The Reach at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, D.C. Steven Holl Architects.

There are few architectural commissions as distinctly Lower-Level Plan American, or as distinctly political, as a national presidential memorial in the nation's capital-especially when that memorial is for a personal hero. If the original Kennedy Center is a monolith on a hill, The Reach is a series of pavilions in a garden. DIAGRAM: Previous Spread: The three main pavilions of The Reach as seen from the roof terrace of the Stone building, with the Welcome Pavilion at left, the Skylight Pavilion (with a video projection on its side) at right, and the River Pavilion beyond that. PHOTO (COLOR): Though there are at least seven entrances to The Reach, the main one is at the Welcome Pavilion (top and above), which houses a boardroom and classroom that open to a redwood deck that mimics, in material and length, the PT-109 torpedo patrol boat that Kennedy commanded during World War II. [Extracted from the article]