The US Capitol in Washington DC

November 19, 2021 Melanie Katz

View of the dome of the US Capitol building from Union Station — View of the Capitol building from Union Station

The United States Capitol building is one of the most recognizable structures in the country. Its broad wings extend to the north and south, and its tall white dome is one of its most notable features. The building, originally designed in the 1790s, was created as a symbol of democracy and freedom. Surrounded by vast green lawns and a series of monuments, memorials, and museums, the building is impressive even today. The city of Washington DC was built with the Capitol at its center. George Washington’s trusted city planner, the Frenchman Pierre Charles L’Enfant, designed the city with wide diagonal boulevards connecting important sites, many of them radiating out from Capitol Hill. This design allows the building’s distinct dome to be seen from great distances, including from the White House, the baseball stadium, several city parks, and Union Station, where many people arrive in the city.

Somos Millones – We Are Millions

September 27, 2021 Melanie Katz

Alla Malova: The DLG-Proust-Actors Studio Questionnaire

September 21, 2017 Joseph McKeown

Alla was born and grew up in the Moscow region in Russia. When she was a teenager, her stepdad received a job in the Washington D.C. area, and her family moved to the United States, just as she was set to attend Moscow State University. Although her family moved away, she still attended the university, one of the oldest and most prestigious in Russia, and majored in philosophy. “I knew I was always good with languages and humanities,” she says. “Philosophy seemed like a good match.” She specialized in cultural studies, which would be close to American studies in anthropology. After graduation, she moved to the US to attend graduate school at The George Washington University, where she studied international policy.

Jonathan Blank: The DLG-Proust-Actors Studio Questionnaire

May 14, 2015 Joseph McKeown

Jon Blank is a skater. Not an ice skater, but a skateboarder. Growing up in the Washington D.C. metro area, he explains, skateboarding made him a bit of an outcast, since it was not as widely accepted then, but upon moving to New York City for college he felt right at home on the city streets, which are “great for street skating,” Jon says. “Finding obstacles in the street is what’s so fun about skating in New York.” His passion for skating led him to volunteer to help build Green Skate Lab, the first free public skatepark in Washington D.C. and a leading example of alternative, eco-friendly construction and design. Based off African mud-hut building techniques, the park was built almost entirely out of recycled materials (the only non-recycled materials were the rebar and concrete) including salvaged tires from the Anacostia River in Washington D.C.