TEXTILES

ARCOM is the commercial textile showroom that we visited at the Washington Design Center.  These textiles are used in hospitals, schools and office buildings because of inherent qualities to prevent flames, are easier to clean and also can be moisture resistant.  A designer I worked for several years ago used mostly "commercial" textiles, she was a good for me to learn from.  She definately widened my knowledge of how textiles can be used in different venues, especially with children and pets.

TILE/CERAMICS

Marble is combined with brick.

These floor materials from the National Building Museum is a combination of marbel and terracotta tiles.  The design dates back to post Civil War, approaching Victorian times.  This floor could have been from many places in Europe, especially Italy.

TEXTILES

This is the tight loop carpeting that covers the floor of the National Building Museum.  It is custom designed and uses shapes within the boarder lines to define space, as well as to provide comfort to visitors.

WOOD

Frank Lloyd Wright was well known for his wooden buildings and custom designed furniture for that structure.  The Patterson article appeared ambivalent as it's not clear from some of the text whether it's critical or not, it was confusing.  However, the article was well illustrated with photos of building types and line drawings of design details.  FLW clearly had a fine grasp of the versitility of wood as a building material.

STONE + BRICK

This is the side of a dorm building on GW's campus that shows two types of stone and a very old brick.  The type on the left side looks like sand stone and the material in the middle is different type of stone.

STONE + BRICK

Stone road between the East and West Buildings of the
National Gallery of Art.

Sample of the pink marble which is the main material of which the building is made.

A wider view of the marble, shown in the stair case, beginning to show
wear, or patina of age.

A wider view of the stone walk - way/road between the buildings.

STONE + BRICK

This is an example of SLATE used in a kitchen, mine.  Slate is VERY hard to stand on so I have a rubber mat for cushioning in front of the sink, covered by a rug.  The grout used to be a light grey and is difficult to clean.  This slate was originally sealed with several layers of a material I can't remember the name of (notice the time) oh, polyurethane, which became cracked and chipped.  It cost a fortune to have removed.  Despite the ground being an inconsistant color, the bare slate is attractive.