Archinect - News

NMAAHC launches initiative to celebrate the work of Black architects

2020-06-08T11:38:00-04:00

The National Museum of African American History and Culture has launched Rendering Visible, a digital collecting initiative intended to celebrate the "creative production" of Black architects. Through a call for submissions, the initiative will allow the museum to to select architectural illustrations to be considered for inclusion in the Museum's digital collection.

According to the museum website, the goal of Rendering Visible is to document the creativity of Black architects and designers. Submissions should include sketches, renderings, and artistic illustrations that convey the intent and concept of a design project.

Submit your work here.

DC's African American History and Culture Museum allowing walk-ins in April

2018-04-06T13:45:00-04:00

If you still haven’t been able to sneak your way into the newest museum on Washington DC’s National Mall, April may be your best bet. Last week, the museum announced that the month would feature Walk-Up Wednesdays, allowing people who haven’t scored entry passes to go into the museum on a first-come, first-served basis, a pilot program to test no-pass entry.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture located in Washington DC opened back in 2016, and has been solidly booked ever since. To help visitors gain entry who were unable to procure tickets, the museum is introducing Walk-Up Wednesdays for the month of April.

Founding director Lonnie G. Bunch III stated, “We don’t want to disappoint our visitors by reaching capacity and having them wait in long lines for space to become available inside the galleries. The goal of this pilot program is to provide greater access for the public while maintaining the safety and security of our visitors.”

An American Story; A conversation with Phil Freelon

2017-03-02T17:21:00-05:00

For this episode of Archinect Sessions, we're sharing our conversation with Phil Freelon, an architect that has dedicated his life to creating meaningful, thoughtful works of architecture that contribute to American culture and civil rights.

Recent notable projects lead by Mr. Freelon include the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and Emancipation Park in Houston. We hope you enjoy our conversation with him discussing his work, growing up in a creative, activist household, his recent diagnosis with ALS, and his love of science fiction.

Phil Freelon on Engaging with Black History Through Architecture

Listen to episode 98 of Archinect Sessions, "An American Story":

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David Adjaye on Designing a Museum That Speaks a Different Language

2016-09-22T00:11:00-04:00

I was completely moved by the corona motif. It seemed like a way to start to tell a story that moves from one continent, where people were taken, along with their cultures, and used as labor, then contributed towards making another country and new cultures. That history then continues in the decorative patterning of those panels.

Adjaye.

What architecture means to Zena Howard, project leader of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

2016-04-14T19:14:00-04:00

"And to me, as an African American, just realizing that this has actually come to be, that there's an actual National Museum for African American History and Culture on the Mall of Washington, D.C., and this museum should have happened years and years ago, but the realization that finally in America we're at a place where we can accept it ... It's one of the most prominent sites on the Mall. It's not somewhere tucked away.

Architect Zena Howard talks about what first drew her to architecture, the National Museum for African American History and Culture on which she worked as Senior Project Manager, and her outlook on the status of women in architecture.

David Adjaye talks about woven architecture and his new D.C. museum

2015-07-02T16:00:00-04:00

Adjaye is overseeing the newest installment of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s “Selects” series, which spotlights the little-known West African textiles in the museum’s permanent collection. [...] It also offers the celebrated architect a chance to explore the surprising connections between textile making and building design. “What’s interesting to me is this idea of fabric and weaving as a kind of abstraction of making places that people come together in,” he says.

Obama to speak at African American history museum’s groundbreaking

2012-02-16T13:15:33-05:00

President Obama will speak at the official groundbreaking next week for the Smithsonian's new African American history museum in Washington, museum officials announced. The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be situated on the National Mall and is expected to be completed by 2015 at an estimated price cost of $500 million, half of which is expected to be paid by the government.