September 2020 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold, the second coming of St. Thomas Parish Church Washington, DC (1517 18th Street NW, off Dupont Circle). Kind of looks like the musical instrument that the space aliens flew down to Earth in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Spielberg, 1977) to play the dumb-ass tune that mesmerized mankind. At least they tacked that cross on top of the shoebox-like tower, so you get a clue. Extra style points, too, for the janky little window around the side. Below are the buildings across the street from this humdinger, nothing grand, but sufficiently charming to please the casual observer. And below that, a shot of the original church. The cornerstone was laid in 1899, but the “History” tab of the Church’s website omits the name of the architect. The building burned down in 1970 and part of the original facade was included in a mini-park on the site. The new iteration of St Thomas Parish Church was built starting in 2017. The website omits that architect’s name, too.

Thanks to Tom Morris for the nomination.