This summer I am working as an intern at the Octagon Museum with the AIA Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the American Institute of Architects. Located at a quiet corner two blocks west of the White House, the Octagon House is a beautiful federal style urban plantation. The Foundation restored the Octagon in the late ‘60s and maintains it as a museum, open to the public free of charge.
Because of financial shortage, the Octagon Museum has been closed from 2005 to 2010. Currently, it was open to the public, but only on Thursdays and Fridays. The AIA Foundation plans to open the museum to the public every day and promote community engagement. The goal of this summer internship is to help with preparing interpretation materials, planning walking tours for visitors and developing a long-term management plan for the museum. Since the Foundation is just taking off, designing the pins and T-shirts for the Foundation is one of our responsibilities as well.
During the recent history of the building, the concern for deterioration due to moisture conditions has been repeatedly expressed in its documentation. At present, several of the below-grade walls exhibit interior plaster failures, which are the signs of damage due to rising dampness. So it is urgent to remove contaminants from interior surfaces and providing appropriate interior finishes, especially at the Coal Vault and Servants Hall of this building. This Octagon Moisture Mitigation project is coming soon and I will work with professionals from the Quinn Evans Architects. My responsibilities include collecting data, documenting the process and preparing reports about the project to share with the general public and other architects. I am so excited about this project and will send another update about how it goes later.
When I am not working at the house museum, I am busy exploring every corner of the city. The sunshine is so strong here and I tan a lot…I have met with two of my middle school classmates and made some good friends. I’ll be sure to share some interesting stories of my life in D.C.
-Fanglan
