Built in 1963, the Kreeger Museum was designed by American architect Philip Johnson, who later went on to design Georgetown’s Dumbarton Oaks museum pavilion and the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. He eventually won the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1978 and the first Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979.

In September 2017, the museum reopened, becoming more accessible and with newly available late-19th century and early-20th century paintings on view.

By the Georgetown Waterfront, this is one of the city’s most beautiful embassies, known as House of Sweden. This embassy offers a space for the arts, culture, and literature found in Sweden as well as a range of live performances.

The building, itself, is a good example of Scandinavian architecture, designed by Gert Wingårdh and Tomas Hansen with construction completed in 2006. It is also one of the city’s most iconic buildings

In James M. Goode’s famous publication, “Best Addresses,” he refers to the Watergate Complex as a “prototype for subsequent large projects,” and “the best example of self-contained living.”

The name of the complex was taken from the nearby Arlington Memorial Bridge, which connects D.C. and Arlington, Virginia. The bridge design includes a flight of steps, which are named the Water Gate. The Foggy Bottom buildings found here range from residences to office space to a hotel. The total cost to build the complex was $78 million, and it fully completed in 1971.

When this venue opened in 1971, Ada Louise Huxtable wrote in the New York Times that the venue failed in its attempt to create a timeless design, instead producing an “architectural default” and an “embarrassment” with “aggrandized posh.” Despite these criticisms, it is still one of the most notable, most recognizable modern buildings in the city. It has also unquestionably instilled a richer cultural life in the nation’s capital.

When it opened, its 600‐foot‐long, 60‐foot‐high grand foyer was one of the biggest rooms in the world. Behind the design of this building is architect Edward Durell Stone, the same designer behind the Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Opened in 1978, this building houses the National Gallery of Art’s contemporary art collection. Shaped like the letter H, it was designed by I.M. Pei, who later went on to win the AIA Gold Medal and the Pritzker Prize during his architectural career.

To have the stone facade of the East Building match the facade on the West Building, Gallery officials and Pei were able to get a quarry reopened, which supplied the same type of marble that was used for the Gallery’s first building, designed by John Russell Pope.

In October 2016, a three-year, $69 million renovation completed on the building, bringing an extra 12,250 square feet of interior gallery space without expanding the footprint of the building. While before there was space for only 350 works from the permanent collection to be displayed in the building, there is now capacity to showcase 525 pieces. 

In the “AIA Guide to the Architecture of Washington, D.C.,” this building is described as “one of the District’s most significant modern cultural institutions.” This Southwest Waterfront theater complex was designed in 1961 by Harry Weese & Associates, the same firm behind the city’s Metrorail system. Pictured here is the Mead Center, which was designed by Bing Thom.

One of the most historic moments of this complex’s history was in 1967 when Arena Stage hosted the world premier of Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Great White Hope.