July 11, 2008
Call for Architects to Design African American History Museum
Wednesday afternoon, the Smithsonian announced a call for architects to design the upcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture, to be erected in the five-acre space on Constitution Avenue between the Washington Monument and the Museum of American History. The building, which will occupy approximately 350,000 square feet, is expected to take three years to complete and cost $500 million. The full announcement is posted on FedBizOpps.gov.
The Washington Times reports:
At a press briefing Thursday, museum director Lonnie G. Bunch said "our goal is to have a signature building that embraces the site and the Mall" and represents the "resiliency, hope and spirituality" associated with black American culture.To ensure this, applicant firms are required to submit designs and construction documents along with a written statement explaining how the building will display an appreciation of African American history and culture."It must help us to embrace the pain and contradictions of segregation, poverty and racial violence," said Mr. Bunch. "Yet this museum must also let our audiences find the joy, the strength and the creativity that is at the heart of this community."
Additionally, project director Sheryl Kolasinski wants the NMAAHC to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, a first for any Smithsonian building.
Due to the sensitive issues surrounding the NMAAHC, the project's multiplicity in purpose will be challenging to achieve, and are reminiscent of the objectives and challenges of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, erected in 2001 and designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. Time will tell if the Smithsonian makes as bold a selection for the NMAAHC. Proposals are due September 19, and the winning firm will be announced in spring of 2009. Construction is planned to run from 2012 to 2015.
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
[ report this ]
Painting with a broad brush, the narrative of Africans in the Americas is perhaps the most fundamentally problematic. Africans are the only large group that did not come to this continent as a function of their own free will and imagination. They came as a function of the OTHER'S free will and imagination. It's a history of constantly being at odds fundamentally with the dominant culture. It haunts the story today.
[ report this ]
ok, this may be the slurpee talking - but is that rendering supposed to be from underneath the site? to me, from the perspective used on the washington monument, it looks like the pointy end is going into the ground. like its toppled over or could use some pfizer meds to get back up there. am i hallucinating?
[ report this ]
I look forward to buying my first souvenier crunk cup.
They wish this thing's gonna come in under $500 mil. What was the final bill on the U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center? And how much do Smithsonian heads piss away on travel and gewgaws and gimcracks for their little promo soirrees?
If it comes in under $800 mil, I am a bunch of radish.
[ report this ]
Vaughan - that's the shadow of the monument. The American History Museum also has a shadow indicating the sun is coming from the southwest. Just a way of giving the map some dimension.
[ report this ]
if they could only pay in euros.
[ report this ]
Sorry, southeast. This shames me as a cartographer...
[ report this ]
How's it going to "look"? I hope they really pimp it out. I mean the European Classical Revival style is symbolic of the oppression of the colonialist period, and that faux "african" style would be too..you know...
[ report this ]
I take it that the decision to place it next to and directly in line with the American History museum, instead of building it on as an addition, is meant to illustrate the segregation concept.
And another thing: We can build our beloved Washington Nationals a beautiful new baseball stadium in less than two years, yet this museum, tiny in comparison, is going to take three to complete? This is ludicrous.
[ report this ]
..right, LUDACRIS, I say..LU-DA-CRIS!!!!
[ report this ]
Shouldn't we spend money trying to improve the existing museums on the mall? Man they are falling apart.
[ report this ]
Chris, I think the African American experience is even more complex than you describe. Because you do have large groups - as least for the last 140 years of Africans who have come here by choice. And that story needs to be told as well.
I'd like to see the rooftop turned into a live music venue/cafe. Some place that could really embrace and celebrate the influence and contribution to American music that African immigrants have had. Plus, you could drink and see the Washington Monument, Capitol and White House at the same time. Long have I wanted to be drunk under just such circumstances.
[ report this ]
They'd better include a monument to Dolemite and his private army of kung fu hookers. Otherwise, I'm coming for Willie Green...right after this last big score. Then I'm out the bidness. I'm gonna let 'em know that Monkeyrotica is back on the scene! I'm gonna let 'em know that Monkeyrotica is my name, and f***in' up mothaf***as is my game!
[ report this ]
[ report this ]
"Chris, I think the African American experience is even more complex than you describe. Because you do have large groups - as least for the last 140 years of Africans who have come here by choice. "..hence the qualifier.."painting with a large brush.."
[ report this ]
oh gawd. no, no flapjack - you should feel no shame. i'm pretty humiliated for actually asking. but i like that feeling on a friday. i just didn't realize that i was looking straight down. i should have known i was making it far too much like an optical illusion.
[ report this ]
Well, to be fair, the stadium doesn't have any content in it... so, the building also involves planning how the space will go with the content, which, as the discussion between chris lee and washcyle illustrates, is obviously complex and riddle with "nu uh, you did not just say that"s.
I say it's 15 years until it's open.
[ report this ]
My blood runs cold. I sense a major eye-sore coming. Granted it couldn't be worse than the American History museum right to the east of the site. It's amusing to stand on Constitution Avenue and look at the American History museum with the Mellon building across the street, you can see how much architects forgot in 30 years.
[ report this ]
all the museum text should be in ebonics.
[ report this ]
I am in favor of this museum being built, but could SI find a few spare million to fix the damn Arts and Industries building already???? Don't build new stuff until you keep up your old stuff.
[ report this ]
Bethesdaist: No kidding.
[ report this ]
What's next? How about a museum for Hispanics, what about Italians, lets not forget Irish Americans, the Asian Americans really need a museum also, what about Islamic Americans after everything they have been put through, don't forget the Polish Americans.
Second thought, let's scrap the whole thing and just have an American History Museum that is top notch and covers all of American history in all it's glory and tragedy.
We have far too much segregation in this country, let's not make the same mistake with the museums.
Those most harmed by discrimination and segregation in the past are the ones most likely to not see it when they engage in it their selves.
[ report this ]
Oh, I read last week that the Smithsonian was planning to solicit proposals to renovate the Arts & Industries building into a new National Museum of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender History and Culture. The Mall presence is great, but it's too bad they aren't getting a brand new building instead of the institution's old hand-me-down.
[ report this ]
"Oh, I read last week that the Smithsonian was planning to solicit proposals to renovate the Arts & Industries building into a new National Museum of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender History and Culture."
You're kidding, right?
[ report this ]
hell, turn the a&i building into a giant cafeteria. just don't let it rot and fall down!
[ report this ]
Wonder if the curators will have anything to do with this one. They certainly have been kept far away from NMAI.
[ report this ]
Goph is right. With the economy approaching going from recession to Depression, they should turn A&I into an automat. Although for it to be economically viable in an upscale downtown, they'd have to serve tapas, sushi, and moulles frites.
[ report this ]
Of course I was kidding.
It is indeed a shame for A&I to be in the state that it's in... but remember that the Smithsonian Institution isn't a unified monolith. It's an incredibly diverse organization, and the vast majority of the curators, historians, and other members of staff are deeply saddened by the building's state of affairs. I urge anyone who is interested in preserving A&I to write letters deploring the structure's neglect to the Board of Regents and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Although, neglecting historic property is nothing new for the Institution: one only has to look at Holt House on the National Zoo's property. http://www.si.edu/oahp/holthous/start.htm