With its colorful facade, arched windows, spires and rotunda, the A&I (as it's often called) is a festive relief...But despite the perky building's popularity, its reopening was hardly grand. Why so little fanfare? Lack of funding seems to be one explanation

...the building's "unfinished character is one of its charms...It hasn't always been as gently used as we would like. But that's an important part of our history — Smithsonian history and American history." — NPR

[Project leader Zena] Howard focuses on all of the aspects of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, but hones in on the porch, which happens to span 200 feet and it serves as an transitional space between the outside and inside of the museum.

“I think that the porch is…quintessential America,” [...]

“This project—not only given the scale, the complexity, the political and contextual sensitivities—is an amalgam of all the problems that we, as architects, love to solve” — blackyouthproject.com

Smithsonian photographer Carolyn Russo first found herself drawn to air traffic control towers in 2006 on a flight into LaGuardia when she first studied the architectural details and circular windows of that now inactive structure [...]

I viewed each tower as both an essential aviation artifact and a vessel with a powerful presence—watching over the vastness of the airport and sky; a non-judgmental cultural greeter [...] In the presence of the tower, I sensed the complex orchestration of humans — smithsonianmag.com

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. — Smithsonian.com

Today, the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution authorized museum officials to explore opening its first-ever international exhibition gallery. [...] go-ahead to "develop terms for an agreement" with the London Legacy Development Corp. to create a new exhibition space in London at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, home to the 2012 Games and a new cultural center. In the Smithsonian’s 168-year existence, this site would be the first international venue to house a long-term exhibition. — smithsonianmag.com

After a $91m, three-year renovation, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is due to reopen on Friday, 12 December.

[...] the firms Gluckman Mayner, Beyer Blinder Belle and Diller Scofidio + Renfro—moved the museum’s offices and research library, previously on the third floor, into the adjacent Miller-Fox townhouses, which had been used for storage. In the offices’ place, they built the Cooper Hewitt’s first open-plan galleries. — theartnewspaper.com

Smithsonian officials are planning a $2 billion futuristic reimagining of the institute’s southern campus that will create clear entrances, expand visitor services and upgrade mechanical systems to the historic Castle and the six buildings surrounding it.

Architect Bjarke Ingels, partner at BIG in Manhattan, unveiled the proposal Thursday in the Smithsonian Institution Building, known as the Castle. — washingtonpost.com

US museums are teaming up with the Syrian Interim Government’s Heritage Task Force to help protect Syrian museum collections and stem the loss of cultural heritage amid the country’s ongoing civil war.

Late last month, experts from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and the Pennsylvania Museum’s Penn Cultural Heritage Center quietly organised a three-day training session for curators, heritage experts and civilians in an undisclosed location outside of Syria. — theartnewspaper.com

The winners of the 15th annual National Design Awards were recently revealed, as announced by The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Established in The White House in 2000, the National Design Awards recognizes design excellence, innovation, and public impact in a multitude of disciplines. The awards program also aims to promote the valuable role of design in society. — bustler.net

Winners of the 2013 National Design Awards, selected from a variety of disciplines, were unveiled today by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City. — bustler.net

Ingels has been asked to envision a gateway, one that invites visitors to learn, rest and escape and then leads them north to the rest of the Mall. B.I.G. will be responsible for site and building investigations, programming, campus planning, architectural and engineering design concepts and cost analysis.

The area "suffers from some notable impediments, and the buildings within the landscape are not utilized in a fully functional and efficient way," the Smithsonian says. — bizjournals.com

Cities are very complex, and what the best designers illustrate is how to give form to sometimes very simple ideas. Good design involves bringing not just a fresh eye to problems but, most of all, listening to the people who live in those communities. We’re talking about a billion people living in informal settlements today — New York Times

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum yesterday announced the winners and finalists of the 2011 National Design Awards. First launched at the White House in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council, the National Design Awards were established to promote excellence and innovation in design across a variety of disciplines. — bustler.net