Begijnhofs: Models for American Urbanism?

The blocks around Union Station in Washington, DC, stretching from the station to the Capitol are, at this time, either empty or parking lots. As a proposal for my Master's thesis at Notre Dame, I proposed the build out of these blocks in the pattern of the existing fabric of Washington. Additionally, I looked at one block in particular to see if a model I discovered in the Netherlands and Belgium (the begijnhofs) could be applied to an American City. Since we are "pinning up" ideas, I hope you'll find this project interesting.

(My book on the beguinages as a model for American urbanism is forthcoming)

Snapshot from Google Maps of the empty blocks around Union Station:

Study of a block applying the model of the beguinages (begijnhofs), a type of courtyard housing, to the block at left. The perimeter of the block is formed of larger buildings and houses. The interior of the block comprises small and medium sized townhouses around a landscaped square. Such interior blocks could be used to house groups we wish to have fully integrated into communities while still offering some protection or control, such as the elderly or students.

Elevations of designs for small, medium and large urban houses. The small and medium models are attached townhouses, the large house is designed as a detached house. 

 

A glimpse into the new square surrounded by the small house type:

The begijnhof of Breda (Catharinabegijnhof Breda) shown below is a typical configuration of a begijnhof with similar houses surrounding a garden within a block and a chapel for the beguines located within. For more images of my images of begijnhofs throughout the Netherlands and Belgium, see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christineghfranck/tags/beguinage/. And for a bit of history and additional images of this begijnhof, visit here: http://www.begijnhofbreda.nl/index.html.