Plans for the final museum on the National Mall in Washington D.C. are beginning to fall into place! Yesterday the Smithsonian Institution opened an exhibit of the six architectural designs being considered for the new National Museum of African American History and Culture… and they are all breathtaking!
This past February, the Smithsonian chose six architectural firms to create concepts for the $500 million museum, which will be built on 5 acres between the National Museum of American History and the Washington Monument. With apologies to the Smithsonian, I’ve messed up its map with a blue circle (left), so you can see where the new museum will be built.
Map of National Mall w/ blue circle by Toby
The six models proposed to the Smithsonian are on display at
the Castle Building,
at the Information Center
on the Mall. Both 3-dimensional models and drawings are included for
observation.
1. Devrouax + Purnell Architects & Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects
View from the Washington Monument
View from the Mall
2. Diller Scofidio + Renfro In Association With Kling Stubbins
3. Foster + Partners / URS Group, Inc.
4. Freelon Adjaye Bond / Smith Group
5. Moody Nolan Inc / Antoine Predock Architect PC
6. Moshe Safdie and Associates, Inc.
The new national structure will be Smithsonian’s first museum designed to
conform to the U.S. Green Building Council’s sustainable building practices and
it will attempt to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
rating from the Council.
These architectural designs will be on exhibit only until April 3, 2009. The winning
design will be chosen by a jury of 11 members and the winning team will be
announced in mid-April. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in 2012, and the new museum is targeted to open in 2015.
Which design do you think is most suited to house the National Museum of
African American History and Culture?
If you are familiar with the National Mall in Washington,
which design do you think best fits architecturally with the other museums on
the Mall?
The Washingon Post, Washington Business Journal, The Smithsonian Institution
