Previous Exhibitions, 1986-2007

2007

• Stone to Steel: Spanish Architecture from the Romans to Calatrava Photographs by Maxwell MacKenzie

  Spain, once the wealthiest country in Europe, has for centuries been an economic and cultural crossroads. As a result, a multiplicity of different influences has shaped its built environment. Today, Spain is experiencing a period of vibrant architectural experimentation. The country is replete with examples of radical and innovative engineering, and contemporary buildings around the country reflect a willingness to take risks resulting in groundbreaking and breathtaking architecture.

  The work in Stone to Steel was the result of MacKenzie’s two recent trips to Spain (2004 and 2006). The large-format, mural-size panoramic color photographs—up to 12 feet in length—hung in pairs, each pair featuring an example of historic and modern architecture.

• Panoramic American Architecture: Photographs by Thomas R. Schiff

  A stunning series of panoramic photographs celebrating architecture from around the country. Featuring 32 color prints in panoramic format, the exhibition highlights buildings and spaces from San Francisco to Washington, DC.

2006

• Two Windows on the Willard: The Photographs of Carol M. Highsmith and Frances Benjamin Johnston

  An exhibition of photographs that celebrated the rich architectural story of the Willard InterContinental hotel. Featured 35 black & white and color images, the exhibition traced the compelling story of the demise and rebirth of one of America’s best known hotels.

• Altered Landscapes, Central and Rock Creek Parks: Photographs by Victoria Cooper

  This exhibition included photographs by local artist Victoria Cooper. Featuring over 45 images, the exhibition highlighted the dramatic beauty of two of the East Coast’s most beloved city parks.

• Cityscapes: Ink Paintings by Steven John Fuchs

  This exhibition featured 25 dramatic renderings of buildings in the metropolitan area, Cityscapes dramatized the unnoticed lives of the structures that we live and work in. Fuchs’ ink and wash paintings depict familiar scenes from around the DC area, such as Federal Triangle, Glen Echo Park and the Watergate, but typically, the subjects are rendered in the dead of night, or the chiaroscuro of dawn or at sunset, giving the structures a lonely drama. Using dramatic perspective and lighting, each drawing has a haunting sense of place.

2005

• Architecture in Perspective 20

  This exhibition marked the 20th anniversary of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators (ASAI). The works displayed in this overview represented the finest work of architectural illustrators worldwide, and will also included the annual Hugh Ferriss Prize winner. The Hugh Ferriss Prize represents the best work in architectural illustration for a particular year, as selected by a jury of professionals in the fields of architecture, illustration, photography, fine art, or design education. Timed to open in conjunction with ASAI’s annual meeting, to be held in Washington, D.C., in October, the exhibition featured approximately 55 award-winning illustrations. This exhibition was presented by AAF and was made possible with support from the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.

• The Initiated Eye: Secrets, Symbols, Freemasonry and the Architecture of Washington, DC with Paintings by Peter Waddell

  The tradition of Masonic architecture in the United States is grounded in a history far older than the establishment of this country.  Many of this nation’s founding fathers were themselves Freemasons and the Masonic stamp is visible throughout the city of Washington, DC, the surrounding metropolitan area, and the entire country.

  Featuring 20 original paintings by history painter Peter Waddell, the exhibition brings to light the little-known role that Freemasons have played in American architectural history. Original artifacts from the rich collections of the metropolitan area’s many lodges, many never seen before by the public, are displayed with the paintings.  The intention of the exhibition is to demystify the role that Freemasons have played in this nation’s architectural history and to provide a new perspective on various historic events.  Additionally, the exhibition discloses hidden Masonic symbolism found in the architectural details and decorative ornamentation on many magnificent 19th and 20th-century buildings and monuments throughout Washington, DC.

• Landmarks of New York This exhibition celebrated the 40th anniversary of the passage of the New York City Landmarks Law. This legislation preserves buildings, properties and objects with unique character or special historical or aesthetic value as part of the development of the cultural fabric of the city, state or nation. New York boasts 1,118 landmarks, 104 interior landmarks, 9 scenic landmarks and 84 historic districts. Organized by New York’s Historic Landmarks Preservation Center, this exhibition documented some of the most significant and unusual of these properties. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, well-know preservation activist, served as the curator of the exhibition and author of the accompanying publication The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City’s Historic Buildings.

• Heather Allen: Architectural Textiles this exhibition featured striking fabric collages combining vibrant colors and architectural imagery resulting in work that she describes as “architectural journals.” Elements of architecture feature prominently in her designs and she builds each textile from a stockpile of layered and treated fabrics in her studio. Her work is a combination of her painting, printmaking, and textile background and the architectural vignettes she creates are spiritual worlds of color and space where doorways, staircases and thresholds become metaphors for personal experiences.

• Doodles, Drafts, and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian Institution featured seventy-four original drawings, notebooks, catalogs and other documents illustrating well-known consumer products such as the Singer sewing machine, and the Crayola crayon. Drawings related to large-scale construction projects ranging from New York’s Grand Central Terminal to a hydraulic plant at Niagara Falls were also featured. Exhibition highlights included patent drawings for a waterwheel (1838) and an airtight bowl and lid, later known as “Tupperware.” .

• Janos Enyedi – Made in America: The American Industrial Landscape – Reconstructed This striking exhibition featured Janos Enyedi’s latest series of sculptural assemblages and digital prints, his first work incorporating images based on actual rather than imaginary, industrial sites. Enyedi’s assemblages bring to life the Bethlehem steel plant in Pennsylvania but are representative of industrial facilities throughout America. His work has an added urgency with so much of American’s industrial landscape being dismantled as manufacturing jobs shift to other countries where labor and material is cheaper. Enyedi shot his last photographs of the Bethlehem works two days before the site was permanently closed in April of 2003 after 150 years of making steel.

2004

• Aerospace Design: The Art of Engineering from NASA’s Aeronautical Research explores the history of aeronautically engineered forms and their relationship to architecture and design. The exhibition presents a new look at NASA’s wealth of artifacts that mark technological advances in the history of flight. Sixty-five artifacts from NASA’s collection, including wind tunnel models and designs for conceptual airplanes, illustrate how aviation-related forms can be as beautiful as they are functional. 

• Design Excellence: Public Patronage of Architecture and Art, Selections from the U.S. General Services Administration Picture this! America’s best architects and artists vying to work for Uncle Sam. Yes, it’s true. A new era in federal architecture under the auspices of the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Design Excellence Program is attracting the talents and services of some of the nation’s finest designers and artists to produce quality—even inspiring—federal buildings. Working in collaboration with the Octagon, the museum of the American Architectural Foundation, a striking exhibition featured 17 federal building projects by prominent architects such as Michael Graves, Antoine Predock, Moshe Safdie and Thom Mayne, internationally acclaimed artists such as Jim Dine and Sol LeWitt, and acclaimed artist/architect Maya Lin was presented at the Octagon Museum from December 12, 2003 through March 31, 2004.

• Timeless Experience: An Architectural Journey through Itria, Italy, Photographs by Rajesh Nair An evocative series of brown-toned black and white photographs depicting the atmospheric buildings and landscapes of Italy’s Itria Valley was presented at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Headquarters Gallery from January 16 through April 2, 2004. The fine art photographer Rajesh Nair took the photographs over a period of a year while living in one of the towns overlooking the valley of Itria. Featuring approximately 45 images, the photographs capture a timeless world populated by dry-stone circular buildings known at Trulli; Masserie, walled farms built to withstand invasions; and lime-washed walled towns dating back 700 years.

2003

• Schematics: Paintings by James Heron James Heron's work is characterized by a distinctive freestyle illusionism in which architectural images possess simultaneously a stage-like suggestion of narrative and richly textured abstraction. The exhibition will feature over 20 colorful canvases that comprise individually and as a series, a visual celebration of pure architectural form. Heron's undiluted architectural imagery has a resonance which feels complete in its unpeopled emptiness and tells a story that could be missed with the distractions of crowds.

• The World Trade Center: Preserving an American Treasure Originally built by the office of architect Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986) between 1969 and 1971, the World Trade Center model vividly reflects the sheer size and mass of the original site. Measuring eight by ten feet at the base with the twin towers rising just over 7 feet, the model was complemented by original photographs by renowned architectural photographer Balthazar Korab along with images taken by Lee Stalsworth during the recent restoration project. A video documenting the conservation process, innovative solutions developed by the team, and interviews with key participants past and present also accompanied the exhibit.

• Reflections on Architecture: Paintings by Joey P. Mánlapaz Over the past two decades, Ms. Mánlapaz has become well known for using 19th-century architecture of Washington, DC as subject matter of her work. Reflections on Architecture featured approximately 25 paintings. The "Reflection Series" are complex paintings that depict reflections of cityscapes on Washington, DC's storefront windows. Also included in the exhibition were a selection of works from Mánlapaz's "Deco Series," striking paintings that depict colorful art deco buildings of Miami's South Beach.

• Laying the Foundation for Liberty: The Statue of Liberty's Pedestal Much attention has been accorded the Statue of Liberty, but the story of the design and construction of the pedestal and America's preparation for the receipt of France's gift has had little mention. Drawn primarily from the museum's own Prints and Drawings Collection, the exhibition highlighted the work of architect Richard Morris Hunt, who was selected to design the pedestal. Drawings by Auguste Bartholdi, sculptor for the statue, and Gustave Eiffel, engineer for the armature, were included as well. The exhibition featured original sketches, architectural drawings, and construction photographs. A variety of three-dimensional objects were part of the presentation, including architectural miniatures and the 1986 restoration model of the pedestal.

2002

• Tobacco: Architectural Photographs by Maxwell MacKenzie Acclaimed architectural photographer Maxwell MacKenzie returns to the AIA Headquarters Gallery with a spectacular new series of color and black and white photographs documenting the diminishing tobacco barn. For the past three years MacKenzie has traversed through eight states documenting these humble yet striking structures. Over 70 images will be featured in the exhibition ranging from large format black and white panoramas to color aerial views of the barns.

• Echoes of Memory: Paintings by Sherry Zvares Sanabria Painter Sherry Zvares Sanabria focuses her considerable talents on the evocative depiction of building facades and interiors. In a striking series of 26 paintings, she explores various architectural subjects ranging from buildings in Northern Europe to long abandoned Virginia slave quarters.

• Inside the Temple of Liberty: 19th-Century Interiors of the United States Capitol, Paintings by Peter Waddell History painter Peter Waddell returns to the Octagon with a remarkable series of original oil paintings detailing the rich social and architectural history of the U.S. Capitol. Given the current limited access to the U.S. Capitol Building’s interiors, Mr. Waddell’s painted tour through many of these rooms is both timely and welcome. Organized by the Octagon Museum with generous assistance from the office of the Architect of the Capitol and the Curator of the Senate, the exhibition will feature 20 paintings accompanied by select objects on loan from the Capitol’s collections.

• The Nature of Architecture: Photographs by Amy Lamb Having pursued a career in biology before becoming a photographer, Amy Lamb has always been intrigued by the beauty and precision of the natural world. By juxtaposing her precise close-ups of fruits and flowers with details of the built environment, Lamb demonstrates the connections between nature and humanity’s remarkable designs. Lamb contends that in developing an architectural vision for structures that meet needs for shelter, comfort, and security, humans have turned both consciously and subconsciously, to the forms, structures, and proportions found in the natural world.

• Great Spaces, Great Faces: Sections and Elevation Models of Historic Architecture Organized by Prof. Timde Noble of the University of Arkansas School of Architecture, this exhibition featured over 30 models constructed by architecture students for their second year design studio. As part of their curriculum, student teams are required to produce projects on select historic spaces. Chosen because of their compositional, aesthetic, and representational significance, each space is researched, studied, and documented in drawings and detailed basswood models. Projects in the exhibition included sections of Robert Adam’s Sion House in London; Rome’s Sforza Chapel in the Santa Maria Maggiore by Michelangelo, Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois by Frank Lloyd Wright and elevations of numerous Renaissance buildings.

• Skyscrapers: The New Millennium Since its inception in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the skyscraper has been a source of awe and civic pride, as well as a measuring stick for human progress. As evidenced by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Towers in New York City, skyscrapers serve as powerful national symbols as well. The skyscraper is one of the most significant innovations in building technology in the last 100 years. From Art Deco, Modernism, and Postmodernism to the present search for new forms of expression, an analysis o f the history of tall buildings illustrates shifts in style and aesthetic concerns in the field of architecture at large. Skyscrapers: The New Millennium examined the changing face of the skyscraper as we move into the future, and demonstrates that the skyscraper as a vital architectural form is alive and well.

2001

• Catenary & Planar Spaces: Sculptures by Timothy Makepeace This exhibition featured fifteen of the artist's recent works. With the combined sensibilities of a sculptor, a photographer, an architect, and a builder, Makepeace orchestrates structure, design, light, and shadow into elegant works deeply indebted to the basic principles of modernism. The artist is drawn to the inner structure of buildings which inspire his constructions. Makepeace's visual thinking extends to looking behind, underneath, and through surfaces to find structural fragments that he then removes from their architectural contexts. In abstracting these fragments, Makepeace explains, "the structural dynamics become evident and bring out the structure's inherent sculptural qualities."

• Through the Looking Glass: Celebrating the Octagon's Bicentennial This exhibition, a diverse series of installation by contemporary artists and architects, helped transform the Octagon’s traditional rooms into thought-provoking environments. The participating artists and architects were asked to interpret an aspect of the Octagon’s architectural or social history through creative use of media and their unique perspectives. The results range from Peter Waddell’s narrative painting depicting the Octagon’s drawing room after the death in 1855 of the house’s owner, Ann Ogle Tayloe, to poet E. Ethelbert Miller’s powerful audio-taped story, Africans in Wonderland. Other participating artists included Hsin-Hsi Chen, Anne Slaughter, Richard Dana, Annette Polan, F.L. Wall, Graham Caldwell, John Dreyfuss and architects Adamstein & Demetriou. The exhibition was organized by independent curator Vivienne M. Lassman, formerly of the Troyer Fitzpatrick Gallery, and cofounder of Creativity 21st Century.  | More about the exhibition

2000

• Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, this exhibition celebrated the work of architect and designer Ralph Rapson. Rapson has been at the forefront of the modern movement since the late 1930s and with his American colleagues Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen introduced modern architecture and design to the world in the years during, and immediately after, World War II.

• How Do We Know? Recreating Domestic Interiors An interactive installation that examined the methods used by contemporary historians to research and develop furnishing plans for historic sites. The Octagon's own on-going process served as a case study.

1999

• A Voyage of Discovery: The Nile Journal of Richard Morris Hunt Seventy rare original photos, drawings, and watercolors from the Prints & Drawings Collection, supplemented with period photo equipment and Egyptian souvenirs reconstructed Hunt's Grand Tour of the Middle East in 1853.

• George Washington, Architect*

1998

• Architecture in Perspective 12

• Robert Adam: The Creative Mind

1997

• Monumental Miniatures: The Weingarten Souvenir Building Collection

• Facets and Reflections: Painting the Octagon's History*

1996

• The Architecture of Bruce Goff, 1904-1982: Design for the Continuous Present

• The Old World Builds the New: The Guastavino Company and the Technology of the Catalan Vault, 1885-1962

1995

• Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village

• Shaping an American Landscape: The Art and Architecture of Charles A. Platt

• Southern City, National Ambition: The Growth of Early Washington, DC, 1800-1860*

1994

• The Grand American Avenue: 1850-1920*

• Thomas Jefferson and the Design of Monticello*

• The Most Distinguished Private Place: Creating the Biltmore Estate*

1993

• Galleries dark: Interior restoration work

1992

• The White House 1792-1992: Image in Architecture*

• An English Arcadia 1600-1990: Designs for Gardens and Garden Buildings in the Care of the National Trust

1991

• The Grand Louvre: Entering a New Century*

• 18th-Century Scenic and Architectural Design: Drawings by the Galli Bibiena Family

• Hidden Treasures: Selections from the AAF's Prints and Drawings Collection*

• In the Most Fashionable Style: Making a Home in the Federal City*

1990

• Sir Christopher Wren and the Legacy of St. Paul's Cathedral*

• The Taste of Power: The Rise of Genteel Dining and Entertaining in Early Washington*

• Palaces and Dreams: The Architecture of John Eberson

1989

• Robert Mills: Designs for Democracy*

• Ogden Codman

• Building the Octagon*

• Sophie Dupont

1988

• Louis Sullivan: Ornament and Skyscraper

• Friedrich Weinbrenner

• The Making of an American Masterpiece: Drawings of the Old Executive Office Building*

• Potomac Fever: Creating the Federal City*

• What Could Have Been: Unbuilt Architecture of the 1970s

1987

• Graphic Madrid

• The Golden Age of Ottoman Architecture

• Leon Krier and the Plan of Washington*

• Robert Adam and Kedleston: The Making of a Neo-Classical Masterpiece

1986

• The Architecture of Richard Morris Hunt*

• Louis Sullivan: The Function of Ornament

• Space Architecture

* Indicates exhibitions organized by The Octagon, the museum of the American Architectural Foundation.