HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Vlastimil Koubek
OR:
Vlastimil Koubek on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Vlastimil Koubek (March 17, 1927 – February 15, 2003) was a
Czech American Czech Americans ( cz, Čechoameričané), known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority o ...
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
who designed more than 100 buildings, most of them in the
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, metropolitan area. When he died, he had designed buildings worth more than $2 billion. Most of his work is
Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
in style,Gunts, Edward. "Designer Believed: Koubek's Vision Brought Tower to Inner Harbor." ''Baltimore Sun.'' February 24, 2003. although he developed a few structures in other vernaculars. He created the site plan for the redevelopment of Rosslyn, Virginia, and his Ames Center anchored the area's economic recovery. He also designed the World Building in
Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ce ...
, which sparked redevelopment of that town's downtown and the
L'Enfant Plaza Hotel The Hilton Washington DC National Mall The Wharf, previously known as the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, is a 367-room hotel located on the top four floors of a 12-story mixed-use building in downtown Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was design ...
in Washington, D.C., amongst many other buildings. In 1985, '' Washingtonian'' magazine considered him to be one of 20 people "who in the past 20 years had the greatest impact on the way we live and who forever altered the look of Washington.""Architect Vlastimil Koubek Dies at 75." ''The Washington Post''. February 18, 2003. In 1988, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' newspaper said his Willard Hotel renovation was one of 28 projects in the area which made a signal contribution to the "feel" and look of Washington, D.C.


Early life

Vlastimil Koubek was born in Brno,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and received his degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at
Czech Technical University Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU, cs, České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT) is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. It ...
.Whitney, Elizabeth
"Koubek: Escape to Success."
''St. Petersburg Times.'' December 31, 1967.] After graduation, he worked for several Czech architecture firms, designing office buildings. Because he and his father held strong Anti-communism, anti-communist beliefs, Koubek decided to flee Czechoslovakia after the Communist coup d'état of February 1948. He tried to cross the border into the
American Zone of Occupation Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Fran ...
of Allied-occupied
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and failed.Willmann, John B. "It's Happening in Real Estate." ''The Washington Post''. February 3, 1968. A second attempt in July succeeded. Koubek emigrated to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in October 1948, where he worked in a
brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or yard where bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed near natural sources of clay or on o ...
, as a
draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...
for the city of
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
and county of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
, a draftsman for the Ministry of Works, and announcer for the
Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech R ...
news service of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. He encountered his future wife, Eva, in a bookstore in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
."In Memoriam," ''Zprávy SVU.'' #1, 2003, p. 7.
/ref> Eva was born in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, the daughter of a Czech Army officer. Her brother, whom she later rescued, was imprisoned in a concentration camp in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during World War II. The couple emigrated to the United States via Ellis Island on February 8, 1952, and initially lived in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. When they arrived they had $6 in their pockets.Donihi, Rosemary. "Emigre Nobility: 'We All Cling Together'." ''The New York Times''. February 14, 1971. They married in New York City on August 9, 1952, with Eva (the only one with any funds) paying the $2 marriage license fee. He worked as a draftsman for the architectural firm of
Emery Roth and Sons Emery Roth ( hu, Róth Imre, July 17, 1871 – August 20, 1948) was an American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux- ...
, the city's largest architectural firm and a noted designer of office buildings, for a year. In 1953, Koubek entered the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
, where he worked for the Army Exhibit Unit (a unit which creates displays and presentations about Army history, organization, and culture for the public). Koubek and his wife became naturalized
United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
s, relocated to Washington, DC, and later had a daughter, Jana. He briefly worked for the D.C.-based Edward Weihe architectural firm.


Career

Vlastimil Koubek passed his architectural exam and established Koubek Architects in 1957. One of his first commissions to be built was Southern Maryland Medical Center (now Southern Maryland Hospital Center) in
Clinton, Maryland Clinton is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Clinton was formerly known as Surrattsville until after the time of the Civil War. The population of Clinton was 38,760 at the 2020 cen ...
. His first major commission in the area was for 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a 13-story building with a facade of gold-
anodized Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called ''anodizing'' because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electr ...
aluminum and white marble. However, the
United States Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction wit ...
, which had design approval authority over all private buildings adjacent to federal buildings in the city, objected to this facade. Koubek submitted a revised design that utilized larger, octagonal window designs of marble with recessed ribs of bronze aluminum, which not only was accepted but highly praised by influential architect Frederick Gutheim as pushing District architectural design "forward 10 years." A similar design was created for the facade of One
Farragut Square Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2 of the District of Columbia, Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street (Washington, D.C.), K Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW to the north, I Street NW to the south, on the east and wes ...
South, which began construction in November 1960. A more Modernist glass-wall building was planned in October 1961 for 1666 Connecticut Avenue NW (the southwest corner of Connecticut Avenue NW and R Street NW).


Rosslyn

Koubek was instrumental in helping to redevelop Rosslyn, Virginia, an unincorporated area of
Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
directly across the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
from the Georgetown neighborhood of
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In 1960, Rosslyn was a seedy area of bars, pawnshops, small industry, and used car lots. But land values in Rosslyn had been significantly revalued upward,Andelson, 2000, p. 161. and to take advantage of the building boom they believed was coming, Arlington County county planners required site plans that emphasized tall, free-standing buildings. In 1961, Koubek drafted a site plan for the site around the proposed Ames Center (an area that represented about half the total acreage in the Rosslyn area).Willmann, John B. "Rosslyn's Rebirth As 'Hottest Area' Attracts Builders." ''The Washington Post''. October 20, 1962. Koubek also was the architect for the Ames Center itself, a complex which included a 13-story office building, bank, church, and civic auditorium located at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive. The construction of the Ames Center and approval of a site plan for the area around it led to the wholesale economic and architectural redevelopment of Rosslyn, Koubek also developed the site plan for the area bounded by Wilson Boulevard, North Arlington Ridge Road, 19th Street North, and North Kent Street. This included the London House and Normandy House apartment complexes. Although it also proposed constructing two apartment complexes in the center of the area, three office buildings were built. London House opened in January 1965.


Other works in the 1960s

Numerous commissions came his way throughout the 1960s. His Jefferson Building (1225 19th Street NW), built in 1963, was an eight-story glass-and-marble clad structure that was the first skyscraper in the city to feature a columnless interior. It became home to the upscale The Palm steak restaurant in December 1972, although building's exterior reflecting pool and numerous fountains were replaced by a mundane garden and short trees. Later that year, he designed a sister building across the street (1234 19th Street NW) which incorporated solarized glass windows, dark bronze panels, and dark brown aluminum ribbing. He was the chief architect of the World Building (8121 Georgia Avenue) in Silver Spring, Maryland, The World Building helped revitalize the long-blighted Silver Spring downtown business district, and became home to long-time home of top-rated radio stations
WWRC WWRC (570 AM) – branded ''AM 570 The Answer'' – is a commercial conservative talk radio station licensed to serve Bethesda, Maryland. Owned by the Salem Media Group, the station services the Washington metro area and is the market affiliat ...
and WGAY. One of Koubek's less notable efforts, however, was the 1963 five-story Del Ray Building (4905 Del Ray Avenue) in
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
, a nondescript office building with a penthouse clad in grey brick. In 1964, Koubek received his first commission from outside the District of Columbia and its immediate suburbs. This was Horizon House (1101 N. Calvert Street) in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, an 18-story apartment building with a rooftop pool and ground-floor retail area in the historic
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
neighborhood. In March 1963, he created a design for 1050 31st Street NW, a spare, Federalist-style red brick building—the first such non-Modernist structure he designed. He had initially proposed in 1961 a building with an all-glass first floor and exposed stone upper floors, but the Commission of Fine Arts rejected his design as too modern.Schuette, Paul A. "Building Plan Becomes Career." ''The Washington Post''. June 21, 1962. After redesigning his building along Federalist lines, the Commission approved the design. However, the D.C. zoning board refused to approve it because of the changes. The zoning board also was unhappy with the way Koubek intended to conceal the elevator and air conditioning equipment on the roof. After redesigning the rooftop, the building began construction in March 1963. The first major office building to be constructed on the Georgetown waterfront in 50 years, Construction began in April 1963 on his Brawner Building (888 17th Street NW), a 12-story office building on Farragut Square that incorporated dark bronze panels and solarized windows much as his 1234 19th Street building had. By the late 1960s, it was one of his best-known designs. In January 1964, Koubek designed what was then the D.C. metropolitan region's tallest office building, the 19-story steel-and-black glass-clad Barlow Building (5454 Wisconsin Avenue). In August, the Freed family commissioned him to build the eight-story Chatham Apartments, the first high-rise, medium-income apartment building to be constructed among the two-story
Georgian-style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...
townhouses that comprised the
Buckingham Historic District The Buckingham Historic District is a national historic district located at Arlington County, Virginia. It contains 151 contributing buildings in a residential neighborhood in North Arlington. They were built in six phases between 1937 and 1 ...
. His first major D.C. residential structure was a nine-story apartment building (now turned to condominiums) at 1800 R Street NW, which opened in October 1964. In April 1965, construction began on the seven-story 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, a Modernist building with broad horizontal swaths of grey brick and glass. (The structure was home to the
National Air Traffic Controllers Association The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is a labor union in the United States. It is affiliated with the AFL–CIO, and is the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Admini ...
and
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports ac ...
in 2011.) Another major office building, 1200 17th Street, NW (at the time, the headquarters of the
American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
), opened in October 1965. It was a neo-Brutalist structure featuring repetitive polished concrete panels and deeply recessed rectangular windows and one of the first high-rise office buildings on the downtown business district portion of Connecticut Avenue. That same year his 18-story Ross Building (now known as Wytestone Plaza) in Richmond, Virginia opened—the first high-rise built in the city since 1928, and the first glass-curtain wall building constructed in the city. Koubek was also lead architect for and an investor in a syndicate ("Reservation Eleven Associates") which designed a new
United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...
(DOL) building at 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW in 1966. The group proposed an arrangement in which it would construct the building, lease it to the federal government for 30 years, and then donate it to the government. Congress, cutting back on construction funds and interested in the build/lease/donate proposal, refused to appropriate funds for the DOL structure. Eventually, however, Koubek's syndicate lost the commission. A new DOL building (jointly designed by the firms of Brooks, Barr, Graeber & White and Pitts, Mebane, Phelps & White) was completed in 1974. Koubek's D.C. area output slowed in the late 1960s. In February 1967, the
Bureau of National Affairs Bloomberg Industry Group (formerly known as Bloomberg BNA, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., and BNA) is an affiliate of Bloomberg L.P. and a source of legal, tax, regulatory, and business information for professionals. It is headquartered in ...
(a privately held publisher of government news) commissioned him to design a six-story Modernist building at 1231 25th Street NW. (This glass-and-white concrete neo-Brutalist building was stripped to its frame in 2007, four floors added, and joined to both an existing and a new structure to create luxury apartments.) In October 1967, construction began on his design for 1401 I Street NW, west of Franklin Square. (The bland glass-and-steel box underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation in 1991. It was given a postmodern facade of finished grey concrete panels and brown granite, the center portion of the building on the south and east sides extended slightly outward to break up the flatness of the building, and twin giant six-story-high non-structural Doric columns topped by a non-structural
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...
and entablature. The building is now called Franklin Tower.) In December 1967, Koubek designed a new home for the
Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
at 1601 I Street NW, described as a "bronze-tinted glass box on stilts enclosed by a bold screen of tan concrete". Another critic later called it "elegant" and as good as the work of
I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
. Construction began in February 1968 on his building for One
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW t ...
NW, an eight-story office building with vertical concrete ribs over glass walls. Meanwhile, Koubek was at work designing Bayfront Plaza, a $50 million "scaled-down
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...
" complex of hotels, apartment buildings, retail shops, and piers on the waterfront of
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
. Proposed in 1966, the project was significantly delayed by lawsuits from local citizens. Costs began to climb, interest rates on the proposed development loans soared, and the project was canceled in 1969. Koubek sued lawyer Hubert Caulfield and businessman Martin Roess, who led the legal challenges against Bayfront Plaza, for $7 million, claiming legal harassment and abuse of the judicial process.Masters, Kay. "Bayfront Plaza Lawsuit Settled." ''St. Petersburg Evening Independent.'' November 3, 1972. The Supreme Court of Florida eventually ruled in favor of the developers, but it was too late."Bayfront Plaza Lawsuit Is Settled Out of Court." ''St. Petersburg Times.'' November 4, 1972. The parties settled out of court in 1972 for an undisclosed sum, and Koubek said he was pleased with the settlement. A 23-story office building planned for downtown
Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...
, in 1969 was never built. Several of Koubek's buildings for important clients began or completed construction in 1969. The Willoughby, at the time the largest apartment building in the D.C. metropolitan area, opened at 4515 Willard Avenue in
Friendship Village, Maryland Friendship Village is an urbanized, unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Inclusive within the Friendship Village CDP is the Village of Friendship Heights (distinct from the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Friendshi ...
, in January. Koubek assisted former First Lady
Mamie Eisenhower Mary Geneva "Mamie" Eisenhower (; November 14, 1896 – November 1, 1979) was the first lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961 as the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Born in Boone, Iowa, she was raised in a wealthy household i ...
and developer
William Zeckendorf William Zeckendorf Sr. (June 30, 1905 – September 30, 1976) was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp — for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 — he developed ...
in breaking ground in February for the West Building (475 L'Enfant Plaza SW; now
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
headquarters), at the largest private office building at the time in Washington. Eight months later, his headquarters at 1133 15th Street NW for
Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...
(the
secondary mortgage market The secondary mortgage market is the market for the sale of securities or bonds collateralized by the value of mortgage loans. A mortgage lender, commercial bank, or specialized firm will group together many loans (from the "primary mortgage mar ...
packaging corporation) opened.


Works from the 1970s

Additional commissions from important clients as well as notable buildings continued in the 1970s. Construction on the Koubek-designed , $23 million
L'Enfant Plaza Hotel The Hilton Washington DC National Mall The Wharf, previously known as the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, is a 367-room hotel located on the top four floors of a 12-story mixed-use building in downtown Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was design ...
and office building began until June 1971.Jones, William H. "New Hotel Planned." ''The Washington Post''. June 23, 1971; Hodges and Hodges, 1980, p. 38; Williams, 2005, p. 120; Moeller and Weeks, 2006, p. 59; Scott and Lee, 1993, p. 237; Kousoulas and Kousoulas, 1995, p. 213. In July 1970, construction began on his 37-story, pink granite United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company Building in Baltimore. It was the largest building yet constructed in the United States to employ the
slipform Slip forming, continuous poured, continuously formed, or slipform construction is a construction method in which concrete is poured into a continuously moving form.Nawy, ''Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook,'' 2008, p. 10—33. Slip formi ...
method of continuously poured concrete. The USF&G Building successfully sparked the economic revival of the Inner Harbor. Opened in 1974, as of 2010 it remained the tallest building in Baltimore. Forty years later, it is considered a Baltimore landmark. Richard Burns of Design Collective Inc. has said, "In my opinion, his USF&G tower, now Legg Mason, is one of the best if not the best office buildings in downtown Baltimore. It is simple, direct, and honest..." David Wallace, whose Wallace Roberts and Todd designed the master site plan for the Inner Harbor, declared it the "linchpin for the Inner Harbor. If you look at it from a boat, it's a punctuation point at one corner of the Inner Harbor, signifying where the central business district meets the waterfront." Construction started on his eight-story 2021 K Street NW office building in November 1970. In the summer of 1971, he completed his site plan for Friendship Heights, a site straddling the boundary between the District of Columbia and Maryland border at
Friendship Heights Friendship Heights is an urban commercial and residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods ...
/ Friendship Village. The plan contemplated several high-rise office buildings, a loop roadway around the site, pedestrian concourses, and several multi-story shopping malls clustered around the intersection of
Wisconsin Avenue Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. The s ...
and Western Avenue. (The project was built throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s.) In March 1971, the American Automobile Association commissioned him to design a six-story, $10-million headquarters for the group at 8111 Gatehouse Road in
Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...
. Eight months later, the
Air Line Pilots Association The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 59,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadia ...
(ALPA) began construction on a Koubek-designed headquarters at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW, three blocks northwest from his 1965 office building and across the street from the
Philippine Embassy The Republic of the Philippines has a network of diplomatic missions in major cities around the world, under the purview of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), to forward Philippine interests in the areas that they serve, as well as to se ...
. In March 1974, developer Melvin Lenkin commissioned Koubek to design an all-glass Modernist building for 1900 M Street NW. Koubek designed an eight-story cubist building with an all-glass facade; cutaway,
cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
ed front corner; and ground floor
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
. In March 1975, the National Bank of Washington, one of the city's oldest and most storied banks, commissioned a new operations center (4340 Connecticut Avenue NW) from Koubek."Crough Center Marks 20th Anniversary." ''CUA Magazine.'' Fall 2009.
/ref> In May 1975, Koubek joined a consortium of prominent local architects to design the Washington Harbor complex of buildings on the Georgetown waterfront.Willmann, John B. "Three Notable Preservations." ''The Washington Post''. May 24, 1975. The three-block-long, eight-building complex, which contained luxury condominiums, office space, restaurants, luxury retail space, a boardwalk, and plaza, was the first large-scale redevelopment of Georgetown's waterfront in the city's history. By the end of 1975, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' was reporting that Koubek's firm had designed roughly half the office buildings built in the District of Columbia since the 1950s.Goldberger, Paul. "Washington Buildings: Low Profile and Boxlike Design." ''The New York Times''. December 29, 1975.


The Willard renovation

In 1974, Koubek was hired to help renovate the long-shuttered, historic
Willard Hotel The Willard InterContinental Washington, commonly known as the Willard Hotel, is a historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is currently a member oHistoric Hotels of America the offi ...
. The original hotel (consisting of six townhouses joined together) was built in 1816, renovated, and enlarged by leaseholder Henry Willard in 1847. The current 12-story structure was erected in 1901. Due to mismanagement and competition from more modern hotels, the Willard closed in 1968. With the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s and 1970s, the Willard was threatened repeatedly with demolition. In May 1974, the National Trust for Historic Preservation paid Koubek $25,000 to study saving the hotel, either as a hotel, as a mixed-use structure, or as an office building.Conroy, Sarah Booth. "Studying the Fate of the Willard." ''The Washington Post''. May 18, 1974. The Willard's owners, Charles Benenson and Robert Arnow, had earlier commissioned Koubek to design a modern office building for the site, which would have required demolition of the structure. Ultimately, the New York City architecture firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates was hired to lead the hotel's rehabilitation and expansion. After this firm pulled out of the project, Koubek executed their concept, overseeing work until the hotel's reopening in 1986.Forgey, Benjamin. "Willard Hotel: Well Worth the Wait." ''The Washington Post''. August 9, 1986.Goldberger, Paul. "On Pennsylvania Avenue, A Restoration With Wit." ''The New York Times''. September 22, 1986. Declaring the design worthy of "genuine architectural distinction," ''The Washington Post'' architectural critic Benjamin Forgey noted that Koubek was responsible for adding the giant ocular windows in the office complex, the marble office entryway with its marble canopy and columns, and the restructuring of the diagonal courtyard between the original hotel and the office additions. Forgey concluded that "...a lot of the details, such as the exquisite storefronts or the sequence of pilasters, entablatures and cornices in the same elongated courtyard, are a treat to the eye." Critic Paul Goldberger, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 1986, declared the renovation ingenious. In 1988, the Washington Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
gave its 1988 Award for Excellence to Koubek for the Willard Hotel design and renovation.


Other 1970s projects

In February 1976, Koubek contributed a third high-rise office building to Farragut Square, this one a brick-and-solarized glass structure with a glass-and-aluminum penthouse at 818 Connecticut Avenue NW. His massive, grid-like 400 North Capitol Street, one of the few office buildings he designed with a plaza between two wings, opened in June. His 12-story International Square building—with its inverted setbacks above the Farragut West Washington Metro station, ninth-floor balcony with non-structural columns, interior atrium, and ground-level set-back retail concourse—opened in November. Originally just a single office building on a corner for a city block, it expanded to occupy nearly the entire block with the addition of two almost identical towers in 1979 and 1980. (The atrium was upgraded and a fountain added in 1992.) Two blocks to the west, in April 1977, Koubek also designed a fairly nondescript office building at 1990 K Street NW. Koubek also helped co-design Metropolitan Square, a 12-story hotel and office building complex that occupies the entire block between F and G Streets NW and 14th and 15th Streets NW (due east across the street from the
Treasury Building A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
). In November 1977, developer Oliver T. Carr proposed tearing down the entire block occupied by the Beaux-Arts Keith-Albee Building and Metropolitan National Bank Building, and the 180-year-old Rhodes Tavern. A years-long legal and political battle ensued as historic preservationists fought to keep all three buildings. Carr eventually agreed to retain the facades of the two Beaux-Arts buildings facing G and 15th Streets. The battle to save the entire
Rhodes' Tavern Rhodes Tavern is the site of a historic tavern in the early history of Washington, D.C. It was located at 15th Street and F Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. History It was built in 1799 by Bennett Fenwick on land he had purchased in 1797. It ...
, however, lasted into 1983 and involved a citywide ballot initiative and an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. To preserve the facades, Carr hired Koubek and the New York City firm of
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The fir ...
and charged them with designing ground-floor retail entrances and two upper floors which would reflect but not mimic the Beaux-Arts style of the retained facades which building a more modern structure behind them. Construction on the new building began in 1980. In late 1977, Koubek also completed the
Camden Yards Sports Complex The Camden Yards Sports Complex is located in the center of Baltimore, Maryland. The complex is composed of multiple buildings and stadiums including Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium. The two stadiums are home to the Baltimore Or ...
master site plan, which laid out projected baseball and football stadiums, museums, restaurants, and retail shopping buildings to revitalize the economically depressed Camden Yards area of downtown Baltimore. In September 1978, Koubek was commissioned to design an addition to the American Security Bank operations center at 635 Massachusetts Avenue NW. (
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
purchased the building in 1992 but sold the black-glass and travertine marble structure to
Boston Properties Boston Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in premier workplaces in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. As of June 30, 2022, the company owned or had interest ...
in 2008. After the broadcaster's new building at 1111 North Capitol Street was completed in 2013, Boston Properties tore down 635 Massachusetts Avenue. A Class A office building will be erected in its place by 2015.) Also, in 1978, Koubek's 22-story Virginia Electric and Power Company headquarters in Richmond also opened. (It is now known as One James River Plaza.) In March 1979, Koubek agreed to design the interior renovations to the
East Capitol Street Car Barn The East Capitol Car Barn, also known as The Car Barn Condominiums, is an historic building, located at 1400 East Capitol Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C., in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. History The Romanesque Revival building was designed ...
, an 83-year-old trolley barn at 14th and East Capitol Streets NE listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
, turning the old industrial site into a $10 million apartment and condominium complex. The renovation was called "striking". Koubek also participated in the redevelopment of Vermont Avenue NW. In June 1979, as buildings were razed across the street for the construction of 1090 Vermont Avenue, he was commissioned by the D.C. chapter of the
American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's sta ...
to build a Modernist 12-story office building at 1100 Vermont Avenue NW. A month later, construction began on Koubek's Spring Valley Center, a luxury shopping, restaurant, and office building located at 4801 Massachusetts Avenue NW (on the site of the old Apex Theater). The six-story post-Modernist brick structure was not well received. In 1998, one critic noted that it is "a structure easy to dislike. Clad in brick and encircled by horizontal window bands, it s/nowiki> volumetrically and dimensionally out of scale with its more domestically scaled neighbors. Unrelieved planar walls and minimalist detailing made it even less charming." (The structure was sold to American University's
Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of nort ...
in 1994 after a lengthy legal battle and turned into classrooms and professors' offices.)


Works of the 1980s

The 1980s saw the last of Koubek's major projects. In August 1980, ground was broken on the 18-story Hyatt Regency Crystal City hotel (2799 Jefferson Davis Highway) and adjacent 12-story office building (2687 Clark Street) in the Crystal City neighborhood of
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
. The same year, construction began on
Pentagon City Pentagon City is an unincorporated neighborhood (also called an "urban village") located in the southeast portion of Arlington County, Virginia, near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. Location Pentagon City is located less than a mil ...
I and Pentagon City II—12-story twin office towers built by Rose Associates before the construction of the
Fashion Centre at Pentagon City Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, also known as Pentagon City Mall, is a shopping mall in the Pentagon City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, near Interstate 395 and Hayes Street. Its Metro level is directly connected to the Pentagon City sta ...
, Pentagon Centre mall, Southampton Condominiums, and Claridge House condominiums. Koubek was also the lead architect for Capitol Place, a , $125 million project at the southeast corner of F Street NW and New Jersey Avenue NW. The project involved the construction of a 13-story office building (now the headquarters of the
American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 per ...
) and a hotel with a glass atrium (now the Washington Court Hotel). Groundbreaking began in December 1982, by which time another two office buildings (integrated with the first) had been added. In 1983, construction was completed on Koubek's black-glass curtain-walled
Union Labor Life Insurance Company Ullico Inc. is a privately held insurance and financial services holding company in the United States. Formerly known as Union Labor Life Insurance Company, it was founded in 1927 by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and its then president, ...
headquarters at 111 Massachusetts Avenue NW. (Commonly called the "
Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
Building" for its imposing black surface, the company sold the building to developer Douglas Jemal in 2003.) In 1984, Koubek partnered with architect Robert Brannen of Brannen/Jung Associates to design 1615 L Street NW, a 12-story office building with a two-story red brick facade on the ground surmounted by light-green glass and dark-green
spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
s on the upper floors.Forgey, Benjamin. "Just as Good as Old." ''The Washington Post''. November 24, 1984. The building was highly praised by ''The Washington Post'' for its deeply recessed and double-wide entrance and spectacular, two-story lobby with seven different kinds of polished marble. In 1988, 1615 L Street NW won the Tucker Award of Excellence, "the stone industry's most prestigious award," for its use of stone in the building's lobby and other interiors. In March 1986, Koubek was commissioned to design
One Judiciary Square One Judiciary Square is a highrise office building at 441 Fourth Street NW in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Designed by architect Vlastimil Koubek, the building is tall and has approximately 10 floors. Its construction end ...
, an 11-story office building on top of the Judiciary Square Metro station. He designed the Westin Georgetown hotel (2350 M Street NW) in 1988, a structure which successfully used large glass walls to "mingle outside with inside". He also designed Shockoe Slip (formerly Shockoe Plaza), a seven-building complex at E. Cary and Governor Streets in Richmond, Virginia.


Final works

Although by 1990, Koubek Architects was the 12th largest architectural firm in the D.C.-Baltimore area, Koubek personally worked on only a few projects in the 1990s. With John V. Yanik AIA as Associate Architect For Design, Koubek was the Architect of Record for converting the 1919 gymnasium at The Catholic University of America into "The Edward M. Crough Center For Architectural Studies." In 1990, The Washington Chapter of The American Institute of Architects presented a Merit Award to the Center and the Architects "For extraordinary Achievement in Architecture." Although he was not the lead architect on the project, he did the working drawings for the AARP Building at 601 E Street NW. He also did the working drawings for the massive, block-long new headquarters for the International Finance Corporation at 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in 1997. Some of his last projects were the 13-story, Beaux-Arts Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in 1992 (1001 14th Street NW), the 29-story, post-Modernist 100 Harborview Drive condominiums in Baltimore in 1993, and Baltimore's 33-story, post-Modernist Water Tower (414 Water Street) condominiums in 2000 (in association with Sasaki Associates).


Other activities

In addition to his architectural work, Koubek performed civic service as well. He and his wife, Eva, were both highly active in the Czech émigré community in the United States and especially the Washington, D.C., area. In 1990, Czechoslovakian President
Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...
appointed Koubek to a 15-member international board of consultants. In 1969, President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
appointed Koubek to serve on an architectural advisory panel to the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
. In 1984, Koubek served as a consultant to the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
, inspecting security arrangements at
United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carry ...
housing in Europe and Asia. Koubek was a nationally known authority on how to draft construction documents for commercial buildings. He became a multi-millionaire through his architectural work and investments.


Later years and death

Although Koubek designed more than 100 apartment buildings, condominiums, hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls during his long career, he did only a handful of private residences. He actively continued his architectural career and office until January 2003. By the time of his death, he had designed buildings representing a combined investment of more than $2 billion. Vlastimil Koubek's marriage to Eva Koubek ended in divorce. He married Peggy Koubek in 1984. Vlastimil Koubek died of cancer on February 15, 2003, at his home in Arlington, Virginia.


Design philosophy

Koubek's architectural philosophy has been described as cosmetic and practical. Because the height of buildings in D.C. was limited to by law and the cost of land was so high, buildings in the city were built to the maximum size possible.Wheeler, Linda. "New Washington Emerges on Downtown K Street." ''The Washington Post''. November 23, 1979. "There is nothing left for the architect to do except apply the cosmetics," Koubek said. Koubek limited his "cosmetics" to the needs and budgets of his clients, often falling back on the design aesthetics of
Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...
,
I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His work was described as restrained, and an unnamed D.C. city planning official once described Koubek's work as "last year's Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill." Koubek defended his work from criticisms that it was boxlike, sterile, repetitive, and dull. "Good architecture ... has to fit the fabric of the city and be functional inside and make economic sense. The most wonderful building in the world is not going to get built if it will not make money." Others defended his work as well. Oliver T. Carr, chairman of the giant real estate developer CarrAmerica, said, "He was good. He was different from so many architects of that time. His buildings had clean architectural lines, and yet they were functional and practical and offered good work space. For that period of time, he was a perfect fit." Koubek did not like mixing older, smaller buildings with his designs. "There is no place for big buildings next to little buildings," he told ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in 1979. He was also critical of Federalist architecture. He once scathingly noted, "I think that on Georgetown architecture I'd rather not comment at all. You may quote me on that. I wish you would."


Legacy

The Koubek Auditorium in the Edward M. Crough Center for Architectural Studies at Catholic University of America is named for Koubek in honor of his many contributions to architectural design. Among Koubek's most notable buildings are: *American Automobile Association (former headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia) *International Finance Corporation headquarters *International Square *L'Enfant Plaza Hotel *Motion Picture Association of America headquarters *USF&G Building (now the Transamerica Tower) *World Bank AnnexForgey, Benjamin. "The West End's New Face." ''The Washington Post''. May 30, 1987.


Footnotes


Bibliography

*Andelson, Robert V. ''Land-Value Taxation Around the World.'' Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2000. *Carrier, Thomas J. ''Historic Georgetown: A Walking Tour.'' Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 1999. *Evelyn, Douglas E.; Dickson, Paul; and Ackerman, S.J. ''On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.'' Sterling, Va.: Capital Books, 2008. *Hodges, Allan A. and Hodges, Carol A. ''Washington on Foot: 23 Walking Tours of Washington, D.C., Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, and Historic Annapolis, Maryland.'' Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1980. *Kousoulas, Claudia D. and Kousoulas, George W. ''Contemporary Architecture in Washington, D.C.'' Washington, D.C.: Preservation Press, 1995. *Moeller, Gerard M. and Weeks, Christopher. ''AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. *Scott, Pamela and Lee, Antoinette Josephine. ''Buildings of the District of Columbia.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. *Williams, Paul Kelsey. ''Southwest Washington, D.C.'' Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Koubek, Vlastimil 1927 births 2003 deaths Deaths from cancer in Virginia 20th-century American architects Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States People from Arlington County, Virginia Modernist architects Architects from Washington, D.C. Architects from Brno