not only the design of new buildings, but also in restoration and adaptive re-use of historic buildings and sites. His work has been featured in New Old House, Period Homes, and Architectural Digest. In addition to the Philadelphia Chapter of The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, Scott is involved with The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and is a past Board Member of both AIA Philadelphia and AIA Pennsylvania.