Final Design Chosen For Black History Museum

Yesterday, April the 15th, a winning design was finally selected for long-awaited National Museum of African American History and Culture to be located across the street from the Washington Monument. The firms of Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup were selected as the winners despite much public sentiment that the Moody Nolan/Predock design was by far the most dynamic and aesthetically pleasing of all submissions. The 5 acre, $500 million project is now set to break ground mid 2012 and be completed in 2015.

"Their vision and spirit of collaboration moved all members of the design competition jury," said the museum's founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III. "I am confident that they will give us a building that will be an important addition to the National Mall and to the architecture of the city."

Bunch has repeatedly stated that the core theme to be followed by each firm was the African American experience in the United States through slavery and emancipation, to politics, music, sports and spirituality.

The wining design concept was about "celebration and praise" said Adjaye, 42, a Tanzanian-born, London-based architect. "We are celebrating an incredible journey and looking to the future." The 105 foot design shows a square building, held by four columns with an open first floor. Two superstructures, which are shaped like crowns and inspired by an African headdress, top the entry-level porch. Above crowns, that Adjaye described as "Coronas" and where designed to hold most of the exhibition galleries, is a roof garden. The four-story design has several key vantage points and view ports to take advantage of the iconic and historic sights along the Mall.

The entrances are on Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive, on the Mall side, bringing all visitors into the open first floor. On the Constitution side is a canal, representing the Washington Channel, where slaves and supplies were transported.

In my march 30th post I briefly talked about the six designs that were under consideration at the time which included, Foster and Partners/URS, a joint venture, with the Foster firm as architect and URS handling the engineering design. Other teams are: Devrouax & Purnell, I.M. Pei, Moshe Safdie and Associates, Moody Nolan/Predock and of course Freelon Adjaye Bond. At the time, the design by Moody Nolan/Predock was considered by many to be the better design that is why the selection of Freelon Adjaye Bond by the Smithsonian came as such a surprise. I am quite disappointed with this choice as the design seems to be the least interesting of the six but I guess its location does not not exactly allow for very organic forms.




Details of article obtained from Jaqueline Trescott's "Designer chosen for Black History Museum"
Images obtained from: www.washigntonpost.com

Design For New Black History Museum

On Jan 30th, I posted an article on the design of the National Museum for African American History on the mall of the Washington Monument. During that time, the design review had only six teams from the original twenty-two who had submitted their RFP documents. These included, Foster and Partners/URS, a joint venture, with the Foster firm as architect and URS handling the engineering design. Other teams are: Devrouax & Purnell, Freelon Adjaye Bond, I.M. Pei and Moshe Safdie and Associates. Though currently, the jury process has not narrowed the selection past these six firms left since January, conceptual designs have been unveiled on Friday, of the various teams' proposed conceptual design of the Museum.

It was the first opportunity to see what the physical structure might look like and themes which look like they might be found in the final design include water features and music halls, evocations of slave ships and the African past, and vistas acknowledging its important, monumental neighbors. The models of the museum, set to topout in 2015, are on display at the Castle Building for public comment until April 6 and mirrored elements of other familiar museums. Some of these are the circular paths of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the wetlands and water movement of the National Museum of the American Indian, the open floor of the National Museum of American History and light that cascades into interior and underground spaces, as at the Pyramid at the Louvre.

The museum will occupy a five-acre plot near the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History. It is one of the last open spaces on the Mall, and the museum's founders have specified that the building must respect the history and visage of the monument. As part of their proposals, the architects were asked to acknowledge their own understanding of the importance of the African American experience.

Lonnie G. Bunch, the founding director of the museum and the chairman of the jury that will select the wining design among other things asked the teams for a clear expression of "the dark corners" of the African American experience in the United States. "We want a building that is worthy of a rich cultural heritage," Bunch said, "and we want it to work as a museum." The conceptual designs, he continued, were requested to "give us enough so I know you are the team I want to dance with."

Officials with the Smithsonian, which will oversee the details of construction and exhibition content, said they didn't expect the building to be very tall, but it would cover 300,000 to 350,000 square feet. The submissions are:

-- Devrouax & Purnell and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners envision a seven-story structure (with two of the floors below ground) that features a circular interior within a box shape. It would have a roof garden with landscaping inspired by a pattern on one of the architects' grandmother's quilt. Pei, a recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, designed the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. Devrouax & Purnell did Nationals Park.

-- Diller Scofidio and Renfro, in association with KlingStubbins, submitted a table-shaped building wrapped in glass. The renderings show a place featuring billboard-size photographs of famous black figures and moments, and where jazz musicians might perform. One image depicts slaves in a ship in a huge Middle Passage Gallery. The plans feature an amphitheater facing the Lincoln Memorial.

-- The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond designed a museum with two of the above-ground stories shaped like wide baskets. The exterior is covered with copper screens that change color during the day. At various points inside the museum, there are stopping places that look to the Capitol and other landmarks.

-- Foster and Partners/URS foresee a circular building. Visitors enter a ramp and descend to a lower level to start the museum experience, which begins with slavery and winds through the stories of freedom, sports and the arts. At the top of the four stories, visitors enter an area of "celebration" and face a huge window, looking out at the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. As with the other architecture collaborations, this one includes African American partners. In this case it's Blackburn Architects and Harry Robinson, former dean of the Howard University architecture school. Foster designed the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian's Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.

-- Moody Nolan, in association with Antoine Predock Architect, envisions a building made of natural materials, rising as of out of bedrock and muck. Along one side runs a wetlands scene, a nod to historic Tiber Creek that ran through part of Washington. Its glass roof features etchings echoing Yoruba ancestral arts, and it also has an outdoor amphitheater facing Constitution Avenue.

-- Moshe Safdie and Associates in association with Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates submitted a four-story concept that features a lot of natural light. A towering ship's hull marks the entrance. In a section labeled "The Door of No Return," the museum would have exhibition and contemplative areas dealing with slavery and segregation stories; a section called "Freedom Bridge," on the top level, would include exhibits on music and sports. The proposal features a web-like facade, behind which is a series of pedestrian walkways.

An 11-member jury will make its selection next month, but Bunch stressed this would be an independent decision arrived at without public comment. Final approval would come from the Smithsonian Board of Regents.

The 350,000 square foot, $500 million project is being funded 50-50 by private and congress.

Image obtained from: www.washingtonpost.com
Details obtained from: Jaqueline Trescott's "Black History Future"

Design Team For Black History Museum Narrowed Down To Six Finalists

Yesterday, the 29Th of January, six award winning teams were chosen to compete for the design of the national Museum for African American History on the mall of the Washington Monument. The final conceptual design will be chosen based on the sensitivity shown in the treatment of the site, due to its historical reference, and a demonstration of their own understanding of the African American experience.

The museum's site, selected by the Smithsonian Board of Regents, is a five-acre parcel on the southwest corner of Constitution Avenue and 14Th Street NW that has never had a permanent building on it. It is 800 feet from the monument and will sit next to the National Museum of American History.

Selected from a pool of 22 firms who submitted their qualifications, the remaining 6 called to submit entries are: Foster and Partners/URS, a joint venture, with the Foster firm as architect and URS handling the engineering design. Other teams are: Devrouax & Purnell, Freelon Adjaye Bond, I.M. Pei and Moshe Safdie and Associates.

Each architectural team is receiving a $50,000 stipend from the Smithsonian. One of the hurdles is that the architects have to demonstrate they can complete the 300,000 to 350,000 square foot, $500 million project in three years. Construction is to start in 2012, and the museum is scheduled to open in 2015.

Upon commencement, this project is fixing to be the most closely monitored in the Country due to its proximity to the Monument and the controversy between democrats and republicans over the allotment of funds for developing the Mall and its surrounding area. The $200 million provision to refurbish the mall itself was removed on the 26Th by the House Rules Committee amidst a torrent of GOP criticism about wasteful or non-stimulative spending. So I wonder where the money for this museum will be coming from. The Smithsonian stated that half is to come from the Federal government but what about the other half and is the government's half in the stimulus package? If it is, I wonder that the bloodhounds of the RNC didn't sniff it out and call for it to be removed as well.


Image obtained from: washingtonpost.com