Places We Love
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we talked with our staff about buildings, places and spaces we love. Sometimes our love comes from an appreciation of the form of a place, while others times it comes from something a little more intangible. From parks to monuments, cathedrals to dry cleaners (yes, dry cleaners), here below are some of … Continue reading
Q&A with 2012 DMSAS Fellow Mark Elliott
One of four recipients of the DMSAS Traveling Fellowship in 2012, Mark Elliott, now in his final year at the University of Maryland, spent ten weeks interning at DMSAS and took his fellowship travels in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Mark returned to DMSAS earlier this month to present his work abroad to the … Continue reading
What Makes a Good Client?
The most successful architecture is the result of a strong relationship based on mutual respect between the client and the architect. Great clients make great architecture. So what makes a great client? We believe four elements are essential. Good Students Just as the best architects are good students of client interests and objectives, so, too, … Continue reading
Designing from the Hospital Bed
As David M. Schwarz Architects embarks on the master planning and design of yet another significant phase of Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Tex. – a project we’ve been allied with since 1985 –DMSAS principal Craig Williams shares with his colleagues the musings accumulated during a collection of summertime hospital visits. While this … Continue reading
Building with Gingerbread: Five Keys to Creating Successful Structures
The exercise of imagination comes with no rules attached. There is no manual and no blueprint for creating the whimsical confectionery constructions of the seventh annual Gingertown celebration. However, when participating in this year’s ambition to fashion a university campus out of gingerbread, licorice whips, gumdrops, and icing, our colleagues, fellow design professionals, and other friends … Continue reading
On Casinos: A Lesson in Urbanism from Las Vegas
Casino. The word evokes a visceral reaction for most. But embrace them or despise them, casinos are no longer an exotically rare commodity confined to Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, and a few remote tribal properties. Casinos more and more are becoming an urban phenomenon. And as more casinos spring up, it’s more important to … Continue reading
The Smith Center at Six Months
Six months after its opening, Las Vegas is taking the pulse of its new The Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the reviews suggest it’s become a star – not only of a PBS production that airs this week, but of the community that turned to us to design a cultural magnet for the … Continue reading
More than Just a Ballpark: Recent Trends in Baseball Stadium Design
As we round third and head towards the homestretch of the 2012 baseball season, it’s not just the crack of the bat and the flavor of a ballpark dog that lingers in our memories, but how the walls and halls that surround those magnificent diamonds inspire our national pastime. Today’s baseball experience is not solely … Continue reading
Top 10 Things We Wish They’d Taught in Architecture School
Welcome to Parchment, the blog of David M. Schwarz Architects. In this space our team will share our musings, thoughts, and perspectives about architecture, design, and place making, all of which are rooted in our belief in humanism and a humanistic approach to design that gives us people-sensitive, pedestrian-friendly, socially active architecture defined by characteristics, … Continue reading
Parchment 
In Honoring the Past, a New Future for DC Public Schools
Posted by dmsarchitects on February 26, 2013 · Leave a Comment
From the time of its founding, the DC public school system has pretty much always been both a proving ground for education and a demonstration of the power that architecture holds to enhance student experience and success. Today, the District is in the middle of an ambitious plan to upgrade and modernize its schools. DC’s … Continue reading →
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