Upcoming Events
Fall Lecture Series:
History & Architecture of Georgetown & Washington
CNU-DC and The City Tavern Preservation Foundation are proud to present a series of 5 lectures on the history and architecture of Georgetown and Washington DC.
Speakers in the series will include esteemed historians, architects, and planners who will share their insights. It will include the establishment of Georgetown as a tobacco trading post on 60 acres and its transformation into a transportation hub to export goods. The visually illustrated lectures will conclude with an overview of the architectural changes in Georgetown and Washington over the past three centuries.
The five lectures over eight weeks (Sept 7 to Nov 2) are free and open to the public but registration is required through Eventbrite. The lecture series will be held at the historic City Tavern Club, 3206 M Street NW, between 6:00 and 8:00 PM.
Attendees are welcome to join the lecturer and hosts for dinner following the lecture by making your separate dinner reservation through Eventbrite.
Location:
City Tavern Club
3206 M Street NW
Time:
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Tour Rockville Town Square and Pike & Rose with CNU-DC Board Member Lee Sobel!
Register Today!
CNU-DC is hosting a tour of Rockville Town Square and Pike & Rose on August 26th at 10:00am. The tour will be led by CNU-DC Board Member Lee Sobel.
Rockville Town Square marks the redevelopment of downtown Rockville due to the ill effects of its urban renewal program into a vibrant, mixed-use, walkable town center and Transit Oriented Development, created through a Public Private Partnership. Pike & Rose is an example of a suburban retrofit project, from an active strip center into a high-end mixed-use, walkable Transit Oriented Development district.
These tours will focus on site histories, and the urban design pros and cons of the projects.
The tour will begin at 10:00am, in the central square at Rockville Town Square. Attendees may drive or take Metro from Rockville Station to North Bethesda Station to access the projects as both are walkable to their metro stops.
Lunch after the tour at Pike & Rose, on your own.
More about Lee Sobel, our tour guide:
Mr. Sobel has been a commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis, in South Florida, and he spent 10 years handling real estate development and finance matters with the U.S. EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities in Washington, D.C. He is a recognized expert in urban retail, market analysis, economic development, and smart growth.
July Happy Hour
CNU-DC will be hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, July 12th at Casta's Rum Bar! Happy hour will begin at 6pm, all are welcome!
Where:
Casta's Rum Bar
1121 New Hampshire Ave NW
When:
Wednesday, July 12th
6pm-8pm
June PLACE IT! Workshop
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James Rojas from PLACE IT! will be in Washington DC doing a book talk and hands-on workshop on how to engage immigrants in urban planning and civic discourse on Thu. June 29, 2023 from 6-8 pm at Torti Gallas + Partners.
Come for the evening session to learn the power of hands-on, non-verbal community engagement. James Rojas developed this approach when he worked at LA Metro planning for the eastside Gold line. Many Latinos would not speak up so he decided to bring objects and let them build. By tapping into creativity, Rojas found that communities expressed so much information.
That was 15 years ago. Over 1,500 workshops across the US later, it has become a national model for community engagement.
Refreshments will be provided at Torti Gallas. If you are planning to attend in person, please register below:
May 2023 Happy Hour
CNU-DC will be hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, May 24th at Dacha Beer Garden in Navy Yard! Happy hour will begin at 6pm, all are welcome!
We are very excited for the upcoming Congress in Charlotte, NC at the end of May. The "Focus" of this year's Congress is Corridors:
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The corridor is a significant element of the New Urbanism because of its inherently civic nature. In the age of the metropolis, with villages, towns, neighborhoods and districts aggregated in unprecedented quantity, the most universally used public spaces are the corridors that serve connection and mobility. Of the three elements - the neighborhood, the district and the corridor - the latter, in its optimum form, is the most difficult to implement because it requires regional coordination.
For this month's discussion topic, we'd like talk about how the corridor manifests in DC, with particular attention on the recent updates to the K Street Transitway Plan. The plan has gone through numerous iterations over the years; the most recent version features dedicated bus lanes through the center of the street with two lanes of traffic on either side (6 lanes of traffic total). Notably, the bike lanes present in previous versions have been removed with plans to locate them on L Street to the north. More information can be found at the link below:
K Street Transitway
Where:
Dacha Navy Yard
79 Potomac Ave SE, Washington, DC
When:
Wednesday, May 24th
6pm-8pm
Also, big thanks to Stewart Schwartz from the Coalition for Smarter Growth for acting as our guest speaker at our Annual Meeting!
Friday March 31, 2023 5:30pm - Sunday April 2, 2023 6:00pm
At its worst, urban density has been reduced to the simplistic definition of high-rise living, now blindly adopted by global cities as the way forward. Ingenious lessons in balancing urban density with public life seen in traditional human habitats worldwide remain marginalized and ignored. The human habitat, with its many variables, has been reduced to a hyper-simplistic formula of increasing density.
Hosted by The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) DC Chapter, a weekend-long Council about the complex issues communities and cities are facing regarding the balance of density and urbanism. A renowned group of speakers will address differing perspectives on this topic during panel presentations and discussions. The 3-day event will conclude on Sunday with tours of several DC Neighborhoods by local architects and planners.
Schedule
March 31st
April 1st
April 2nd
5:30pm - 9:00pm
9:00am - 7:00pm
9:00am - 12:00pm
1:00pm - 6:00pm
Opening Remarks and Reception
Refreshments
Urbanism/Density Presentations & Discussions
Breakfast & Lunch Provided
Washington DC: Height, Affordable Housing, & Development
Breakfast & Lunch Provided
Tour of Projects in DC by Local Architects
Location
New Year, New Urbanism!
Happy Hour 1/25/23
Check out Dhiru Thadani's pen and ink drawing exhibit
Dhiru Thadani, Chair of the CNU DC Board is having an exhibit of his pen & ink drawings of Washington DC. During the second year of the pandemic he made 26 drawings of his favorite moments in the city, one for each letter of the alphabet.
The exhibit of select drawings will be on display at the Den Cafe gallery at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW from July 3 to 30.
There is an accompanying publication, Washington Drawings: Abe to Zoo that includes all 26 pen & ink drawings along with text providing context and history of the subject. Framed prints are available for sale.
CITIES UNDER SIEGE: KYIV AND ODESA
Place, Urban Design, and Reconstruction
Two of the most important cities in Ukraine— Kyiv and Odesa—are currently under attack. Matthew Bell, FAIA presents historic analysis, and leads discussion of the principal architecture and urban design features of these cities with particular focus on the rebuilding of Kyiv after World War II.
Who: Matthew Bell, FAIA—Principal, Perkins Eastman—Professor, University of Maryland—CNU DC Board Member
When: Wednesday, July 20 2022 at 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Where: District Architecture Center, 421 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
RSVP: Registration required. Visit AIA DC
https://www.aiadc.com/event/cities-under-siege-kyiv-and-odesa-place-urban-design-and-reconstruction -- This event is limited to 60 attendees
$10 for Students
$15 for AIA, Assoc. AIA & DAC Members
$25 for Non-Members
Credits: 1.5 LUs
Please note: You must attend the entire session to receive continuing education credit.
Our City.
Our Town.
