Autism Speaks Light it Up Blue campaign launches tonight (Thursday April 2nd)

Normally, it being outside of the scope of the blog's focus on urbanism, I wouldn't be writing about autism, although there is no question it is important, as autism currently affects 1 in 68 children in the United States and millions more worldwide.

But I am a sucker for temporary and permanent architectural lighting projects and tonight, the month-long awareness event,

Held every April, Autism Awareness Month is kicked off by their Light It Up Blue campaign event, where buildings throughout DC, Virginia, Maryland, across the United States and in other countries will call attention to autism through special blue night-time lighting treatments.

Shown in red in this Flickr photo by John Lovell, the Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles will be participating in tonight's campaign.

Autism Speaks worked with Bethesda-based real estate advisors, Bentall Kennedy, to recruit 50 area properties for the campaign, which was joined in by other real estate-related firms including CBRE, LPC, JLL, MRP, DTZ, Colliers, and Transwestern.

More than 15,000 iconic buildings and landmarks in cities across all seven continents are participating, including the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center and Rockefeller Center® in New York City; Niagara Falls in Canada, the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, the Tokyo Tower in Japan, Trafalgar Square in London, and even the British Antarctic Survey’s Halley VI Station on Antarctica.

Buildings in the DC area that are participating include:

• The Gannett Building and Tyson's Overlook, Tysons, Virginia
• in the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, The Millenium Building at 1909 K Street NW, 1828 L Street NW, 1707 L Street NW, and 1111 19th St. NW
• Washington Harbor on the Potomac River in Georgetown
• Pike and Rose in the redeveloping White Flint district of Montgomery County, Maryland

Trafalgar Square in London is a participant. Photo by David Gutierrez on Flickr.

Throughout the month of April, residents in the area can lend their additional support and get involved by:

-- Light a Building Blue
-- Host a Blue Event
-- Donating

See the Light It Up Blue campaign website for more information.