Vlastimil Koubek
Encyclopedia
Vlastimil Koubek was a Czech American
architect
who designed more than 100 buildings, most of them in the Washington, D.C.
, metropolitan area. When he retired, he had designed buildings worth more than $2 billion. Most of his work is Modernist
in style, although he developed a few structures in other vernaculars. He created the site plan for the redevelopment of Rosslyn, Virginia, and his Ames Center anchored the area's economic recovery. He also designed the World Building in Silver Spring, Maryland
, which sparked redevelopment of that town's downtown as well. In 1985, Washingtonian
magazine considered him to be one of 20 people "who in the past 20 years had the greatest impact on the way we live and who forever altered the look of Washington." In 1988, Washington Post
newspaper said his Willard Hotel renovation was one of 28 projects in the area which made a signal contribution to the "feel" and look of Washington, D.C.
and received his degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at Czech Technical University
. After graduation, he worked for several Czech architecture firms, designing office buildings.
Because he and his father had strong anti-communist
beliefs, Koubek decided to flee Czechoslovakia after the Communist coup d'état of February 1948
. He tried to cross the border into the American Zone of Occupation of Allied-occupied Germany
, and failed. A second attempt in July succeeded. Koubek emigrated to the United Kingdom
in October 1948, where he worked in a brickyard
, as a draftsman
for the city of Gloucester
and county of Gloucestershire
, a draftsman for the Ministry of Works, and announcer for the Czech language
news service of the BBC
. He met his future wife, Eva, in a bookstore in London
. Eva was born in Prague
in 1915, daughter of a Czech Army officer. Her family was imprisoned and many died in concentration camps in Nazi Germany
during World War II (she rescued her brother from one such camp). Vlastimil and Eva had known one another well in Prague, but had never dated.
The couple emigrated to the United States in February 1952, initially living in New York City
. When they arrived, they had $12 in their pockets. They married in the United States, with Eva (the only one with any funds) paying the $2 marriage license fee. He worked as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Emery Roth and Sons
, the city's largest architectural firm and a noted designer of office buildings, for a year. In 1954, Koubek entered the United States Army
, where he worked for the Army Exhibit Unit (a unit which creates displays and presentations about Army history, organization, and culture for the public). Koubek and his wife became naturalized United States citizens and had a daughter, Jana, in 1956. He briefly worked for the D.C.-based Edward Weihe architectural firm.
Vlastimil Koubek passed his architectural exam and established Koubek Architects in 1957. One of his first commissions to be built was Southern Maryland Medical Center (now Southern Maryland Hospital Center) in Clinton, Maryland
. His first major commission in the area was for 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a 13-story building with a facade of gold-anodized aluminum and white marble. But the United States Commission of Fine Arts
, which had design approval authority over all private buildings adjacent to federal buildings in the city, objected to this facade. Koubek submitted a revised design which utilized larger, octagonal window designs of marble with recessed ribs of bronze aluminum, which not only was accepted but highly praised by influential architect Frederick Gutheim
as pushing District architectural design "forward 10 years." A similar design was created for the facade of One Farragut Square
South, which began construction in November 1960. A more Modernist glass-wall building was planned in October 1961 for 1666 Connecticut Avenue NW (the southwest corner of Connecticut Avenue NW and R Street NW).
directly across the Potomac River
from the Georgetown
neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
). In 1960, Rosslyn was a seedy area of bars, pawn shops, small industry, and used car lots. But land values in Rosslyn had been significantly revalued upward, and in order to take advantage of the building boom they believed was coming, Arlington County county planners required site plans that emphasized tall, free-standing buildings. In 1961, Koubek drafted a site plan for the 80 acres (32.4 ha) site around the proposed Ames Center (an area which represented about half the total acreage in the Rosslyn area). Koubek also was the architect for the Ames Center itself, a complex which included a 13-story office building, bank, church, and civic auditorium located at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive.
The construction of the Ames Center and approval of a site plan for the area around it led to the wholesale economic and architectural redevelopment of Rosslyn, Koubek also developed the site plan for the area bounded by Wilson Boulevard, North Arlington Ridge Road, 19th Street North, and North Kent Street. This included the London House and Normandy House apartment complexes. Although it also proposed constructing two apartment complexes in the center of the area, three office buildings were built instead. London House opened in January 1965.
in the city to feature a columnless interior. It became home to the upscale The Palm
steak restaurant in December 1972, although building's exterior reflecting pool and numerous fountains were replaced by a mundane garden and short trees. Later that year, he designed a sister building across the street (1234 19th Street NW) which incorporated solarized glass windows, dark bronze panels, and dark brown aluminum ribbing. He was the chief architect of the World Building (8121 Georgia Avenue) in Silver Spring, Maryland, The World Building helped revitalize the long-blighted Silver Spring downtown business district, and became home to long-time home of top-rated radio stations WWRC
and WGAY
. One of Koubek's less notable efforts, however, was the 1963 five-story Del Ray Building (4905 Del Ray Avenue) in Bethesda, Maryland
, a bland office building with penthouse clad in grey brick. In 1964, Koubek received his first commission from outside the District of Columbia and its immediate suburbs. This was Horizon House (1101 N. Calvert Street) in Baltimore, Maryland, an 18-story apartment building with rooftoop pool and ground-floor retail area in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood.
In March 1963, he created a design for 1050 31st Street NW, a spare, Federalist-style
red brick building—the first such non-Modernist structure he designed. He had initially proposed in 1961 a building with an all-glass first floor and exposed stone upper floors, but the Commission of Fine Arts rejected his design as too modern. After redesigning his building along Federalist lines, the Commission approved the design but the D.C. zoning board refused to approve it because of the changes. The zoning board also was unhappy with the way Koubek intended to conceal the elevator and air conditioning equipment on the roof. After redesigning the rooftop, the building began construction in March 1963. The first major office building to be constructed on the Georgetown waterfront in 50 years, it formerly housed the Henry J. Kaufman advertising firm. It is now home to the American Association for Justice Foundation's Leonard M. Ring Law Center.
Construction began in April 1963 on his Brawner Building (888 17th Street NW), a 12-story office building on Farragut Square which incorporated dark bronze panels and solarized windows much as his 1234 19th Street building had. By the late 1960s, it was one of his best-known designs. In January 1964, Koubek designed what was then the D.C. metropolitan region's tallest office building, the 19-story steel-and-black glass clad Barlow Building (5454 Wisconsin Avenue). In August, the Freed family commissioned him to build the eight-story Chatham Apartments, the first high-rise, medium-income apartment building to be constructed among the two-story Georgian-style
townhouses that comprised the 125 acres (50.6 ha) Buckingham Historic District. His first major D.C. residential structure was a nine-story apartment building (now turned to condominium
s) at 1800 R Street NW, which opened in October 1964. In April 1965, construction began on the seven-story 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, a Modernist building with broad horizontal swaths of grey brick and glass. (The structure was home to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
in 2011.) Another major office building, 1200 17th Street, NW (at the time, the headquarters of the American Psychological Association
), opened in October 1965. It was a neo-Brutalist
structure featuring repetitive polished concrete panels and deeply recessed rectangular windows, and one of the first high-rise office buildings on the downtown business district portion of Connecticut Avenue. That same year his 18-story Ross Building (now known as Wytestone Plaza) in Richmond, Virginia
, opened—the first high-rise built in in the city since 1928, and the first glass-curtain wall building constructed in the city. Koubek was also lead architect for and an investor in a syndicate ("Reservation Eleven Associates") which designed a new United States Department of Labor
(DOL) building at 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW in 1966. The group proposed an arrangement in which it would construct the building, lease it to the federal government for 30 years, and then donate it to the government. Congress, cutting back on construction funds as well as interested in the build/lease/donate proposal, refused to appropriate funds for the DOL structure. Eventually, however, Koubek's syndicate lost the commission, and a new DOL building (jointly designed by the firm of Brooks, Barr, Graeber & White and the firm of Pitts, Mebane, Phelps & White) was completed in 1974.
Koubek's D.C. area output slowed in the late 1960s. In February 1967, the Bureau of National Affairs
(a privately held publisher of government news) commissioned him to design a six-story Modernist building at 1231 25th Street NW. (This glass-and-white concrete neo-Brutalist building was stripped to its frame in 2007, four floors added, and joined to both an existing and a new structure to create luxury apartments.) In October 1967, construction began on his design for 1401 I Street NW, west of Franklin Square
. (The bland glass-and-steel box underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation in 1991. It was given a postmodern
facade of finished grey concrete panels and brown granite, the center portion of the building on the south and east sides extended slightly outward to break up the flatness of the building, and twin giant six-story-high non-structural Doric
columns topped by a non-structural colonnade
and entablature
. The building is now called Franklin Tower.) In December 1967, Koubek designed a new home for the Motion Picture Association of America
at 1601 I Street NW, described as a "bronze-tinted glass box on stilts enclosed by a bold screen of tan concrete". Another critic later called it "elegant" and as good as the work of I. M. Pei
. Construction began in February 1968 on his building for One Dupont Circle
NW, an eight-story office building with vertical concrete ribs over glass walls.
Meanwhile, Koubek was at work designing Bayfront Plaza, a $50 million "scaled-down Rockefeller Center
" complex of hotels, apartment buildings, retail shops, and piers on the waterfront of St. Petersburg, Florida
. Proposed in 1966, the project was significantly delayed by lawsuits from local citizens. Costs began to climb, interest rates on the proposed development loans soared, and the project was cancelled in 1969. Koubek sued lawyer Hubert Caulfield and businessman Martin Roess, who led the legal challenges against Bayfront Plaza, for $7 million, claiming legal harassment and abuse of the judicial process. The Supreme Court of Florida eventually ruled in favor of the developers, but it was too late. The parties settled out of court in 1972 for an undisclosed sum, and Koubek said he was pleased with the settlement. A 23-story office building planned for downtown Roanoke, Virginia
, in 1969 was never built.
Several of Koubek's buildings for important clients began or completed construction in 1969. The Willoughby, at the time the largest apartment building in the D.C. metropolitan area, opened at 4515 Willard Avenue in Chevy Chase, Maryland
, in January. Koubek assisted former First Lady
Mamie Eisenhower
and developer William Zeckendorf
in breaking ground in February for the West Building (475 L'Enfant Plaza SW; now United States Postal Service
headquarters), at 640000 square feet (59,457.9 m²) the largest private office building at the time in Washington. Eight months later, his headquarters at 1133 15th Street NW for Fannie Mae (the secondary mortgage market
packaging corporation) opened.
Additional commissions from important clients as well as notable buildings continued in the 1970s. Construction on the Koubek-designed 1000000 square feet (92,903 m²), $23 million L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
and office building began until June 1971. In July 1970, construction began on his 37-story, pink granite United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company Building
in Baltimore. It was the largest building yet constructed in the United States to employ the slipform method of continuously poured concrete. The USF&G Building successfully sparked the economic revival of the Inner Harbor. Opened in 1974, as of 2010 it remained the tallest building in Baltimore. Forty years later, it is considered a Baltimore landmark. Richard Burns of Design Collective Inc. has said, "In my opinion, his USF&G tower, now Legg Mason, is one of the best if not the best office buildings in downtown Baltimore. It is simple, direct and honest..." David Wallace, whose Wallace Roberts and Todd designed the master site plan for the Inner Harbor, declared it the "linchpin for the Inner Harbor. If you look at it from a boat, it's a punctuation point at one corner of the Inner Harbor, signifying where the central business district meets the waterfront." Construction started on his eight-story 2021 K Street NW office building in November 1970. In the summer of 1971, he completed his site plan for Friendship Heights, a 150 acres (60.7 ha) site straddling the boundary between the District of Columbia and Maryland border at Friendship Heights
/Friendship Village
. The plan contemplated several high-rise office buildings, a loop roadway around the site, pedestrian concourses, and several multi-story shopping malls clustered around the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Western Avenue. (The project was built throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s.) In March 1971, the American Automobile Association
commissioned him to design a six-story, $10-million headquarters for the group at 8111 Gatehouse Road in Fairfax, Virginia
. Eight months later, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) began construction on a Koubek-designed headquarters at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW, three blocks northwest from his 1965 office building and across the street from the Philippine Embassy. In March 1974, developer Melvin Lenkin commissioned Koubek to design an all-glass Modernist building for 1900 M Street NW. Koubek designed an eight-story cubist building with an all-glass facade; cutaway, cantilever
ed front corner; and ground floor arcade
. In March 1975, the National Bank of Washington, one of the city's oldest and most storied banks, commissioned a new operations center (4340 Connecticut Avenue NW) from Koubek. In May 1975, Koubek joined a consortium of prominent local architects to design the Washington Harbor complex of buildings on the Georgetown waterfront. The three-block-long, eight-building complex, which contained luxury condominiums, office space, restaurants, luxury retail space, a boardwalk, and plaza, was the first large-scale redevelopment of Georgetown's waterfront in the city's history. By the end of 1975, the New York Times
was reporting that Koubek's firm had designed roughly half the office buildings built in the District of Columbia since the 1950s.
In 1974, Koubek was hired to help renovate the long-shuttered, historic Willard Hotel
. The original hotel (consisting of six townhouses joined together) was built in 1816, renovated and enlarged by leaseholder Henry Willard in 1847, and the current 12-story structure erected in 1901. Due to mismanagement and competition from more modern hotels, the Willard closed in 1968. With the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s and 1970s, the Willard was threatened repeatedly with demolition. In May 1974, the National Trust for Historic Preservation
paid Koubek $25,000 to study saving the hotel, either as a hotel, as a mixed-used structure, or as an office building. The Willard's owners, Charles Benenson and Robert Arnow, had earlier commissioned Koubek to design a modern office building for the site which would have required demolition of the structure.
Koubek's study helped save the Willard. The New York City firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates was the eventual lead architect on the but Willard's renovation. But after the firm pulled out of the project, Koubek executed their concept. Declaring the design worthy of "genuine architectural distinction," Washington Post architectural critic Benjamin Forgey noted that Koubek was responsible for adding the giant ocular windows in the office complex, the marble office entryway with its marble canopy and columns, and the restructuring of the diagonal courtyard between the original hotel and the office additions. Forgey concluded that "...a lot of the details, such as the exquisite storefronts or the sequence of pilasters, entablatures and cornices in the same elongated courtyard, are a treat to the eye." Critic Paul Goldberger, writing for New York Times
declared the renovation ingenious. In 1988, the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
gave its 1988 Award for Excellence to Koubek for the Willard Hotel design and renovation.
station, ninth-floor balcony with non-structural columns, interior atrium, and ground level set-back retail concourse—opened in November. Originally just a single office building on a corner for a city block, it expanded to occupy nearly the entire block with the addition of two almost identical towers in 1979 and 1980. (The atrium was upgraded and a fountain added in 1992.) Two blocks to the west, in April 1977 Koubek also designed a fairly nondescript office building at 1990 K Street NW.
Koubek also helped co-design Metropolitan Square, a 12-story hotel and office building complex that occupies the entire block between F and G Streets NW and 14th and 15th Streets NW (due east across the street from the Treasury Building
). In November 1977, developer Oliver T. Carr proposed tearing down the entire block, which was occupied by the Beaux-Arts Keith-Albee Building and Metropolitan National Bank Building as well as the 180-year-old Rhodes Tavern. A years-long legal and political battle ensued, as historic preservationists fought to keep all three buildings. Carr eventually agreed to retain the facades of the two Beaux-Arts buildings facing G and 15th Streets. The battle to save the entire Rhodes' Tavern
, however, lasted into 1983 and involved a city-wide ballot initiative and an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States
. To preserve the facades, Carr hired Koubek and the New York City firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
and charged them with designing ground-floor retail entrances and two upper floors which would reflect but not mimic the Beaux-Arts style of the retained facades which building a more modern structure behind them. Construction on the new building began in 1980.
In late 1977, Koubek also completed the Camden Yards Sports Complex
master site plan, which laid out projected baseball and football stadiums, museums, restaurants, and retail shopping buildings in an attempt to revitalized the economically depressed Camden Yards area of downtown Baltimore. In September 1978, Koubek was commissioned to design an addition to the American Security Bank
opeations center at 635 Massachusetts Avenue NW. (National Public Radio purchased the building in 1992, but sold the black-glass and travertine marble structure to Boston Properties
in 2008. Once the broadcaster's new building at 1111 North Capitol Street is completed around 2012, Boston Properties intends to tear down 635 Massachusetts Avenue and erect a Class A office building in its place by 2015.) Also in 1978, Koubek's 22-story Virginia Electric and Power Company
headquarters in Richmond also opened. (It is now known as One James River Plaza.) In March 1979, Koubek agreed to design the interior renovations to the East Capitol Street Car Barn
, an 83-year-old trolley
barn at 14th and East Capitol Streets NE listed on the National Register of Historic Places
, turning the old industrial site into a $10 million apartment and condominium complex. The renovation was called "striking". Koubek also participated in the redevelopment of Vermont Avenue NW. In June 1979, as buildings were razed across the street for the construction of 1090 Vermont Avenue
, he was commissioned by the D.C. chapter of the American Medical Association
to build a Modernist 12-story office building at 1100 Vermont Avenue NW. A month later, construction began on Koubek's Spring Valley
Center, a luxury shopping, restaurant, and office building located at 4801 Massachusetts Avenue NW (on the site of the old Apex Theater). The six-story post-Modernist brick structure was not well-received. In 1998, one critic noted that it is "a structure easy to dislike. Clad in brick and encircled by horizontal window bands, it[is] volumetrically and dimensionally out of scale with its more domestically scaled neighbors. Unrelieved planar walls and minimalist detailing made it even less charming." (The structure was sold to American University
's Washington College of Law
in 1994 after a lengthy legal battle, and turned into classrooms and professors' offices.)
hotel (2799 Jefferson Davis Highway) and adjacent 12-story office building (2687 Clark Street) in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. The same year, construction began on Pentagon City I and Pentagon City II—12-story twin office towers built by Rose Associates prior to the construction of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City
, Pentagon Centre mall, Southampton Condominiums, and Claridge House condominiums. Koubek was also the lead architect for Capitol Place, a 2 acre (0.809372 ha), $125 million project at the southeast corner of F Street NW and New Jersey Avenue NW. The project involved construction of a 13-story office building (now the headquarters of the American Federation of Teachers
) and a hotel with a glass atrium (now the Washington Court Hotel). Groundbreaking began in December 1982, by which time another two office buildings (integrated with the first) had been added. In 1983, construction was completed on Koubek's black-glass curtain-walled Union Labor Life Insurance Company
headquarters at 111 Massachusetts Avenue NW. (Commonly called the "Darth Vader
Building" for its imposing black surface, the company sold the building to developer Douglas Jemal in 2003.) In 1984, Koubek partnered with architect Robert Brannen of Brannen/Jung Associates to design 1615 L Street NW, a 12-story office building with a two-story red brick facade on the ground surmounted by light-green glass and dark-green spandrel
s on the upper floors. The building was highly praised by the Washington Post for its deeply recessed and double-wide entrance and its spectacular, two-story lobby with seven different kinds of polished marble. In 1988, 1615 L Street NW won the Tucker Award of Excellence, "the stone industry's most prestigious award," for its use of stone in the building's lobby and other interiors. In March 1986, Koubek was commissioned to design One Judiciary Square
, an 11-story office building on top of the Judiciary Square Metro station. He designed the Westin Georgetown
hotel (2350 M Street NW) in 1988, a structure which successfully used large glass walls to "mingle outside with inside". He also designed Shockoe Plaza (now known as Shockoe Slip), a seven-building complex at E. Cary and Governor Streets in Richmond, Virginia.
Building at 601 E Street NW. He also did the working drawings for the massive, block-long new headquarters for the International Finance Corporation at 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in 1997.
Some of his last projects were the 13-story, Beaux-Arts Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza
in 1992 (1001 14th Street NW), the 29-story, post-Modernist 100 Harborview Drive condominiums in Baltimore in 1993, and Baltimore's 33-story, post-Modernist Water Tower (414 Water Street) condominiums in 2000 (in association with Sasaki Associates).
Václav Havel
appointed Koubek to a 15-member international board of consultants. In 1969, President Richard Nixon
appointed Koubek to serve on an architectural advisory panel to the General Services Administration
. In 1984, Koubek served as a consultant to the United States Department of State
, inspecting security arrangements at United States Foreign Service
housing in Europe and Asia.
Koubek was a nationally known authority on how to draft construction documents for commercial buildings. He also became a multi-millionaire through his architectural work and through investments.
Vlastimil Koubek's marriage to Eva Koubek ended in divorce. He married Peggy Koubek in 1984.
Vlastimil Koubek died of cancer on February 15, 2003, at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
, I. M. Pei
, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
. His work was described as restrained, and an unnamed D.C. city planning official once described Koubek's work as "last year's Skidmore, Owings and Merrill."
Koubek defended his work from criticisms that it was boxlike, sterile, repetitive, and dull. "Good architecture ... has to fit the fabric of the city and be functional inside and make economic sense. The most wonderful building in the world is not going to get built if it will not make money." Others defended his work as well. Oliver T. Carr, chairman of the giant real estate developer CarrAmerica, said, "He was good. He was different from so many architects of that time. His buildings had clean architectural lines, and yet they were functional and practical and offered good work space. For that period of time, he was a perfect fit."
Koubek did not like mixing older, smaller buildings with his designs. "There is no place for big buildings next to little buildings," he told the Washington Post
in 1979. He was also critical of Federalist architecture. He once scathingly noted, "I think that on Georgetown architecture I'd rather not comment at all. You may quote me on that. I wish you would."
Among Kubek's most notable buildings are:
Czech American
Czech Americans are citizens of the United States who were born in, or who descended from, the territory of the historic Czech lands, , or succession states, now known as the Czech Republic...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who designed more than 100 buildings, most of them in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, metropolitan area. When he retired, he had designed buildings worth more than $2 billion. Most of his work is Modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
in style, although he developed a few structures in other vernaculars. He created the site plan for the redevelopment of Rosslyn, Virginia, and his Ames Center anchored the area's economic recovery. He also designed the World Building in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
, which sparked redevelopment of that town's downtown as well. In 1985, Washingtonian
Washingtonian (magazine)
Washingtonian is a monthly magazine distributed in the Washington, DC area since 1965. The magazine describes itself as "the magazine Washington lives by." The magazine's core focuses are local feature journalism, guide book-style articles, and real estate advice.-Editorial Content:Washingtonian...
magazine considered him to be one of 20 people "who in the past 20 years had the greatest impact on the way we live and who forever altered the look of Washington." In 1988, Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
newspaper said his Willard Hotel renovation was one of 28 projects in the area which made a signal contribution to the "feel" and look of Washington, D.C.
Early life
Koubek was born in CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and received his degree in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at Czech Technical University
Brno University of Technology
Brno University of Technology is a university located in Brno, Czech Republic...
. After graduation, he worked for several Czech architecture firms, designing office buildings.
Because he and his father had strong anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
beliefs, Koubek decided to flee Czechoslovakia after the Communist coup d'état of February 1948
Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
The Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 – in Communist historiography known as "Victorious February" – was an event late that February in which the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia, ushering in over four decades...
. He tried to cross the border into the American Zone of Occupation of Allied-occupied Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and failed. A second attempt in July succeeded. Koubek emigrated to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in October 1948, where he worked in a brickyard
Brickyard
A brickyard is a place or yard where the earthen building material called bricks are made, fired, and stored, or sometimes sold or otherwise distributed from.-See also:...
, as a draftsman
Draughtsman
A draughtsman or draftsman , is a person skilled in drawing, either:*drawing for artistic purposes, or*technical drawing for practical purposes such as architecture or engineering...
for the city of Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and county of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, a draftsman for the Ministry of Works, and announcer for the Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
news service of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. He met his future wife, Eva, in a bookstore in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Eva was born in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in 1915, daughter of a Czech Army officer. Her family was imprisoned and many died in concentration camps in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
during World War II (she rescued her brother from one such camp). Vlastimil and Eva had known one another well in Prague, but had never dated.
The couple emigrated to the United States in February 1952, initially living in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. When they arrived, they had $12 in their pockets. They married in the United States, with Eva (the only one with any funds) paying the $2 marriage license fee. He worked as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Emery Roth and Sons
Emery Roth
Emery Roth was an American architect who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 30s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details...
, the city's largest architectural firm and a noted designer of office buildings, for a year. In 1954, Koubek entered the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, where he worked for the Army Exhibit Unit (a unit which creates displays and presentations about Army history, organization, and culture for the public). Koubek and his wife became naturalized United States citizens and had a daughter, Jana, in 1956. He briefly worked for the D.C.-based Edward Weihe architectural firm.
Career
Clinton, Maryland
Clinton is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Clinton was formerly known as Surrattsville until after the time of the American Civil War. The population of Clinton was 26,064 at the 2000 census. However, as of 2007, there is an...
. His first major commission in the area was for 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a 13-story building with a facade of gold-anodized aluminum and white marble. But the United States Commission of Fine Arts
United States Commission of Fine Arts
The United States Commission of Fine Arts , established in 1910 by an act of Congress, is an advisory agency of the Federal government.The CFA is mandated to review and provide advice on "matters of design and aesthetics", involving federal projects and planning in Washington, D.C...
, which had design approval authority over all private buildings adjacent to federal buildings in the city, objected to this facade. Koubek submitted a revised design which utilized larger, octagonal window designs of marble with recessed ribs of bronze aluminum, which not only was accepted but highly praised by influential architect Frederick Gutheim
Frederick Gutheim
Frederick Gutheim was an urban planner and historian, architect, and author. He is noted for writing The Potomac, a history of the Potomac River and the 40th volume in the Rivers of America Series, and Worthy of a Nation a history of the development of Washington, D.C..-Career:Gutheim was born in...
as pushing District architectural design "forward 10 years." A similar design was created for the facade of One Farragut Square
Farragut Square
Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street NW on the north, I Street NW to the south, and on the east and west by segments of 17th Street NW, and it interrupts Connecticut Avenue NW...
South, which began construction in November 1960. A more Modernist glass-wall building was planned in October 1961 for 1666 Connecticut Avenue NW (the southwest corner of Connecticut Avenue NW and R Street NW).
Rosslyn
Koubek was instrumental in helping to redevelop Rosslyn, Virginia, an unincorporated area of Arlington CountyArlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
directly across the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
from the Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
). In 1960, Rosslyn was a seedy area of bars, pawn shops, small industry, and used car lots. But land values in Rosslyn had been significantly revalued upward, and in order to take advantage of the building boom they believed was coming, Arlington County county planners required site plans that emphasized tall, free-standing buildings. In 1961, Koubek drafted a site plan for the 80 acres (32.4 ha) site around the proposed Ames Center (an area which represented about half the total acreage in the Rosslyn area). Koubek also was the architect for the Ames Center itself, a complex which included a 13-story office building, bank, church, and civic auditorium located at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive.
The construction of the Ames Center and approval of a site plan for the area around it led to the wholesale economic and architectural redevelopment of Rosslyn, Koubek also developed the site plan for the area bounded by Wilson Boulevard, North Arlington Ridge Road, 19th Street North, and North Kent Street. This included the London House and Normandy House apartment complexes. Although it also proposed constructing two apartment complexes in the center of the area, three office buildings were built instead. London House opened in January 1965.
Other works in the 1960s
Numerous commissions came his way throughout the 1960s. His Jefferson Building (1225 19th Street NW), built in 1963, was an eight-story glass-and-marble clad structure that was the first skyscraperSkyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in the city to feature a columnless interior. It became home to the upscale The Palm
The Palm (restaurant)
The Palm is an American fine-dining steakhouse that opened in 1926. It is located in New York City at 837 Second Avenue.Since its beginnings, management has opened additional restaurants throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico...
steak restaurant in December 1972, although building's exterior reflecting pool and numerous fountains were replaced by a mundane garden and short trees. Later that year, he designed a sister building across the street (1234 19th Street NW) which incorporated solarized glass windows, dark bronze panels, and dark brown aluminum ribbing. He was the chief architect of the World Building (8121 Georgia Avenue) in Silver Spring, Maryland, The World Building helped revitalize the long-blighted Silver Spring downtown business district, and became home to long-time home of top-rated radio stations WWRC
WWRC
WWRC —branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper...
and WGAY
WIHT
WIHT is a Top 40 formatted radio station that serves the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day. WIHT is licensed to and owned by Clear Channel Communications...
. One of Koubek's less notable efforts, however, was the 1963 five-story Del Ray Building (4905 Del Ray Avenue) in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, a bland office building with penthouse clad in grey brick. In 1964, Koubek received his first commission from outside the District of Columbia and its immediate suburbs. This was Horizon House (1101 N. Calvert Street) in Baltimore, Maryland, an 18-story apartment building with rooftoop pool and ground-floor retail area in the historic Mount Vernon neighborhood.
In March 1963, he created a design for 1050 31st Street NW, a spare, Federalist-style
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
red brick building—the first such non-Modernist structure he designed. He had initially proposed in 1961 a building with an all-glass first floor and exposed stone upper floors, but the Commission of Fine Arts rejected his design as too modern. After redesigning his building along Federalist lines, the Commission approved the design but the D.C. zoning board refused to approve it because of the changes. The zoning board also was unhappy with the way Koubek intended to conceal the elevator and air conditioning equipment on the roof. After redesigning the rooftop, the building began construction in March 1963. The first major office building to be constructed on the Georgetown waterfront in 50 years, it formerly housed the Henry J. Kaufman advertising firm. It is now home to the American Association for Justice Foundation's Leonard M. Ring Law Center.
Construction began in April 1963 on his Brawner Building (888 17th Street NW), a 12-story office building on Farragut Square which incorporated dark bronze panels and solarized windows much as his 1234 19th Street building had. By the late 1960s, it was one of his best-known designs. In January 1964, Koubek designed what was then the D.C. metropolitan region's tallest office building, the 19-story steel-and-black glass clad Barlow Building (5454 Wisconsin Avenue). In August, the Freed family commissioned him to build the eight-story Chatham Apartments, the first high-rise, medium-income apartment building to be constructed among the two-story Georgian-style
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
townhouses that comprised the 125 acres (50.6 ha) Buckingham Historic District. His first major D.C. residential structure was a nine-story apartment building (now turned to condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s) at 1800 R Street NW, which opened in October 1964. In April 1965, construction began on the seven-story 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, a Modernist building with broad horizontal swaths of grey brick and glass. (The structure was home to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
National Air Traffic Controllers Association
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is a labor union in the United States. It is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, and is the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration...
and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up. The Task Force is the country’s premier social justice organization fighting to improve the lives of LGBT people, and working to create positive, lasting...
in 2011.) Another major office building, 1200 17th Street, NW (at the time, the headquarters of the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
), opened in October 1965. It was a neo-Brutalist
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
structure featuring repetitive polished concrete panels and deeply recessed rectangular windows, and one of the first high-rise office buildings on the downtown business district portion of Connecticut Avenue. That same year his 18-story Ross Building (now known as Wytestone Plaza) in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, opened—the first high-rise built in in the city since 1928, and the first glass-curtain wall building constructed in the city. Koubek was also lead architect for and an investor in a syndicate ("Reservation Eleven Associates") which designed a new United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
(DOL) building at 2nd Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW in 1966. The group proposed an arrangement in which it would construct the building, lease it to the federal government for 30 years, and then donate it to the government. Congress, cutting back on construction funds as well as interested in the build/lease/donate proposal, refused to appropriate funds for the DOL structure. Eventually, however, Koubek's syndicate lost the commission, and a new DOL building (jointly designed by the firm of Brooks, Barr, Graeber & White and the firm of Pitts, Mebane, Phelps & White) was completed in 1974.
Koubek's D.C. area output slowed in the late 1960s. In February 1967, the Bureau of National Affairs
Bureau of National Affairs
The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. — known as BNA — is an independent, privately owned publisher of specialized online and print news and information for professionals in business and government, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, USA...
(a privately held publisher of government news) commissioned him to design a six-story Modernist building at 1231 25th Street NW. (This glass-and-white concrete neo-Brutalist building was stripped to its frame in 2007, four floors added, and joined to both an existing and a new structure to create luxury apartments.) In October 1967, construction began on his design for 1401 I Street NW, west of Franklin Square
Franklin Square (Washington, D.C.)
Franklin Square is a square in downtown Washington, D.C.. Named after Benjamin Franklin, it is bounded by K Street Northwest to the north, 13th Street NW on the east, I Street NW on the south, and 14th Street NW on the west. It is served by the McPherson Square station of the Washington Metro,...
. (The bland glass-and-steel box underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation in 1991. It was given a postmodern
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
facade of finished grey concrete panels and brown granite, the center portion of the building on the south and east sides extended slightly outward to break up the flatness of the building, and twin giant six-story-high non-structural Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
columns topped by a non-structural colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
and entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
. The building is now called Franklin Tower.) In December 1967, Koubek designed a new home for the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
at 1601 I Street NW, described as a "bronze-tinted glass box on stilts enclosed by a bold screen of tan concrete". Another critic later called it "elegant" and as good as the work of I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
. Construction began in February 1968 on his building for One Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW...
NW, an eight-story office building with vertical concrete ribs over glass walls.
Meanwhile, Koubek was at work designing Bayfront Plaza, a $50 million "scaled-down Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
" complex of hotels, apartment buildings, retail shops, and piers on the waterfront of St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
. Proposed in 1966, the project was significantly delayed by lawsuits from local citizens. Costs began to climb, interest rates on the proposed development loans soared, and the project was cancelled in 1969. Koubek sued lawyer Hubert Caulfield and businessman Martin Roess, who led the legal challenges against Bayfront Plaza, for $7 million, claiming legal harassment and abuse of the judicial process. The Supreme Court of Florida eventually ruled in favor of the developers, but it was too late. The parties settled out of court in 1972 for an undisclosed sum, and Koubek said he was pleased with the settlement. A 23-story office building planned for downtown Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
, in 1969 was never built.
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
, in January. Koubek assisted former First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Mamie Eisenhower
Mamie Eisenhower
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower was the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.-Early life:...
and developer William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf, Sr. was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp – for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 – he developed a significant portion of the New York City urban landscape.-Career:Zeckendorf's...
in breaking ground in February for the West Building (475 L'Enfant Plaza SW; now United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
headquarters), at 640000 square feet (59,457.9 m²) the largest private office building at the time in Washington. Eight months later, his headquarters at 1133 15th Street NW for Fannie Mae (the secondary mortgage market
Secondary mortgage market
The secondary mortgage market is the market for the sale of securities or bonds collateralized by the value of mortgage loans. The mortgage lender, commercial banks, or specialized firm will group together many loans and sell grouped loans as securities called collateralized mortgage obligations ....
packaging corporation) opened.
Works from the 1970s
L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
The L'Enfant Plaza Hotel is a hotel located in downtown Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was designed by architect Vlastimil Koubek, and named after Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the first surveyor and designer of the street layout of Washington, D.C....
and office building began until June 1971. In July 1970, construction began on his 37-story, pink granite United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company Building
Legg Mason Building
Transamerica Tower , is a 40-story skyscraper in downtown Baltimore, Maryland completed in 1973. At , it is the tallest building in Baltimore, the tallest building in Maryland, and the tallest building between Philadelphia and Raleigh...
in Baltimore. It was the largest building yet constructed in the United States to employ the slipform method of continuously poured concrete. The USF&G Building successfully sparked the economic revival of the Inner Harbor. Opened in 1974, as of 2010 it remained the tallest building in Baltimore. Forty years later, it is considered a Baltimore landmark. Richard Burns of Design Collective Inc. has said, "In my opinion, his USF&G tower, now Legg Mason, is one of the best if not the best office buildings in downtown Baltimore. It is simple, direct and honest..." David Wallace, whose Wallace Roberts and Todd designed the master site plan for the Inner Harbor, declared it the "linchpin for the Inner Harbor. If you look at it from a boat, it's a punctuation point at one corner of the Inner Harbor, signifying where the central business district meets the waterfront." Construction started on his eight-story 2021 K Street NW office building in November 1970. In the summer of 1971, he completed his site plan for Friendship Heights, a 150 acres (60.7 ha) site straddling the boundary between the District of Columbia and Maryland border at Friendship Heights
Friendship Heights
Friendship Heights is a residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods and commercial areas around Wisconsin Avenue north of Fessenden Street NW and...
/Friendship Village
Friendship Village, Maryland
Friendship Village is an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Inclusive within the Friendship Village CDP is the Village of Friendship Heights. The population was 4,512 at the 2000 census....
. The plan contemplated several high-rise office buildings, a loop roadway around the site, pedestrian concourses, and several multi-story shopping malls clustered around the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and Western Avenue. (The project was built throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s.) In March 1971, the American Automobile Association
American Automobile Association
AAA , formerly known as the American Automobile Association, is a federation of 51 independently operated motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a not-for-profit member service organization with more than 51 million members. AAA provides services to its members such as travel, automotive,...
commissioned him to design a six-story, $10-million headquarters for the group at 8111 Gatehouse Road in Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
. Eight months later, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) began construction on a Koubek-designed headquarters at 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW, three blocks northwest from his 1965 office building and across the street from the Philippine Embassy. In March 1974, developer Melvin Lenkin commissioned Koubek to design an all-glass Modernist building for 1900 M Street NW. Koubek designed an eight-story cubist building with an all-glass facade; cutaway, cantilever
Cantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
ed front corner; and ground floor arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
. In March 1975, the National Bank of Washington, one of the city's oldest and most storied banks, commissioned a new operations center (4340 Connecticut Avenue NW) from Koubek. In May 1975, Koubek joined a consortium of prominent local architects to design the Washington Harbor complex of buildings on the Georgetown waterfront. The three-block-long, eight-building complex, which contained luxury condominiums, office space, restaurants, luxury retail space, a boardwalk, and plaza, was the first large-scale redevelopment of Georgetown's waterfront in the city's history. By the end of 1975, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
was reporting that Koubek's firm had designed roughly half the office buildings built in the District of Columbia since the 1950s.
The Willard renovation
Willard InterContinental Washington
The Willard InterContinental Washington is an historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. Among its facilities are numerous luxurious guest rooms, several restaurants, the famed Round Robin Bar, the Peacock Alley series of luxury shops, and voluminous...
. The original hotel (consisting of six townhouses joined together) was built in 1816, renovated and enlarged by leaseholder Henry Willard in 1847, and the current 12-story structure erected in 1901. Due to mismanagement and competition from more modern hotels, the Willard closed in 1968. With the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s and 1970s, the Willard was threatened repeatedly with demolition. In May 1974, the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
paid Koubek $25,000 to study saving the hotel, either as a hotel, as a mixed-used structure, or as an office building. The Willard's owners, Charles Benenson and Robert Arnow, had earlier commissioned Koubek to design a modern office building for the site which would have required demolition of the structure.
Koubek's study helped save the Willard. The New York City firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates was the eventual lead architect on the but Willard's renovation. But after the firm pulled out of the project, Koubek executed their concept. Declaring the design worthy of "genuine architectural distinction," Washington Post architectural critic Benjamin Forgey noted that Koubek was responsible for adding the giant ocular windows in the office complex, the marble office entryway with its marble canopy and columns, and the restructuring of the diagonal courtyard between the original hotel and the office additions. Forgey concluded that "...a lot of the details, such as the exquisite storefronts or the sequence of pilasters, entablatures and cornices in the same elongated courtyard, are a treat to the eye." Critic Paul Goldberger, writing for New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
declared the renovation ingenious. In 1988, the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
gave its 1988 Award for Excellence to Koubek for the Willard Hotel design and renovation.
Other 1970s projects
In February 1976, Koubek contributed a third high-rise office building to Farragut Square, this one a brick-and-solarized glass structure with a glass-and-aluminum penthouse at 818 Connecticut Avenue NW. His massive, grid-like 400 North Capitol Street, one of the few office buildings he designed with a plaza between two wings, opened in June. His 12-story International Square building—with its inverted setbacks above the Farragut West Washington MetroWashington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
station, ninth-floor balcony with non-structural columns, interior atrium, and ground level set-back retail concourse—opened in November. Originally just a single office building on a corner for a city block, it expanded to occupy nearly the entire block with the addition of two almost identical towers in 1979 and 1980. (The atrium was upgraded and a fountain added in 1992.) Two blocks to the west, in April 1977 Koubek also designed a fairly nondescript office building at 1990 K Street NW.
Koubek also helped co-design Metropolitan Square, a 12-story hotel and office building complex that occupies the entire block between F and G Streets NW and 14th and 15th Streets NW (due east across the street from the Treasury Building
Treasury Building (Washington, D.C.)
The Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. is a National Historic Landmark building which is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Treasury....
). In November 1977, developer Oliver T. Carr proposed tearing down the entire block, which was occupied by the Beaux-Arts Keith-Albee Building and Metropolitan National Bank Building as well as the 180-year-old Rhodes Tavern. A years-long legal and political battle ensued, as historic preservationists fought to keep all three buildings. Carr eventually agreed to retain the facades of the two Beaux-Arts buildings facing G and 15th Streets. The battle to save the entire Rhodes' Tavern
Rhodes' Tavern
Rhodes Tavern was the site of an historic tavern in the early history of Washington, D.C. It was located at 15th Street and F Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C.-History:...
, however, lasted into 1983 and involved a city-wide ballot initiative and an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. To preserve the facades, Carr hired Koubek and the New York City firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
and charged them with designing ground-floor retail entrances and two upper floors which would reflect but not mimic the Beaux-Arts style of the retained facades which building a more modern structure behind them. Construction on the new building began in 1980.
Camden Yards Sports Complex
The Camden Yards Sports Complex is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The complex is composed of Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium, which are the stadiums for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball and the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League, respectively...
master site plan, which laid out projected baseball and football stadiums, museums, restaurants, and retail shopping buildings in an attempt to revitalized the economically depressed Camden Yards area of downtown Baltimore. In September 1978, Koubek was commissioned to design an addition to the American Security Bank
American Security and Trust Company Building
The American Security and Trust Company Building is a Neoclassical bank office designed by the architectural firm of York and Sawyer. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.-Design:...
opeations center at 635 Massachusetts Avenue NW. (National Public Radio purchased the building in 1992, but sold the black-glass and travertine marble structure to Boston Properties
Boston Properties
Boston Properties, Inc. is a self-managed real estate investment trust based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its primary focus is "Class A" office space which it acquires, develops, and manages in the major markets of Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco...
in 2008. Once the broadcaster's new building at 1111 North Capitol Street is completed around 2012, Boston Properties intends to tear down 635 Massachusetts Avenue and erect a Class A office building in its place by 2015.) Also in 1978, Koubek's 22-story Virginia Electric and Power Company
Dominion Resources
Dominion Resources Inc. , commonly referred to as Dominion, is a power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia and North Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and eastern North Carolina...
headquarters in Richmond also opened. (It is now known as One James River Plaza.) In March 1979, Koubek agreed to design the interior renovations to the East Capitol Street Car Barn
East Capitol Street Car Barn
The East Capitol Car Barn, also known as The Car Barn Condominiums, is an historic building, located at 1400 East Capitol Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C., in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.-History:...
, an 83-year-old trolley
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
barn at 14th and East Capitol Streets NE listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, turning the old industrial site into a $10 million apartment and condominium complex. The renovation was called "striking". Koubek also participated in the redevelopment of Vermont Avenue NW. In June 1979, as buildings were razed across the street for the construction of 1090 Vermont Avenue
1090 Vermont Avenue
1090 Vermont Avenue NW is a high-rise modernist office building in Washington, D.C., which is tied with the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel as the fourth-tallest commercial building in the city . The building is 187 feet high and has 12 floors...
, he was commissioned by the D.C. chapter of the American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
to build a Modernist 12-story office building at 1100 Vermont Avenue NW. A month later, construction began on Koubek's Spring Valley
Spring Valley, Washington, D.C.
Spring Valley is an affluent neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., known for its large homes and tree-lined streets.The neighborhood houses the main campus of American University at 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, the Wesley Theological Seminary at 4500 Massachusetts Avenue, and Washington College...
Center, a luxury shopping, restaurant, and office building located at 4801 Massachusetts Avenue NW (on the site of the old Apex Theater). The six-story post-Modernist brick structure was not well-received. In 1998, one critic noted that it is "a structure easy to dislike. Clad in brick and encircled by horizontal window bands, it
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
's Washington College of Law
Washington College of Law
American University Washington College of Law is the law school of American University. It is located on Massachusetts Avenue in the Spring Valley neighborhood of northwest Washington. WCL is ranked 50th among law schools by US News and World Report...
in 1994 after a lengthy legal battle, and turned into classrooms and professors' offices.)
Works of the 1980s
The 1980s saw the last of Koubek's major projects. In August 1980, ground was broken on the 18-story Hyatt Regency Crystal CityHyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...
hotel (2799 Jefferson Davis Highway) and adjacent 12-story office building (2687 Clark Street) in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. The same year, construction began on Pentagon City I and Pentagon City II—12-story twin office towers built by Rose Associates prior to the construction of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City
Fashion Centre at Pentagon City
The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, also known as Pentagon City Mall, is an upscale shopping mall in Arlington, Virginia. It is situated in the Pentagon City neighborhood on the lower levels of the Washington Tower office building, former home of MCI's Consumer Markets headquarters, near...
, Pentagon Centre mall, Southampton Condominiums, and Claridge House condominiums. Koubek was also the lead architect for Capitol Place, a 2 acre (0.809372 ha), $125 million project at the southeast corner of F Street NW and New Jersey Avenue NW. The project involved construction of a 13-story office building (now the headquarters of the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
) and a hotel with a glass atrium (now the Washington Court Hotel). Groundbreaking began in December 1982, by which time another two office buildings (integrated with the first) had been added. In 1983, construction was completed on Koubek's black-glass curtain-walled Union Labor Life Insurance Company
Union Labor Life Insurance Company
Ullico Inc. is a privately held insurance and financial services holding company in the United States. The Union Labor Life Insurance Company was founded in 1925 by the American Federation of Labor by its then president, Samuel Gompers, to offer health and life insurance products specifically to...
headquarters at 111 Massachusetts Avenue NW. (Commonly called the "Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
Building" for its imposing black surface, the company sold the building to developer Douglas Jemal in 2003.) In 1984, Koubek partnered with architect Robert Brannen of Brannen/Jung Associates to design 1615 L Street NW, a 12-story office building with a two-story red brick facade on the ground surmounted by light-green glass and dark-green spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
s on the upper floors. The building was highly praised by the Washington Post for its deeply recessed and double-wide entrance and its spectacular, two-story lobby with seven different kinds of polished marble. In 1988, 1615 L Street NW won the Tucker Award of Excellence, "the stone industry's most prestigious award," for its use of stone in the building's lobby and other interiors. In March 1986, Koubek was commissioned to design One Judiciary Square
One Judiciary Square
One Judiciary Square is a highrise office building at 401 Fourth Street NW in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Designed by architect Vlastimil Koubek, the building is tall and has approximately 10 floors...
, an 11-story office building on top of the Judiciary Square Metro station. He designed the Westin Georgetown
Westin Hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2011, Westin operated over 160 hotels in 37 countries.-History:...
hotel (2350 M Street NW) in 1988, a structure which successfully used large glass walls to "mingle outside with inside". He also designed Shockoe Plaza (now known as Shockoe Slip), a seven-building complex at E. Cary and Governor Streets in Richmond, Virginia.
Final works
Although by 1990 Koubek Associates was the 12th largest architectural firm in D.C.-Baltimore area, Koubek personally worked on only a few projects in the 1990s. With John V. Yanik, he helped design the Edward M. Crough Center for Architectural Studies at Catholic University of America. The Washington Chapter of the AIA gave him an Award of Excellence for this design in 1990. Although he was not the lead architect on the project, he did the working drawings for the AARPAARP
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is the United States-based non-governmental organization and interest group, founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus, PhD, a retired educator from California, and based in Washington, D.C. According to its mission statement, it is "a...
Building at 601 E Street NW. He also did the working drawings for the massive, block-long new headquarters for the International Finance Corporation at 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in 1997.
Crowne Plaza
Crowne Plaza is a chain of full service, upscale hotels catering to business travelers and to the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands, which include InterContinental and Holiday Inn and operates in 52 countries, usually located in...
in 1992 (1001 14th Street NW), the 29-story, post-Modernist 100 Harborview Drive condominiums in Baltimore in 1993, and Baltimore's 33-story, post-Modernist Water Tower (414 Water Street) condominiums in 2000 (in association with Sasaki Associates).
Other activities
In addition to his architectural work, Koubek performed civic service as well. He and his wife, Eva, were both highly active in the Czech émigré community in the United States and especially the Washington, D.C., area. In 1990, Czechoslovakian PresidentPresident of the Czech Republic
The President of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic. Unlike his counterparts in Austria and Hungary, who are generally considered figureheads, the Czech President has a considerable role in political affairs...
Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
appointed Koubek to a 15-member international board of consultants. In 1969, President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
appointed Koubek to serve on an architectural advisory panel to the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
. In 1984, Koubek served as a consultant to the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, inspecting security arrangements at United States Foreign Service
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
housing in Europe and Asia.
Koubek was a nationally known authority on how to draft construction documents for commercial buildings. He also became a multi-millionaire through his architectural work and through investments.
Retirement and death
Although Koubek designed more than 100 apartment buildings, condominiums, hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls during his long career, he did only a handful of private residences. When he retired around 2000, he had designed buildings representing a combined investment of more than $2 billion.Vlastimil Koubek's marriage to Eva Koubek ended in divorce. He married Peggy Koubek in 1984.
Vlastimil Koubek died of cancer on February 15, 2003, at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
Design philosophy
Koubek's architectural philosophy has been described as cosmetic and practical. Because the height of buildings in D.C. was limited to 130 feet (39.6 m) by law and the cost of land was so high, buildings in the city were built to the maximum size possible. "There is nothing left for the architect to do except apply the cosmetics," Koubek said. Koubek limited his "cosmetics" to the needs and budgets of his clients, often falling back on the design aesthetics of Marcel BreuerMarcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...
, I. M. Pei
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...
, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
. His work was described as restrained, and an unnamed D.C. city planning official once described Koubek's work as "last year's Skidmore, Owings and Merrill."
Koubek defended his work from criticisms that it was boxlike, sterile, repetitive, and dull. "Good architecture ... has to fit the fabric of the city and be functional inside and make economic sense. The most wonderful building in the world is not going to get built if it will not make money." Others defended his work as well. Oliver T. Carr, chairman of the giant real estate developer CarrAmerica, said, "He was good. He was different from so many architects of that time. His buildings had clean architectural lines, and yet they were functional and practical and offered good work space. For that period of time, he was a perfect fit."
Koubek did not like mixing older, smaller buildings with his designs. "There is no place for big buildings next to little buildings," he told the Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
in 1979. He was also critical of Federalist architecture. He once scathingly noted, "I think that on Georgetown architecture I'd rather not comment at all. You may quote me on that. I wish you would."
Legacy
The Koubek Auditorium in the Edward M. Crough Center for Architectural Studies at Catholic University of America is named for Koubek in honor of his many contributions to architectural design.Among Kubek's most notable buildings are:
- American Automobile Association (former headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia)
- International Finance Corporation headquarters
- International Square
- L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
- Motion Picture Association of America headquarters
- USF&G Building (now the Legg Mason Tower)
- World Bank Annex