Washington DC’s Shaw neighborhood has the odd distinction of being both the fastest and slowest case of gentrification in the city. As some Shaw residents are fond of saying, it’s been “rapidly gentrifying” for the last thirty years. That’s because the changes have not been block by block, but rather house by house, alley by alley, neighbor by neighbor, brick by brick.

In some places, the difference between a good neighborhood and a questionable one is the distance between one end of the same block and the other.

Even as elegant turn of the century three and four story brownstones return to their glory, neighbors on listservs argue about public housing, prostitution, car thefts, gang activity, late night bursts of gunfire and -- contemporary home design.

At first glance (and second, and third) the corner of 5th & O seems like an odd place for a big glass house with a Japanese-inspired rock garden, and picture windows that make the structure nearly see-through.  Maybe it’s the row of ornate rowhouses that make it seem so out of place. Or maybe it’s the police roadblock that checks IDs  at 6th&O on Friday nights.  Or else the surveillance camera sits atop a former school at 4th & 0.  Then again, maybe it’s the 5 N’O gang graffiti on several walls in walking distance.

Whatever the reason, it’s hard to envision feeling entirely comfortable being so open in such an environment.

Nevertheless, it’s placement is striking, and in the right combinations of light and shadow, beautiful in a minimalist sort of way.

Equally striking is the patron that developed the project  - the United House of Prayer for All People(UHOP) led by Bishop S.C. “Sweet Daddy” Madison. Known in the area simply as The House of Prayer, it is a congregation its elders admit is steeped in myth and secrecy, but that has in recent years taken a very visible and aggressive approach to shaping its surroundings.

According to Bishop Madison, who responded via e-mail, there’s a Godly mission behind the developments. “Those that only know the House of Prayer from popular myth never saw it as changing the lives of those that represented the least among us. What UHOP has erected in real property over the past several years has had more impact in the community than the words we have spoken over the past 80 years.”

According to the project’s architect, Suzane Reatig,  “Shaw in particular has been witness to crime for years. By building open and inviting buildings we are taking an active role in improving the neighborhood and presenting a new image to the community. When you design a building to look like a fortress…it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our goal is to challenge this tendency in urban design.”

Not everyone in the neighborhood sees it that way, either in the project at 5th & O, or similar ones in the area built by UHOP. Many homeowners in the area spent years lobbying DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board for historic status, finally awarded in 2000. Likewise, most assumed that the designation would preserve the historic look and feel that drew them to the neighborhood, only to find that historic preservation covers existing structures only. In fact, the HPRB actively encourages modern design in new construction, assuming that, someday, it might also be considered important for its time.

If UHOP and Reatig achieve their goal of using design to shift attitudes and behaviors in a crime-plagued area, its importance is guaranteed.