Another one to keep in mind for our Fall Field Trip, the Weekly Dose of Architecture visits the House of Sweden in DC. Don't stop with the B/W photos, you need to see this in full color. Elsewhere online there are some images of what it was supposed to look like and they are remarkably similar to what was built. There is a shot looking at Georgetown from across the Potomac that really helps see the context. This part of the Swedish Embassy was designed by Gert Wingårdh and is described on its own website this way:
Designed to rest like a shimmering jewel in the surrounding parkland, the blonde wood, stone, and glass structure is suffused with light, floating at night like an ethereal vision above its sparkling reflection in the Potomac River.
The building is light and airy, with large glass segments. Light is a key element, both outside and in. All around the body of the building is a belt of light, backlit wood, which after dark gives the sense that the building is floating. The House of Sweden stands on white pillars and is suffused with Nordic light. The materials are blonde wood, glass and stone, often in layers.
(The photo is from the House of Sweden website which does a good job of making me want to visit as well. And it is easy to find on the map.)
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