Laura Fisher Kaiser

CityCenterDC under construction. Addressing an audience at the National Building Museum composed largely of architectural college students in town for recent American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) conference, architect Shalom Baranes urged the rising generation to consider the benefits of lifting the century-old historic height restriction in Washington, D.C. “By overturning the 90-foot height cap [on residential streets], you’d get a lot more interesting architecture with a lot more natural light,” Baranes said, citing CityCenterDC as a prime example. Qualifying for a height bonus greatly enhanced the colossal redevelopment taking shape in the heart of the nation’s capital.Baranes, whose eponymous

Photo © Julio Cortez/AP Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. In the wake of the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, school districts around the country are grappling with “how to marry 20th-century environments with 21st-century technology and make our schools safe,” said architect Irene Nigaglioni, chair of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), at its School Security Summit in Washington, D.C., on February 7. Echoing many speakers at the meeting, Nigaglioni, a partner at the Dallas-based PBK Architects and the mother of a second grader, said she was deeply affected by the