Masonry Magazine August 1972 Page. 30
CRYSTAL CITY
Washington, D.C.
Developer & Builder: Charles E. Smith Companies
Architects: Weihe, Black & Jeffries
Engineers: General Engineering Associates
Mason Contractors: N. Litterio & Co., Inc. (MCAA) and Anthony Izzo Co., Inc. (MCAA)
A SHOWCASE FOR EXPOSED CONCRETE MASONRY
Adjacent to Washington, D.C.'s National Airport, a $120-million urban center has been created on a 63-acre site. It's a self-contained business, residential, entertainment and recreational complex with 44 more acres reserved for future development at an estimated cost of another $120-million.
It's called Crystal City, and every person arriving at or leaving National Airport gets a bird's eye view of it from the plane. When approached on Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. Rt. #1) it can be seen dominating the Virginia skyline. The International Masonry Institute reports that occupants of the apartments can relax at home, go to work, dine out, see a movie, ice skate or go shopping without crossing a street or leaving the complex.
Crystal City represents a dramatic new trend in urban and suburban developments, according to its developers, the Charles E. Smith Companies. It has office buildings, apartments, shops, recreation facilities, parking and other needs integrated into a well-planned and balanced environment to meet the needs of its 20,000 permanent and transient occupants.
The project includes 10 office buildings, six high-rise apartments that house nearly 4,000 people, a 307-room Marriott Hotel, a shopping mall with a theater, ice-skating rink and a wide variety of stores.
The impressive development has become a showcase of exposed concrete masonry in a myriad of structures. Three varieties of split block were incorporated in the various installations: 1) one with white cement and white calcite aggregate; 2) one with river gravel, sand and limestone, and 3) one with larger gravel screenings in the light tan family.
"Like any other project of this scope," states the
Attractive, fireproof and secure is the impression given by the 1,200,000 split veneer units used to create the Crystal Plaza Apartments consisting of two 11 and 12-story towers with an interconnecting passageway and shared lobby.
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masonry
August, 1972