What this 100-hour undertaking shows about public spaces

Washington Post

3 days ago

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In May and June, I spent 100 hours painting my largest mural yet — a 2,000-square-foot wall in NoMa, in what sociologists call a 'third place': a space for socializing that is neither work nor home.
A map showing where the mural resides.
'Endless
Summer' mural,
200 Florida Ave. NE
FLA. AVENUE NE
Metropolitan
Branch Trail
N.Y. AVENUE NW
Gallaudet University
NoMa
Union
Market
Union
Station
D.C.
National Mall
U.S. Capitol
Source: Google Earth
'Endless
Summer' mural,
FLORIDA AVENUE NE
200 Florida Ave. NE
Metropolitan
Branch Trail
NEW YORK AVENUE NW
Gallaudet University
NoMa
Union
Market
Union
Station
D.C.
National Mall
U.S. Capitol
Source: Google Earth
Nicknamed 'the bike lobby,' this large, roofed, open space is a public amenity that District planners required the developers to provide. The planners wanted an easy connection between Florida Avenue and the Metropolitan Branch Trail, a popular regional trail that connects the Maryland suburbs to NoMa and runs right by the site. The developers delivered by punching a corridor through their apartment building. Today, the constant foot and bike traffic through the space validates that idea.
Andrea Limauro paints the 'Endless Summer' mural in NoMa. (Photos by Albert Ting)
As with the spring season artwork for this series, I chose this wall for its location in relation to D.C.'s main climate risk in the summer: urban heat. The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (where I work) projects that days in the summer with a heat index of 95 degrees Fahrenheit or above — often referred to as 'heat emergencies' — will increase up to three times by 2080.
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Because temperatures are not the same across the city — varying according to factors such as tree cover, proximity to water, topography and land use — some communities, often lower-income, experience even hotter summers. That's why I focused on Northeast Washington, where neighborhoods along the rail lines can feel up to 17 degrees hotter than the greener areas northwest of Rock Creek Park. The rail infrastructure itself contributes: Aboveground metal tracks routinely hit more than 135°F in summer (which forces trains to run slower for safety reasons) and radiate heat well into the night. The rail yards, and the industrial businesses that usually line them in cities everywhere, tend to have fewer trees and more heat-retaining surfaces such as asphalt and flat black roofs, exacerbating the urban heat island effect.
Fewer trees, higher temperatures
The wall's location, directly across from the busy national, regional, cargo and Metro rails in NoMa, felt perfect for this season's mural. Like the Georgetown artwork, this project also points to one of the few solutions we have to rising temperatures in dense urban areas: building more shaded third places for people to cool off. While tree cover is essential, it's not always feasible in tight urban spaces with mazes of underground infrastructure. Thus, creating shade through architectural and design solutions — from shade umbrellas and sails in parks to awnings along retail streets, to balconies in buildings — can also play a major role in cooling our cities.
Explore the mural
The mural depicts a large rising sun to evoke the summer heat that will replace the cool night. The landscape is an expanded view of D.C. north of Florida Avenue. The flora throughout is purposely wild as a reminder that nature will find a way to thrive.
Drag to see the full art.Tap on the dots to reveal details.
Marvin Gaye Park
This municipal park — which stretches 1.6 miles through several Northeast neighborhoods — is the city's longest. In 2006, it was renamed for the soul musician, who grew up in the area and started his career in Washington.
Third places — especially when free, accessible, and welcoming — are crucial ingredients in creating real community. In a time of ever-expanding cities and deepening social disconnection, they are more important than ever. Yet they're disappearing. Urban design tactics intended to dissuade loitering and encampments end up creating unwelcoming and uncomfortable spaces for everyone. If you've struggled to find a free and comfortable place to sit in a U.S. city, this is probably why.
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This is not to say such concerns aren't legitimate. There is a housing and mental health crisis in the U.S., but poor design won't solve it. Design is not a substitute for a social programs. When we make spaces uncomfortable for some, we make them uncomfortable for all. The result is often that people with means and choices avoid these uncomfortable public spaces, which, ironically, end up being used only by the very people who were meant to be kept away. With the bike lobby, I wanted to show that the opposite approach, more equitable and democratic, should be the guiding principle for urban design: Universal comfort for all is more likely to lead to higher use and diffused ownership of the space.
The mural depicts a large rising sun, along with landmarks from NoMa and communities northeast and northwest of Washington's old Boundary Street, which formed the northern boundary of the Federal City under the 1791 L'Enfant Plan. Today it's Florida Avenue. My goal was to make a space so beautiful that people would collectively care enough to maintain it.
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This is the second of four artworks Andrea Limauro is creating for his year-long 'Climate of Future Past' project about seasonal risks in four vulnerable communities around D.C. Limauro created the project in response to The Post's commission of four artworks in its 'Four Seasons' collaboration with the artist.