Thursday, September 15, 2016

Temporary artwork added to future Dean & DeLuca store in Bethesda (Photos)

On Tuesday, the first circular murals were installed on the temporary wall panels along the ground level of The JBG Companies' new retail building at the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues. Like the panels, these are temporary. Tenant Dean & DeLuca will punch these out to construct their custom-designed windows during the build-out of their store.
While the individual artworks look fine on their own, I'm not sure they fit with the architecture of the building. They certainly add some color for people using the Capital Crescent Trail, but the overall aesthetics leave something to be desired at this stage. Abstract geometric designs seem incongruous on a dark building expressly designed to resemble a 19th century railroad station.




57 comments:

Anonymous said...

old meets new. I like it

Anonymous said...

Looks Escher-esque

Anonymous said...
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Poppy said...

D&D has always had a keen eye for style. We look forward to having our domestic shop there.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

6:26 AM You're not gonna fix the 495 Northern VA to 270 Spur traffic issue without another river crossing. The cars have to go somewhere, and it's only getting worse.

I wish the MoCo Council would talk more about this problem. As MoCo transitions into a bedroom community to the job centers in VA and DC, folks need to be able to get to work easily.

Poppy said...

I know most native Bethesdians already know Dean and Deluca's wares intimately, but since their new location is being built on Bethesda Row, we need to prepare for the influx of people from more far flung suburbs who venture to The Row on weekends. Those people are likely to be quite confused when first presented with D&D's smart, curated foodstuffs.

As I assume some of those residents from more far-flung corners of Montgomery County read this blog to whet their appetite for their weekend trips, I wanted to provide a basic primer to Dean and Deluca:

Start here. This is their pantry essentials set. You should already have this in your kitchen, but I am not here to shame you if you do not.

http://www.deandeluca.com/pantry-essentials

This set gives you everything you need to start a progressive kitchen, or to save a kitchen that already exists from mediocrity. In our extended family, it is customary that the parents send this set to every child when they move off campus for the first time. You get 14 items every kitchen needs, and the packaging is lovely. The set is priced at a very student-friendly $130.

From there, I would suggest you add The Grande Odalisque to your household. Fruit and flower confectionery have more applications in cooking than I could possibly list in this comment. Any decent domestic will be able to create amazing flavors using this set.

http://www.deandeluca.com/food/pantry-provisions/the-grande-odalisque

Finally, something that is hip and timely. This summer on Nantucket, my big project was to get our family away from refined sugars and processed sweeteners. At the peak July, our family was going through a block of D&D's Savannah Bee Acacia Honey Comb every week! Honey has a very long shelf life, so don't be afraid to bring home 7 or 8 combs the next time you make the trek into Bethesda, you far-flung Montgomery Folk!

http://www.deandeluca.com/savannah-bee-acacia-honey-comb

Dean and Deluca is such a perfect match for Bethesda. I will still insist on certain products from Balducci's, but haveind D&D so close will be a major asset.



Anonymous said...

Ugly artwork at that.

Anonymous said...

6:49 Fictional character needs to shut up. Insulting satire is never appropriate in refined circles.

Anonymous said...

7:00 lives in Olney.

Anonymous said...

7:28 not sure what means, but I live in Bethesda.

Anonymous said...

Everyone relax. Poppy was just giving people some good shopping tips for the new Dean and Deluca.

Anonymous said...

How is a Bridge to Nowhere going to help MoCo residents commute to DC?

Anonymous said...

DC? These people are commuting to NoVa. Where the jobs are.

Anonymous said...

I would be very impressed if a fictional character was going this deep into detail, I mean bravo.

I like the comment about a 19th century train station. Not sure why Bethesda doesn't build more like this, instead of ugly buildings like the Lauren

Anonymous said...

No, it just shows one's obsession with insulting the nice people of Bethesda. You're either an ignorant narcissist like "Poppy" or you're a slug who will never know the good life.

Anonymous said...

Is it really that hard to believe that Bethesda could be home to a housewife that spends $130 on Chipotle Mustard?

Why else do you think Dean and Deluca are opening up shop?

Anonymous said...

Good one 9:13, how about neither? I am a member of that oh so special gym on Elm Street, where you can't attend, but I can take a joke unlike you.

Anonymous said...

What are you talking about? Gym? Elm Street? ???????????
I'm appalled and offended that someone cares to portray women of Bethesda in such an egotistical manner and then expects everyone to laugh.
Keep it on "her" own blog.

Anonymous said...

Agreed..all the jobs are in NoVa.
Folks like Reamer and Leventhal don't get it. Wish they'd focus on economic development rather than foolishness.

We'll be better off once term limits pass and Leventhal is not allowed within 200feet of the Council building.

Anonymous said...

If there's one thing I can say about Gov. Hogan, is that he has his transportation priorities straight:

- Build a cost-effective Purple Line
- Do not build the idiotic and ridiculously expensive bridge across the Potomac
- Improve I-270
- Build the CCT

Also, instead of whining all the time about how all the jobs are in Virginia, he focuses on Maryland's strengths, and is a huge champion of Montgomery County's biotech industry, which just keeps adding high-$$$ jobs.

Anonymous said...

12:08 PM The bridge is a bottleneck every evening commute. Check the traffic maps...dark red in that stretch every night.
How do you help that situation without adding another crossing?

Robert Dyer said...

12:08: When he puts a new Bay Bridge ahead of the missing new Potomac River bridge and replacement Nice Bridge, and Express Lanes on the Beltway & 270, no, that is not having your transportation priorities straight. Hogan has helped other parts of the state jobwise, as stats show, but his sensible policies are hindered in Montgomery County by our leaders' anti-business policies.

Robert Dyer said...

12:55: You are correct. The new bridge is critical to relieving congestion on the Beltway and 270, by funneling most Dulles-bound commuters and eastern seaboard through-traffic like trucks off of those jammed roads. Anyone who doesn't understand this is simply uninformed on basic traffic engineering principles.

Anonymous said...

How many MoCo residents commute from the Agricultural Reserve to Dulles every day?

Anonymous said...

How many Frederick County residents commute to No Virginia?

Anonymous said...

It's a bottleneck because it's 12 lanes funneling into 8 lanes approaching from both directions. The obvious solution is to add more lanes to the existing roadway.

Anonymous said...

Dyer @ 1:16 PM - Nonsequitur.

Anonymous said...

2:27 PM - An expanded US 15 would provide a direct connection between Frederick and Loudoun, instead of a circuitous route that would needlessly bring this traffic into MoCo.

Robert Dyer said...

2:18: Last time I checked, Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Bethesda and virtually all of Damascus are not in the Agricultural Reserve. The truckers forced to use the Beltway to get back to I-95, thanks to the crooked idiots who prevented I-95 from going directly through the District, don't live in Maryland, much less our Agricultural Reserve. Wake up and smell the auto emissions generated by traffic congestion and delays.

Robert Dyer said...

5:58: 15 wouldn't solve the issues of MoCo commuters reaching Dulles, nor the eastern seaboard traffic currently forced onto a Beltway that wasn't designed to carry it. Most of the traffic is in MoCo, we're not "bringing it in."

Anonymous said...

Dyer wants to Build White Men's Roads Through Black Men's Homes.

Anonymous said...

Dyer pronounces "Chipotle" to rhyme with "bottle".

Anonymous said...

Dyer, do you seriously think that the Southwest Freeway and 14th Street Bridge are better able to handle Maine-to-Florida traffic than the upgraded eastern and southern portions of the Beltway, including the now 12-lane Wilson Bridge?

Anonymous said...

Dyer doesn't actually think through his positions, that's why he will never be elected

Robert Dyer said...

1:47: "Do you seriously think" the original Wilson bridge was designed to hold east coast traffic from I-95? Duh, that's why it had to be replaced (and to allow National Harbor to be built).

Any piece that actually *was* built to carry I-95 traffic before the main portion through the district was canceled was able to handle the traffic of its time. Your false argument isn't even relevant, as DC's current officeholders would never agree to run I-95 through the District.

That's the whole point of the new Potomac River crossing! Give east coast traffic a direct route back to I-95 that doesn't clog our Beltway in the process.

It sounds like you are the one who "doesn't actually think through his positions."

11:58: I wasn't aware Potomac was majority black. Which alternate universe are you speaking to us from?

Anonymous said...

So in addition to the new bridge, you'd need to build an entire new connector highway for 95? Basically re-routing a major portion of I-95 through Western Montgomery County?!? Have you ever looked at a map? You really are a birdbrain!

Anonymous said...

Dyer @ 1:16

I do agree that his decision not to replace the Nice bridge is very shortsighted. That should be the biggest priority as far as bridges are concerned, but a totally new crossing makes absolutely no sense, will cut through residential neighborhoods on both sides, and is a waste of billions of tax dollars.

The lower tolls, new Bay Bridge, highway to Delaware, and later school starts are just evidence of Hogan's love affair with the Eastern Shore.

Also, Hogan has always been against a new Potomac crossing, the MoCo opposition only reinforced his position.

Robert Dyer said...

6:16: No kidding. *You* need to check the map, and follow the green strip from the end of Sam Eig Highway up, around, and down to the Potomac River. That's the still-preserved right-of-way for the extension of MD 200 to the river.


6:39: I would need to hear Hogan state his opposition; I am not aware of him doing so. He does not come across as one of those Republicans who opposes infrastructure even when it will help. I think the new crossing makes perfect sense, when you consider that the Beltway is partly jammed by east coast traffic using it to reach I-95 again in Virginia, and that about 25% of traffic on the jammed American Legion bridge is headed to, or from, the Dulles area. It would provide major traffic relief, and the direct connection to Dulles Airport would be a big economic development boost.

Anonymous said...

I find it hard to believe that a quarter of the traffic on the American Legion Bridge is headed to or from Dulles Airport.

Do you have a source for that claim, Dyer?

Robert Dyer said...

7:59: Yes - the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments study. Dulles area, not just the airport.

Anonymous said...

Here's the issue.
Another Potomac crossing will eventually get built (just like the ICC)
If we build it sooner, it will cost less and give us more time to bitch about how awful it is and how it doesn't mesh with current thinking.
If it's built later, it will cost more, and give us more time to debate whether it's needed or not, and then we'd, of course, still have the time afterwards to bitch about what a waste it is and how it's preventing us from implementing our latest plan.

Much of the pieces are the same either way, so it really boils down to 2 options:

Choice 1: spend less money now
Choice 2: spend more money later

Brilliant!!!

Anonymous said...

Can someone for a crossing provide some sort of detailed explanation of how it might get done? Where it might go? How opposition might be handled. Costs. Issues. Studies showing this will help. Etc.?

Anonymous said...

Dyer @ 8:02 AM - Link, please?

Anonymous said...

10:19 what? your typing fingers broken?

Anonymous said...

"Just Google it!" says Rosie O'Dyer.

Anonymous said...

"The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments study."

The COG publishes lots of studies. To which one are you referring?

Anonymous said...

There are a lot more than 2 choices.

3) don't spend the money
4) spend the money on other projects
5) try a different transit approach other than automobiles
6) try to bring jobs to where people live in MoCo

Etc
Etc
Etc

Not just black and white or choice 1 or 2

Anonymous said...

That's such a lazy answer. Someone cited a source and didn't reference if. Someone asked reasonably and fairly politely to the exact study. 11:08 responds like a child.

Anonymous said...

11:08 looked it up why can't 10:19
a child would ask----an adult would act
are you an adult? don't expect others to do everything for you
if they really wanted to know they'd look it up themselves.

Anonymous said...

That explains why dyer never posts sources.

Robert Dyer said...

I question why someone who doesn't follow local and regional transportation issues closely (such as not being familiar with the COG Legion Bridge study) would have any authority to claim a new Potomac crossing isn't needed. If you don't know the statistics, why do you even care about stopping a bridge from being built?

Anonymous said...

#DodgingDyer

Robert Dyer said...

#DodgingLoser #UninformedTroll #LowInformationMoron

Anonymous said...

Haha did Dyer just try to turn #DodgingDyer into #DodgingLoser? That was sad.

Anonymous said...

sad or hilarious? the latter for me

Anonymous said...

A little bit of column A. A little bit of column B.