Winners Announced for National Mall Design Competition
The area between the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol has seen better days, but architects are vying to improve the nation’s front lawn
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, May 03, 2012
(Courtesy of Michael Maltzan Architecture + Tom Leader Studio for Sylvan Theater)
Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect the winners of the compeitition on May 3, 2012
The National Mall in Washington, D.C. gets a lot of love. Each year, the swath, extending from the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, attracts more than 25 million visitors. To put it into perspective, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Yellowstone combined receive only half as many tourists annually. Yet, National Park Service officials and others invested in its upkeep are singing the same chorus: the National Mall has been loved to death.
Last September, the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit devoted to improving the park, launched a National Mall Design Competition. Architects from around the country submitted their portfolios, and by mid-December, a jury of experts invited ten design teams to re-imagine three “dead zones”: Union Square, in front of the Capitol; the grounds just south of the Washington Monument; and Constitution Gardens, just east of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The trust released the visions for the Mall, which included amphitheaters and dramatic fountains, skating rinks and lush gardens, in April.
Today, the jury announced the winning design for each site. For Constitution Gardens, the panel selected an all-season approach by Rogers Marvel Architects + Peter Walker and Partners (Slide 4). A design by OLIN + Weiss/Manfredi (Slide 9) for a new performance space on the Washington Monument grounds prevailed. And, for Union Square, the experts' favorite is a concept by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol + Davis Brody Bond (Slide 12) calling for a smaller pool than the existing one.
Since Union Square has fallen under the auspices of the Architect of the Capitol, the prevailing design for it will be sent to Congress to consider. The trust hopes to move forward on a redesign of either the Washington Monument grounds or Constitution Gardens by 2016.
Comments (8)
It can't get much worse than the WWII memorial - that concrete monster that ate the soul of the Mall.
Posted by skeptic on May 8,2012 | 09:16 PM
Put fountains in the stagnant water, fix the pavement by using expoxy stone in grays/white. Keep the pavement maintained so it shines and save the rest of the money for maintenance. Why does this country continually tear apart the past to make things look modern and ostentagious. Leave the area pristeen and open so you can see the beautiful buildings and history of Our City. It belongs to the PEOPLE, not to the politicians and artists. It already has a beauty built in and should be maintained, not changed.
Posted by Karen on April 26,2012 | 01:25 PM
"smart-thinking folk, like you, wilson, are moving to...wait for it...Somalia!" As a USA taxpayer, am I a bad person to wish for the freedom to choose how I spend most of my income? Am I bad person to openly observe that the government took a higher percentage of my income, every year, yet failed to keep things like the national mall in good maintenance? By the way, Costa Rica sounds way nicer than Somalia.
Posted by Wilson on April 23,2012 | 01:15 PM
Why all this penchant for change? We have already added the WWii and Vietnam memorials. What gives us the right to add more? Leave it alne and spend he money just taking care of what you have - the open space on the mall and the unobstructed views are what make it so grand. More stuff just to add stuff will clutter it up. I say add nothing!
Posted by Kathy on April 22,2012 | 10:26 AM
The USA, state, and local governments built and maintained roads, museums, libraries, police stations, fire stations in the past. Don't forget schools, too. But, they accomplished all of that with far lower percentage tax rates that did not cripple people's rights to choose how they spent most of their money. If you cannot admit that there is a problem then you cannot solve a problem.
Posted by Wilson on April 21,2012 | 06:44 PM
Why didn't this list include Leon Krier's design that aims to complete L'Enfant's vision for D.C.? A vastly superior and more comprehensive approach that addresses the current shortcomings not just in parts of the Mall but the city as a whole. MoMa did a great exhibit on this proposal some years ago, and the presentation boards can be viewed on the museum's site
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A3250&page_number=11&template_id=1&sort_order=1
Posted by Alan on April 19,2012 | 12:26 AM
"Government spending, and taxing, is out of control."
That's why the rightheaded, smart-thinking folk, like you, wilson, are moving to...wait for it...Somalia! W00t! No bothersome government with its repressive tax scheme to burden you down, and no more big brother looking over your shoulder to build those unneeded roads, museums, libraries, police stations, fire stations, etc!
I recommend you move there ASAP to take advantage of the situation before some wily bureaucrat cranks up those nasty laws and regulations to hold you down.
Posted by Ben on April 18,2012 | 04:18 PM
Government spending, and taxing, is out of control.
Posted by wilson on April 16,2012 | 07:40 AM