This will not only benefit the neighborhood, but will go a long way toward turning AU Law into a world-class law school.

by Ron on Jul 21, 2011 12:38 pm  

You are aware, of course, that every single thing you complain about was a concession to neighbor demands, right?

by Dizzy on Jul 21, 2011 12:39 pm  

@Neil,

I agree that Tenley campus and Tenleytown can really benefit from a public staircase as you suggest. But do you know if there are any building facilities underneath that large green buffer? My understanding is you could not have a classroom without windows, but I don't know if that applies to maintenance rooms.

Also, Tenleytown has a pretty persistent homeless problem. Would a public staircase attract homeless to congregate around the campus entrance? Your examples seem to be in highly populated areas, which Tenleytown is not.

by cmc on Jul 21, 2011 12:43 pm  

@cmc:

Although it doesn't own the building, Georgetown University has a number of classrooms and computer rooms without windows in the Car Barn.

by Matt on Jul 21, 2011 12:52 pm  

@Matt,
Come to think of it, I know AU has quite the number of classrooms without windows. I take that back. But I still wonder what's underneath that buffer.

by cmc on Jul 21, 2011 12:57 pm  

Neil, I think it's worthy to discuss what they should've done, but it's important to realize that in Tenleytown, the residents have an "our way or no-way" approach to anything AU does.

@cmc: There is a bit of a homeless population in Tenley, but they stay away from AU because of the constant patrols by AU officers. They typically camp out by the Metro or the Mini-Mart.

by John M on Jul 21, 2011 1:01 pm  

Classrooms without windows aren't ideal, but they are done in many places. The types that most lend themselves to "non-window" spaces are auditoria and large lecture halls and case study rooms.

As for attracting homeless, Pioneer Square Park in Portland is quite quiet at night, and yet does not seem to attract a large number of homeless folks (and there are lots of homeless in Portland). Careful design and good security can manage that problem. (Since AU has its own security force, they should be able to handle the homeless issue without additional cost to the city.)

by TCH on Jul 21, 2011 1:05 pm  

"Flawed and outdated" is the locals' design for the rest of the neighborhood so it will match perfectly.

by aaa on Jul 21, 2011 1:11 pm  

I'm surprised the neighborhood isn't embracing this move and on board to have this happen as fast as possible.

Classrooms for studious, quiet, and respectful law students will replace spill-over housing for undergradutes and the Washington Semester program (students from around the world only here for a semester, tend not to give a damn about neighborhood concerns).

All retail in the neighborhood will receive a benefit and there likely will be less cars driving on Wisconsin and Nebraska due to accesibility to the Metro and bus.

by cmc on Jul 21, 2011 1:17 pm  

I think your proposal (in theory) is in large part right. Unfortunatley, the existing street scape makes it a little difficult becasue unlike the inner pedestrian street you illustrated at Columbia University, the circle has fast moving traffic. Also, the geometry is irregular to the point that a formal relationship from the classical and symmetrical facade would be problematic. That being said, some king of engagement would be better than what's there.

The formal front yard is an element from the Beaux Arts that can best be seen in the Capitol Building. When you look at the original L'Enfant plan, he had the civic uses woven into the citie's fabric much like the European precedents rather than in Beaux Arts complexes like the Federal Triangle and the Capitol Hill ensemble. In this case with the classical building much farther away from the "action" as say the Metropolitain Museum of Art, it might make it impossible to get the engagement you are advocating, but surely somekind of design would help. Maybe a little sketch could be part of your next installment.

by Thayer-D on Jul 21, 2011 1:21 pm  

Neil's concerns are dead on. AU is going to put the law school's main entrance on Nebraska Avenue, next to the entrance to its parking garage, and at the farthest point from the Tenley Metro station. As currently designed, Capital Hall will serve as nothing more than a museum piece -- a facade of a museum piece really -- cutting off the new buildings from Wisconsin Ave / Tenley Circle. HPO apparently thinks this is just dandy, which aptly demonstrates the divide between urbanism and preservationism in DC. What a missed opportunity.

@Dizzy The neighborhood/neighbors had no part in AU/HPO's decision to leave Capital Hall and the greenspace in front of it as useless museum pieces

by Tenley on Jul 21, 2011 1:50 pm  

@Neil -- On your first map image, I think you want to say that Wisconsin and Tenley Circle are in the upper right (not upper left). I got confused for a bit trying to square the map with the area as it stands now.

by Jacques on Jul 21, 2011 2:54 pm  

@Tenley

I don't think that statement is accurate. The Tenley Historical Society had placed a landmark application on the entire campus. While many would probably support that Capitol Hall is historic, the rest of the campus is not. However the SHPO, who happens to live in the neighborhood, has pushed to keep the open plaza in the middle of the campus as well as a dubious "old" house (which apparently has an intact doorknob or something) and a chapel- which limits the options of the University.

by William on Jul 21, 2011 3:02 pm  

@ Dizzy @ John M The neighbors care nothing about what happens to the front of the property. Their beef is with preserving the green buffer to the rear they currently have and to preserving their rights to keep non-residents from parking on their street. Different group than those against the main campus design.

@ Thayer-D Not correct on the speeding traffic issue at all. Nebraska is a major walking route for AU students and is quite busy with both car and walking traffic. I'm no architect, so you may be right about the Beaux Arts business. But Neil is talking about taking out a berm that creates, well a barrier to engagement with the streetscape.

The thing that is so perplexing about this design, with the above being the case, is why the AU law school folks are missing the business opportunity to create an appealing place for students to attend. Why wouldn't they want a hypothetical student to utter the following words: "I was up in the air about attending AU law school, but I fell in love with the place." Perhaps far-fetched, but aesthetics do matter, both to the neighborhood and to those who would pay good money to attend.

by SAS on Jul 21, 2011 3:05 pm  

Neil,

Here is a little hint. This is law school not undergrad and law school is a professional degree. So most students lack any type of interest in connecting to the community. Sure, some students will live close to the school but most will find cheaper housing in other parts of the city. They will then drive or mass transit to school. Take classes, study there and then head home.

I still remember when GW undergrads wander into the law school campus looking for votes in the University wide student elections and could never figure out why law school students don't care.

As for the Columbia law school students I think you'll agree there might be a slight higher denisty in the UWS verse Tenly station.

by Burger on Jul 21, 2011 3:24 pm  

@Burger

What does that have to do with anything Neil wrote?

by Alex B. on Jul 21, 2011 3:31 pm  

Burger -- Wrong on the idea that law students lack interest in connecting to the community. While they may not be active participants in University "campus life", law students, like every other type of student around, hang out around the campus -- to study, to spend time with friends, to take a break between classes, etc. Having pleasant places on and adjacent to campus is a desirable thing. (Take a walk over to the existing Law School campus in Spring Valley when it's in session, and note the large numbers of students hanging out in the plaza and around the fountain.)

And, as professional students, they provide the good energy that comes with being a student, without some of the negatives (late night partying, loud noise, etc.) that is more characteristic of traditional-age undergrads.

Secondly, AU has a very strong law clinic program and, as a result, is very connected to the community. Granted, most of the clients probably come from other parts of the city, but there is no reason why the law clinics shouldn't have more of a presence in the design so that clients can easily find their way to them.

by TCH on Jul 21, 2011 3:37 pm  

@SAS

The neighbors care nothing about what happens to the front of the property.

Nope, not true. There was repeated insistence that those green buffers that Neil highlights be preserved and explicit opposition to "moving the buildings to the front" as he suggests. The specter of Foggy Bottom and Courthouse, with verbal scare quotes, was raised as what might happen if a 'behemoth' law school building was allowed to crowd the street.

by Dizzy on Jul 21, 2011 3:42 pm  

@Dizzy I've been to most of the meetings and don't know what you are talking about. Who are these neighbors who didn't want the law school building to "crowd the street?" If you've been to the meetings, can you identify the neighbors in question or the group(s) with which they are affiliated?

by Tenley on Jul 21, 2011 5:27 pm  

@Tenley, there are two factions. First are the immediate neighbors and the erstwhile Tenley Neighborhood Association (who do not have open meeting or publicize how neighbors can join) who want big buffers and greenspace to make it appear as if the law school is not present at all. In fact, they would prefer it remain in the Spring Valley location.

Second is the afore mentioned Tenley Historical Society who filed the landmark nomination on the entire property. This filing is causing the University to have to utilize something akin to the existing footprint, rather than mass a single structure behind Capitol Hall.

So while little of this dialogue has been aired publicly, you can be sure that it is happening with great vigor. As another contributor noted, AU has had to react to the various forces within the DC Office of Planning and the neighborhood groups to arrive at a solution that is remotely viable for their program.

by William on Jul 21, 2011 7:46 pm  

Capitol Hall is the issue here. It is the one building they are leaving because of its historic nature, and because the church across the street, which used to own the Tenley campus when it was apparently a catholic college, was rather upset at the idea that AU could have erased that entire history. I agree that the Tenley campus is awkward, but you can't criticize them for leaving Capitol Hall the way it is when the church and community wanted it.

by Ted on Jul 21, 2011 9:40 pm  

Lordy, St. Ann's has played a role in this? I don't know who would take TNA seriously; they aren't "the community." Neither the nearby neighbors nor the ANC have been pushing to keep the school away from Wisconsin.

by Tenley on Jul 21, 2011 9:58 pm  

@Tenley

The TNA is who I was referring to specifically, but there are others. As for who takes them seriously, apparently OP and Mary Cheh do...

by Dizzy on Jul 21, 2011 10:29 pm  

@Ted

They are actually being forced to keep the chapel and the Dumblaine House as well. The THS also asked for the 1950's dorms to be designated, but at least that was rejected by the SHPO.

by William on Jul 22, 2011 6:19 am