In case anyone will be in the DC area over the next week or so checking out the Cherry Blossom Festival, head over to the Smithsonian to check out the competition entries for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Post thoughts here...
Taken from artdaily.org:
WASHINGTON, DC.- Six visions of the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture will be on display from 2 p.m. Friday, March 27, through Friday, April 3, in the Smithsonian Institution Building (the Castle). After opening March 27, the exhibition will be on display from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The exhibition features design concepts, photographs and architectural models submitted by the six firms invited to participate in a two-month design competition.
In the weeks following the exhibit, a competition board, or jury, chaired by Museum Director Lonnie Bunch III, will select the firm that will present a formal proposal for the design of the museum. The name of the architectural team is scheduled to be announced in mid-April.
The museum will be located on a five-acre plot of land adjacent to the Washington Monument on Constitution Avenue. Construction is expected to begin in 2012, and the museum will open to the public in 2015. Total cost for the project, including design and construction, is estimated at about $500 million, of which one-half will be provided by Congress.
“This design competition captured the attention of some of the most respected professionals in the field,” said Bunch. “Seeing the early results of their work has been inspiring and being able to share it now with the public is a genuine honor. This is an exciting moment in the development of this museum.”
The six firms represented in the exhibit were among 22 that responded to a Request for Qualifications issued last summer. An evaluation panel of experts from the Smithsonian, including engineers, architects and museum professionals conducted a technical review of all submissions to be certain that they met the qualifications of the RFQ—having key personnel in a variety of areas such as architecture, structural engineering, landscape architecture and life safety engineering; being able to accomplish the design of the building within the three-year time frame; establishing an office within 30 miles of the museum site; and demonstrating an appreciation of African American history and culture.
In addition, the Smithsonian is requiring an energy-efficient structure that may become the Smithsonian’s first museum to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first officially green building on the National Mall.
All six firms have won national and international awards; three are winners of the American Institute of Architect’s Gold Medal—the AIA’s highest honor for design—and two have been awarded Pritzker Prizes. All teams have a minority principal and four firms are members of the National Organization of Minority Architects.
The design competition teams (in alphabetical order) are:
· Devrouax & Purnell Architects/Planners, P.C, and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, LLP—a joint venture. Devrouax & Purnell, led by Marshall Purnell, recently completed the Washington Convention Center and the Washington Nationals Park baseball stadium. Among the best known projects of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners are the East Building of the National Gallery of Art and the Holocaust Memorial Museum, both in Washington, D.C., and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
· Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with KlingStubbins—Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio and Charles Renfro will serve as architect and KlingStubbins will serve as associate architect. Diller Scofidio + Renfro was the architect for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and for the renovation and expansion of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, including the Juilliard School and the School of American Ballet.
· Foster + Partners/URS joint venture—these two firms have collaborated for the past five years on a variety of projects in the United States and Europe. Foster + Partners of London, led by chairman and founder Norman Foster, will serve as architect and URS will be the engineering design firm. Foster recently designed the Kogod Courtyard in the Smithsonian’s Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, redesigned the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Dallas Center for Performing Arts.
· Freelon Adjaye Bond in association with SmithGroup—Three firms have joined together for this project—the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond. The Freelon Group designed the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture in Baltimore. David Adjaye was the architect of the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. The SmithGroup designed the Normandy American Cemetery Interpretive Center in France.
· Moody Nolan Inc. in association with Antoine Predock Architect PC—Moody Nolan, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, will be the architect of record. The Moody Nolan and Predock team designed the Ohio State University Recreation and Physical Activity Center in Columbus, Ohio. Architect Antoine Predock of Albuquerque, New Mexico, designed the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the expansion of the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Curtis J. Moody and Antoine Predock will be the lead designers.
· Moshe Safdie and Associates Inc. in association with Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates, Baltimore—Moshe Safdie will be the lead architect. He has designed the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters now under construction in Washington, D.C.; the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts; and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
All weak. The only one with any promise was Diller Scofidio's.... I felt it had a lot of potential, the section was seriously resolved but the model was so conceptual I can't see the Smithsonian picking it up. Sofdie's and Smithgroup's were the worst. I hear some of these firms didn't even have a single African American on their project teams.
Wow.
Agree that all are pretty weak. Any of them would fit right in with all the other mediocre museums on the mall.
Design of buildings meant to commemorate often falls flat. The designer becomes trapped into believing that every design move must be imbued with (what they perceive to be) relevance and meaning to the person, group, or thing being commemorated. Few, if any, architects seem to have a mastery of good design for commemorative structures. Those who manage to pull it off successfully seem to do so more by fluke than by any particular stroke of genius.
I thought Predock's was one of the best overall designs, but agreed, their renderings need some serious work. It seems like all their latest projects are like that. What's the deal? Do they really think that looks good?
It could have been worse.. Personally, Adjaye was my third choice. The DS+R one.. whether or not it spoke to African-American history, it would've been a blast to have on the mall. I guess my hope was that they would've been able to flesh it out enough to justify it.
I'm just relieved they didn't pick the Pei one; I like Pei as much as anyone else, but it would've been such a conservative pick..
adjaye was absent from SG's office. he may have been interviewed for "winning" but he was nowhere to be seen otherwise. it wasn't the building that "looked" like a slave ship, it was the idea to have a ship hang from the ceiling- like an airplane in the aerospace museum. like it was something to glorify and the ship was the fucking royal carribbean cruise line. i would have liked to see a gas chamber hung up in the middle of the holocaust museum and see what people would have been saying then. and a front porch?! that is what characterizes African American culture?? a plantation style front porch as the "base" of the building?!?! are they for real?!
i agree zoroaster- diller's was my fave. but smithsonian would have never gone for that. at least they put it out there.
the section from DS+R was a slave ship leaning on it's side which was actually very well thought out- as it framed critical points that occured on the national mall- with certain galleries being in those areas- ie. the Lincoln memorial, MLK, etc. sadly, i think the model really threw the average person off- as it was very conceptual. hats off to them though.
holz the glorification of the slave ship is disrespectful. it's as simple as that. it is not in reverance that they display it- it is not carefully planned or gently revealed- instead it is more like a slap in the face.
you can also go to South Africa and see the ports and docks of the original slave ships- so why do we need to recreate it here? a museum should be respectful and respected to whatever it is displaying.
as far as the plantation porch- do you mean to tell me the one aspect of African American architecture we can pull out to develop a base of the museum is the porch?
how about the arrival of Africans in the "new world" was filled with tension and unsettlement- how about abstracting that for the base and entrance of a museum and revealing the struggle of getting that freedom
i'm surprised that predock is getting such a bad rap here about his entry. i saw the exhibit in person, and i must say that after getting a closer look at all the entries, predock's was by far the most socially and cultrally responsive and sensitive. there is symbolism and narrative in predock's, something that i think was majorly lacking in almost all of the other entries. most were just playing it safe... especially pei. wow, his was really uninspired.
yeah the renderings were a bit much, but talk about tension and struggle. the forms and materials spoke to that unlike the rest. maybe he took a bit too far, but i certainly don't think this museum should just blend into the other museums on the mall or the dc office buildings... pei and safdie were the most guilty of that.
anyway, i liked ds+r. they had some very interesting spaces, and the section was very well thought out. i also liked adjaye because of the clean, modern lines... hopefully it turns out as lovely as it looked in it's renderings, but i still think it was a safe choice. dc really lives up to its reputation.
Just to clarify the winning entry is Freelon Adjaye Bond. Bond being Davis Broody Bond Aedas - I have it on my inter corporate news update PDF this morning. Well done guys, we need the $500m work.
Apr 17, 09 4:53 am ·
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Smithsonian's New Museum in DC: Competition on Display National Museum of African American History and Culture
In case anyone will be in the DC area over the next week or so checking out the Cherry Blossom Festival, head over to the Smithsonian to check out the competition entries for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Post thoughts here...
Taken from artdaily.org:
WASHINGTON, DC.- Six visions of the Smithsonian’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture will be on display from 2 p.m. Friday, March 27, through Friday, April 3, in the Smithsonian Institution Building (the Castle). After opening March 27, the exhibition will be on display from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The exhibition features design concepts, photographs and architectural models submitted by the six firms invited to participate in a two-month design competition.
In the weeks following the exhibit, a competition board, or jury, chaired by Museum Director Lonnie Bunch III, will select the firm that will present a formal proposal for the design of the museum. The name of the architectural team is scheduled to be announced in mid-April.
The museum will be located on a five-acre plot of land adjacent to the Washington Monument on Constitution Avenue. Construction is expected to begin in 2012, and the museum will open to the public in 2015. Total cost for the project, including design and construction, is estimated at about $500 million, of which one-half will be provided by Congress.
“This design competition captured the attention of some of the most respected professionals in the field,” said Bunch. “Seeing the early results of their work has been inspiring and being able to share it now with the public is a genuine honor. This is an exciting moment in the development of this museum.”
The six firms represented in the exhibit were among 22 that responded to a Request for Qualifications issued last summer. An evaluation panel of experts from the Smithsonian, including engineers, architects and museum professionals conducted a technical review of all submissions to be certain that they met the qualifications of the RFQ—having key personnel in a variety of areas such as architecture, structural engineering, landscape architecture and life safety engineering; being able to accomplish the design of the building within the three-year time frame; establishing an office within 30 miles of the museum site; and demonstrating an appreciation of African American history and culture.
In addition, the Smithsonian is requiring an energy-efficient structure that may become the Smithsonian’s first museum to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first officially green building on the National Mall.
All six firms have won national and international awards; three are winners of the American Institute of Architect’s Gold Medal—the AIA’s highest honor for design—and two have been awarded Pritzker Prizes. All teams have a minority principal and four firms are members of the National Organization of Minority Architects.
The design competition teams (in alphabetical order) are:
· Devrouax & Purnell Architects/Planners, P.C, and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects, LLP—a joint venture. Devrouax & Purnell, led by Marshall Purnell, recently completed the Washington Convention Center and the Washington Nationals Park baseball stadium. Among the best known projects of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners are the East Building of the National Gallery of Art and the Holocaust Memorial Museum, both in Washington, D.C., and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
· Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with KlingStubbins—Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio and Charles Renfro will serve as architect and KlingStubbins will serve as associate architect. Diller Scofidio + Renfro was the architect for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and for the renovation and expansion of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, including the Juilliard School and the School of American Ballet.
· Foster + Partners/URS joint venture—these two firms have collaborated for the past five years on a variety of projects in the United States and Europe. Foster + Partners of London, led by chairman and founder Norman Foster, will serve as architect and URS will be the engineering design firm. Foster recently designed the Kogod Courtyard in the Smithsonian’s Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, redesigned the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Dallas Center for Performing Arts.
· Freelon Adjaye Bond in association with SmithGroup—Three firms have joined together for this project—the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond. The Freelon Group designed the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture in Baltimore. David Adjaye was the architect of the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. The SmithGroup designed the Normandy American Cemetery Interpretive Center in France.
· Moody Nolan Inc. in association with Antoine Predock Architect PC—Moody Nolan, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, will be the architect of record. The Moody Nolan and Predock team designed the Ohio State University Recreation and Physical Activity Center in Columbus, Ohio. Architect Antoine Predock of Albuquerque, New Mexico, designed the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the expansion of the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Curtis J. Moody and Antoine Predock will be the lead designers.
· Moshe Safdie and Associates Inc. in association with Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates, Baltimore—Moshe Safdie will be the lead architect. He has designed the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters now under construction in Washington, D.C.; the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts; and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
All weak. The only one with any promise was Diller Scofidio's.... I felt it had a lot of potential, the section was seriously resolved but the model was so conceptual I can't see the Smithsonian picking it up. Sofdie's and Smithgroup's were the worst. I hear some of these firms didn't even have a single African American on their project teams.
Wow.
link to images.
Agree that all are pretty weak. Any of them would fit right in with all the other mediocre museums on the mall.
Design of buildings meant to commemorate often falls flat. The designer becomes trapped into believing that every design move must be imbued with (what they perceive to be) relevance and meaning to the person, group, or thing being commemorated. Few, if any, architects seem to have a mastery of good design for commemorative structures. Those who manage to pull it off successfully seem to do so more by fluke than by any particular stroke of genius.
none of these submissions speak to me about african american culture...
that being said, i do like how the foster submission plays off the hirschhorn, which might be my favorite project on the mall...
yup, they're all pretty weak. If I had a vote, Adjaye's team would get it.
SmithGroup won. Worst entry in the whole bunch. Thanks for making the slave ship look like a f*cking glorious event.
adjaye won, not smithgroup.
funny, i see a ziggurat...
but it's hardly the worst entry. did you see the sh*t proposed by pei, predock and ds&r?
I likethe ceiling which Adjaye used in the summer pavilion.
I likethe ceiling which Adjaye used in the summer pavilion.
yeah that predock entry looked like a middle school photoshop project gone wrong.
i assumed 'toine had a nephew that needed to be entertained for an afternoon.
here, sport, let's see what you can do...
i guess the days of motorcycle rides and eagle feather paintbrushes are over?
I thought Predock's was one of the best overall designs, but agreed, their renderings need some serious work. It seems like all their latest projects are like that. What's the deal? Do they really think that looks good?
It could have been worse.. Personally, Adjaye was my third choice. The DS+R one.. whether or not it spoke to African-American history, it would've been a blast to have on the mall. I guess my hope was that they would've been able to flesh it out enough to justify it.
I'm just relieved they didn't pick the Pei one; I like Pei as much as anyone else, but it would've been such a conservative pick..
adjaye was absent from SG's office. he may have been interviewed for "winning" but he was nowhere to be seen otherwise. it wasn't the building that "looked" like a slave ship, it was the idea to have a ship hang from the ceiling- like an airplane in the aerospace museum. like it was something to glorify and the ship was the fucking royal carribbean cruise line. i would have liked to see a gas chamber hung up in the middle of the holocaust museum and see what people would have been saying then. and a front porch?! that is what characterizes African American culture?? a plantation style front porch as the "base" of the building?!?! are they for real?!
i agree zoroaster- diller's was my fave. but smithsonian would have never gone for that. at least they put it out there.
the section from DS+R was a slave ship leaning on it's side which was actually very well thought out- as it framed critical points that occured on the national mall- with certain galleries being in those areas- ie. the Lincoln memorial, MLK, etc. sadly, i think the model really threw the average person off- as it was very conceptual. hats off to them though.
+i, do you only see the negative in everything? do you work at ds+r?
i don't get yer bellyaching on the porch, which played a huge role in social functions of the south... (not just for white plantation owners)
also, why would the USHMM "recreate" a gas chamber when you can go to maidanek, auschwitz, bergen belsen and see them?
holz the glorification of the slave ship is disrespectful. it's as simple as that. it is not in reverance that they display it- it is not carefully planned or gently revealed- instead it is more like a slap in the face.
you can also go to South Africa and see the ports and docks of the original slave ships- so why do we need to recreate it here? a museum should be respectful and respected to whatever it is displaying.
as far as the plantation porch- do you mean to tell me the one aspect of African American architecture we can pull out to develop a base of the museum is the porch?
how about the arrival of Africans in the "new world" was filled with tension and unsettlement- how about abstracting that for the base and entrance of a museum and revealing the struggle of getting that freedom
i'm surprised that predock is getting such a bad rap here about his entry. i saw the exhibit in person, and i must say that after getting a closer look at all the entries, predock's was by far the most socially and cultrally responsive and sensitive. there is symbolism and narrative in predock's, something that i think was majorly lacking in almost all of the other entries. most were just playing it safe... especially pei. wow, his was really uninspired.
yeah the renderings were a bit much, but talk about tension and struggle. the forms and materials spoke to that unlike the rest. maybe he took a bit too far, but i certainly don't think this museum should just blend into the other museums on the mall or the dc office buildings... pei and safdie were the most guilty of that.
anyway, i liked ds+r. they had some very interesting spaces, and the section was very well thought out. i also liked adjaye because of the clean, modern lines... hopefully it turns out as lovely as it looked in it's renderings, but i still think it was a safe choice. dc really lives up to its reputation.
Just to clarify the winning entry is Freelon Adjaye Bond. Bond being Davis Broody Bond Aedas - I have it on my inter corporate news update PDF this morning. Well done guys, we need the $500m work.
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