MAPP News
The “Art” of Building an Idea
To develop an idea for his final graduate school project 25 years ago, Architecture Clinical Professor Michael Abrams didn’t draw inspiration from his favorite architects: He riffed off his passion for music.View Article Details for The “Art” of Building an Idea 
Save Our Buildings, Save Ourselves
If you ask Carl Elefante ‘80 which of New York’s most iconic skyscrapers—the 94-year-old Empire State Building or the 11-year-old Freedom Tower—is more climate-friendly, the answer might surprise you.Both have LEED-Gold certification, the energy-efficient exemplar bestowed on a building. But because of the Empire State Building’s stone façade, it has staying power, said Elefante—when the Freedom Tower’s glass façade reaches the end of its useful life, it will be torn off and thrown into a landfill.View Article Details for Save Our Buildings, Save Ourselves 
An Abandoned D.C. Water Site Regains its Utility
For decades, abandoned concrete silos cresting the horizon like post-apocalyptic chess pieces presented an eerie curiosity for drivers crawling along one of the busiest arteries in and out of Washington, D.C.View Article Details for An Abandoned D.C. Water Site Regains its Utility 
5 Questions with Cathy Morrison
To rebuild communities, Cathy Morrison ‘04 believes that designers should not only reflect the people in the communities they’re building for, but “move at the speed of trust.”View Article Details for 5 Questions with Cathy Morrison 
Student Project Reclaims a Sacred Space
For over 20 years, an ornate, gothic-style Roman Catholic church located in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Baltimore, Md. served as a “safe haven” for a Filipino community to gather and worship 9,000 miles from home. But what was once a lively, joyful place for potlucks, Christmas mass and community socials is now vacant, with its future uncertain.View Article Details for Student Project Reclaims a Sacred Space 
Getting the Purple Line and Its Neighbors on Track
The young mother pushed her stroller across University Boulevard in Langley Park, Md., with the focus (if not the raw speed) of an Olympic sprinter. Racing the tick-tick-tick of the neon walk signal, she joined a throng of pedestrians maneuvering from median to median across eight lanes of battered roadway, while a nearby fleet of backhoes and dump trucks helped install track for the state’s new light-rail line.View Article Details for Getting the Purple Line and Its Neighbors on Track