• How to Look at Chevy Chase Architecture

    Leland Street Community Center, 4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase, Maryland

    Noted architectural historian/photographer William Lebovich gave the Chevy Chase Historical Society’s Fall Lecture, "How to Look at Chevy Chase Architecture," at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 7. The event was held at the Chevy Chase Town Hall at the Leland Community Center, 4301 Willow Lane.

    Illustrating the lecture with his own prize-winning photography, Lebovich focused on how architecture reflects the society that built it, and how a building’s massing and detail tell that society’s story.

    "Knowing architectural styles is a great shorthand way for talking about a building," said Lebovich, "but style descriptions seldom convey the complexity and subtlety of most houses. My lecture will attempt to provide more information than is expressed in the usual descriptive terms, ‘Colonial Revival’ or ‘Bungalow.’"

    William Lebovich’s 33 years as an architectural historian has included work with the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places, Historic American Buildings Survey and Historic American Engineering Record. Since 1989 he has photographed new projects for architects and developers and documented properties of significance throughout the continental United States.

    A resident of Martin’s Additions in Chevy Chase, Lebovich reviewed the new Swiss Ambassador’s residence for Architecture Week Magazine in January 2007 (www.architectureweek.com) and authored the 1993 book, "Design for Dignity: Accessible Environments for People with Disabilities." His architectural photographs are in the Library of Congress, the Brooklyn Museum and have been published in numerous newspapers, magazines and books.