Crystal City

How to Design a Building that Makes the Context Look Better

Text by Matthias Hollwich

Status  DESIGN

Type  RESIDENTIAL

Location  CRYSTAL CITY, ARLINGTON, VA

Client  VORNADO

Size  900,000 FT2

Scope  CONCEPT

Architect of Record  WDG

Team  MATTHIAS HOLLWICH, MARC KUSHNER, ROBERT MAY, TODD SHAPIRO, ALDA LY, DANIEL SELENSKY, IGNAS KALINAUSKAS, JERRY FIGURSKI, AMANDA AZZAHRA, IFE VANABLE, JT KEELEY, CAITLIN SWAIM, WOO YOUNG SHIM, JOEL HAGERTY, JOE KUHN, AXELLE ZEMOULI, NICOLAS LEE, ALBERTO HERZOG, AMY KESSLER, ANDREW MCBRIDE, GREGORY PIETRYCHA, JORDAN DOANE, NATHAN WANG, SAM MCCUBBIN, TAESOO KIM, ZACHARY ADERS, MATTHEW KALTMAN 

This residential development is designed to chart a new path for Crystal City, an office park and shopping center built in the 1970s and 80s with millions of square feet of brutalist buildings. These towers take inspiration from the surrounding office blocks, but substitute bright materials in the place of drab concrete to breathe new life into the area.

Its three towers make slender counterpoints to their heavy neighbors with expressive balconies that shift outwards up the height of the building. Inviting retail spaces and a public plaza give the area a new landmark for those arriving by foot, car or airplane from nearby Reagan National Airport.