1 Why “Mass Ave” Matters The two miles of Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC, that extend west from Dupont Circle toWisconsin Avenue “may be the last intact grand avenue in the nation,” says Jan Cigliano, historian and co-editor of The Grand American Avenue: 1850–1920, published by the American Architectural Foundation in 1994 1 What are “grand avenues?” Why do they matter to the future of cities today? As for this part of the street known as Mass Ave, why bother saving it? The residential grand avenue was a key feature of many American cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Along them, to quote Grand American Avenue, “local luminaries of business and culture built linear promenades of elegant residences spaces of authority, architecture for display, and broad streets intended to impress ”2 Unfortunately, most of the 12 exemplary grand avenues the book documented were gone by the 1950s Mansions had been razed for commercial structures as downtown lots had become more valuable and their original owners had left Park-like landscapes that had linked public views had been built upon or paved Elegant rows of trees had been lost Cigliano says, “Of the remaining grand avenues, the Embassy Row stretch of Mass Ave is the most prominent and internationally famous ” Restore Mass Ave, our nonprofit organization, was founded in 2006 to restore the double rows of trees that defined the landscape historically, as shown by the cover photo, taken in 1913 along the 2000 block (where a hotel entrance and garage are today) We have added more than 320 trees so far, though bare spots remain But restoring a street’s sense of place requires more than trees Mass Ave’s design is the legacy of key urban thoroughfares in Europe and of the 1791 plan for an ideal capital of a new nation The legacy was enhanced in the 19th century when the avenue was lined with trees and lawns to create an “open-air salon of the street ” Mass Ave’s marriage of architecture and street was an idealized response to the problems of city life at that time Today, few people know about this legacy So we created this book to show the principles of Mass Ave’s design, because they can help address problems city planners face today We also included a six-step landscape guide to help Mass Ave stakeholders revive the street completely The six steps can help others “green” their streets as well America’s original grand avenues expressed the aspirations of civic leaders of their eras We hope that this project, by recalling those ideals, will contribute in a small way to the creation of more “cities of trees ” Deborah Shapley Founder & President Restore Mass Ave
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