WAMU: Not Just A Silly Name: ‘Swampoodle’ Park Pays Tribute To D.C.’s Irish Past

The NoMa neighborhood in Northeast D.C. looks like an office park today, but there was a time when goats grazed that land, overseen by Irish immigrants who settled in the area more than 150 years ago. Read more.

The goal of bridges is to span across rivers or valleys, streets or highways, rail yards or railroad tracks. Essentially a structurally supported deck, a bridge is a connector enabling movement between whatever the bridge connects. But a few bridges achieve another goal: If the bridging deck supports activities and structures, it is a destination as well as a connector.

With sufficient length and width, a bridge can become in effect built land, a place for residential, commercial and recreational development, a “reconstituted ground plane” in architectural parlance.

Read more…