Arthur Cotton Moore

Arthur Cotton Moore (April 12, 1935 – September 4, 2022) was an American architect who was notable for the restoration of Washington Harbour and modernization of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

Moore began his professional practice in 1965 and was best known for expanding the purview of the country’s nascent Preservation Movement, from the restoration of historic manor houses to re-purposing urban industrial structures. His first project––Canal Square, in Washington D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood––was the earliest recognized manifestation of combining an old mercantile building with major new construction.

Moore was also known for the Washington Harbour development on the Potomac River in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., the Goh Annex of the Phillips Collection also in Washington, D.C., and the renovation and modernization of the Thomas Jefferson and John Adams buildings of the Library of Congress, the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the renovation of Washington D.C.'s tallest residential building, the Cairo Hotel.

Early life

Arthur Cotton Moore spent his early years at “Tanglebank,” his grandparents’ Victorian house off Connecticut Avenue in the Kalorama neighborhood of NW Washington, D.C., now the site of a new People's Republic of China building providing housing for its embassy personnel.

Moore’s father, Captain Charles Godwin Moore, Jr., served during both World Wars. His mother was the granddaughter of Thomas Monroe Gale, whose house in the Kalorama neighborhood is now the Myanmar Embassy.

Moore graduated in St. Albans School, Washington, D.C. In 1958, Moore graduated cum laude in Princeton University. Moore studied architecture Princeton University School of Architecture, M.F.A. before starting his career in 1965.

Career

Skidmore Owings & Merrill: New York. Summers (1956–1958) Ketchum & Sharp: New York. (Summer 1959) Satterlee & Smith: Washington, D.C. (1960–1961) Chloethiel Woodard Smith & Associates: Washington, D.C. (1961–1965) Arthur Cotton Moore/Associates: Washington, D.C. (1965–2022)

Style Moore described his architectural style in his non-preservation work as Modernism with Baroque sensibilities. Some have referred to this style as “post-postmodernism.” It is a lighter, even an entertaining modern interpretation of the exuberant style that flourished in Europe from the middle of the 17th century to the early 18th century. People are tired of endless grid-crunching, Moore said. Baroque deals with modern design's fear and loathing of the curve - just what I think is missing in modern design. the Washington Business Journal (January 2018) and Washingtonian Magazine (May 2018). Master Planning Policy Papers for New Towns. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1969) Master Planning Research on Urban Waterfronts. Project No. C-2141 (1971). Supported under the Title II provisions of the Water Resources Research Act of 1964 and funded by the Office of Water Resources, U.S. Department of the Interior. The goal was to introduce master planning to urban waterfronts, as an incentive to the then-awakening efforts to recharge the United States’ cradle of development. Bright, Breathing Edges of City Life: Amenity Benefits of Urban Water Resources was the first definitive look at this specific development effort, and was the best-seller on the list of Government Printing Office publications at that time. Developer Master Plans for the ownership of the land, with the intention of phased implementation: Camp Luckett. Route 7. Fairfax, Virginia: 200 acres Davis Tract. Montgomery County, Maryland: 75 acres Salt Pond. Bethany, Delaware: 1,000 acres Forest Glen. Montgomery County, Maryland: 25 acres The Palisades. Arlington, Virginia: 15 acres Radnor Tract. Ballston, Virginia: 5 acres The Portals. Washington D.C.: 10 acres The Georgetown Waterfront. Washington, D.C.: 10 acres Gwynebrook. Towson, Maryland: 75 acres Warfield/Kline. Frederick, Maryland: 6 acres Baker/Kane. Charleston, South Carolina: 50 acres Baker Tract. Renley Point, South Carolina: 35 acres Shirlington Tract. Arlington, Virginia: 30 acres Shoreham Tract. Washington D.C.: 10 acres Minglewood Farms. Nashville, Tennessee: 800 acres 400 Block, Schenectady, New York:4 acres The Rockefeller Estate. Washington, D.C.: 25 acres Arts Council. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: 3 acres Old Ford Plant. Alexandria, Virginia: 10 acres The Thomas Cannery. Gaithersburg, Maryland: 3 acres Fortune Parc. Montgomery County, Maryland: 48 acres Doubleday Property. Garden City, Long Island: 18 acres Central Business District Master Plansfor city governments and downtown business groups, with the intention of phased implementation geared towards economic revitalization. Included in most of these was identification of potential developers, and a detailed strategy to bring the plans to reality: Baltimore, Maryland: 40 blocks Petersburg, Virginia: 40 acres Norfolk, Virginia: 50 acres Fort Wayne, Indiana: 6 blocks Rockville, Maryland: 420 acres Columbus, Georgia: 100 blocks Nashville, Tennessee: 162 acres York, Pennsylvania: 100 acres Colmar Manor, Maryland: 15 acres Dearborn, Michigan: 6 blocks Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: 70 acres Tourism Master Plans for state governments. Large-scale projects done in the 1960s, all of which were geared to economic development through creation/invention of a tourism industry: The Town of East St. Louis, Illinois Ski industry for West Virginia Cooperative Resort Town, Puente al Mar, Puerto Rico Frank Holten State Park, Illinois The South Texas Triangle Nine Counties, Northeast Development District, Arkansas Eureka Springs, Arkansas Arkadelphia, Arkansas Ten Year Development Plan of the Bahama Islands Red Carpet Country, Oklahoma Bourne, Massachusetts Nassau, Bahamas

Painting

Solo exhibitions

1990: Industrial Baroque (Painting and Furniture). Barbara Fendrick Gallery. New York. (February 22 to March 31, 1990) 1990: Industrial Baroque (Painting and Furniture). Barbara Fendrick Gallery. Washington D.C. (April 5 to 28, 1990) 1991–92: Facades (series). Hokin Kaufman Gallery. Chicago, Illinois. (November 1991 to January 1992) 1993: Urban Stories (series). Galerie Gasnier Kamien. Paris, France. (April 6, 1993, to July 31, 1993) 1995: Visions of the Future (series). National Technical Museum, Prague, Czech Republic in cooperation with the Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe. (March 9 to April 30, 1995) 1995: Visions of the Future (series). The Museum of Architecture, Wroclaw, Poland in cooperation with the Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe. (September 7 to October 8, 1995)

These following articles on the solo exhibitions were published in newspapers and magazines between 1989 and 1995:

The New York Times. June 15, 1989 (Barbara Gamarekian) Regardie’s Magazine. January 1990 The New York Times. March 15, 1990 (Suzanne Slesin) The Washington Post. April 5, 1990 (Jane Stonesifer) The Washington Post. April 7, 1990 (Benjamin Forgey) Dossier Magazine. June 1990 Trump’s Magazine. June 1990 (Lesa Griffith) Architectural Record Magazine. September 1990 (Karen D. Stein) Washington Home & Garden Magazine. Winter. 1990 Avery Library Centennial Drawings Archive. 1991. “Retrofitted Window.” San Francisco: Pomegranate Press. Art & Antiques Magazine. November 1991 (Carol Vogel) Gay Chicago Magazine. December 19, 1991 (Justin H. Sunward) Le Generaliste. June 1993 (Chantal de Rosamel) Jardin des Modes. June 1993 (Nicole Bamberger) Demeures Chateaux. June/July 1993 (Michel de Loye) Listings: D’Architectures. April 1993 Le Moniteur Architecture. April 1993 Connaissance des Art. May 1993 L’Oeil. May 1993 BAT Magazine. France. May 1993 The Washington Post. “Big Sky Motel.” October 14, 1993 Frontier Magazine. “Big Sky Motel.” Winter 1994 Prace. March 13, 1995 Express. March 13, 1995 Svobodne Slove. March 14, 1995 Dobry Vecernik. March 15, 1995 The Washington Post. March 16, 1995 Dobry Vecernik. March 20, 1995 Dobry Vecernik.March 30, 1995 Prace. March 31, 1995 Zn Noviny. April 5, 1995 In: Hospodarske.April 7, 1995 Kvety. April 7, 1995 Atelier. April 13, 1995 Vystrizek Z Tisku. April 21, 1995

Group exhibitions

1990: National Building Museum, Washington, D.C., “Industrial Baroque” Furniture. Side Table (October 1990) 1991: Columbia University, New York, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. Retrofitted Window (April 1991) 1991: Chicago International Art Exposition 1992: Chicago International Art Exposition 1993: "Art by Architects", Washington, D.C., AIA/Share our Strength Auction.Big Sky Motel (October 21, 1993) 1993: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Friends Auction. Washington D.C. Wet Paint (November 5, 1993) 1993: "East/West Tangent", Cologne, Germany. Curated by Francoise Friedrich. SoHo Art Gallery and In the Eighth Year (November 10 to 20, 1993) 1994: "Art by Architects", Los Angeles. AIA Convention. Balcony Supported by Ganged Metal Tube Brackets (May 13, 1994) 1994: American Embassy Kuwait. Art in Embassies Program: Lookout Tower and Wide Flange Cornice with Pipes and Sheet Metal Dentils (June 1994) 1994: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Friends Auction. Washington, D.C. Ready to Talk (October 28, 1994) 1995: The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Friends Auction. Washington D.C. Seaside Motel (October 27, 1995)

Writing

Books

1973: Foreword to Historic Buildings of Washington, D.C. Pittsburg: Ober Park Associates, Inc. 1998: The Powers of Preservation: New Life for Urban Historic Places, New York: McGraw-Hill. 2015: Interruption of the Cocktail Hour. A Washington Yarn of Art, Murder, and the Attempted Assassination of the President, Create Space Independent Publishing. 2017: Our Nation’s Capital: Pro Bono Publico Ideas, Washington, D.C.: International Arts & Artists. 2018: Washington Comiks: An Irreverent Look at the Absurdities of Our Nation's Capital, as Portrayed in 50 paintings, to be published by International Arts & Artists. 2018

Magazines Journal of the American Institute of Architects:

1965: “Politics, Architecture and World Fairs.” Cover article. (April) 1979: Book Review. “The Revolutionary New Corridor-Free Systems.” 1979: “Adaptive Abuse” 1980: “The Retreat into Architectural Narcissism”

“The Pennsylvania Avenue Plan.” St. Albans Bulletin, May 1965

“Advise and Consult.” Library of Congress Information Bulletin. Vol. 56, No. 9, 5-11. May 1997.

The Weekly Standard:

“Storm Warnings. Architectural Change is Coming–and It ain’t gonna be pretty.” (Venice Biennale), February 7, 2005. “Lines in the Sand. Art and Commerce in Sunny Florida.” (Art Basel Miami Beach), March 12, 2007. “China by Design. On a clear day you can see the People’s Architecture” April 28, 2008

Washingtonian Magazine: (Contributing Editor on Urban Affairs, 1965–1978)

1965: “Last Resort Architecture” 1965: “Subways are for People” 1966: “Wanted: A HUD with Vision” 1966: “The Architecture of Zoning” 1966: “The Washington National Airport boondoggle” 1967: “Sound and Fury at the FAA” 1967: “The Restoration Game” 1967: “Transportation to Dulles Airport” 1967: “The Day Commissioner Tobrinop saw a Kiosk” 1967: “A Proposal to Solve the National Airport Problem: The Airline Terminal Building” 1969: “Washington’s Waterfronts: 44 Miles down the Drain” 1970: “Economic Home Rule for the District of Columbia” 1972: “A No-Cost Solution to the Airport Problem” 1972: “An Offer to Buy National Airport” 1973: “Take this New York” 1974: “Saving the Willard” 1986: “The Bunkerization of Washington”

Personal life Arthur Cotton Moore's son is Greg Moore, a theoretical physicist at Rutgers University. Moore died of Pulmonary fibrosis on September 4, 2022 at the age of 87. His remains are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.