It was bound to happen sooner or later – deconstructivism has come to DC.

According to Logan Circle News what you see at right is a planned boutique hotel on 14th Street. The Gehry or Libeskind-like architecture will be a first for DC.

At BeyondDC we’re not big fans of deconstructivism. It’s the sort of faddish design that’s interesting only as long as it’s new and unique. Once it’s no longer shocking it will lose value and cease to be worthwhile. We expect that in a few years, once the luster inevitably wears off, buildings like this will be thought about as attractive as the Portland Public Service Building and the Air Force Academy, both avant-garde masterpieces as venerated in their own day as anything by Gehry.

But there’s room in the big city for a few mistakes; that’s what diversity is all about. So enjoy this monster while it’s fresh and love to hate it once it’s old. Just don’t make a habit of building copies. If this sort of building isn’t extremely rare then it’s got nothin’ at all going for it.