A competition is underway for the contract to design the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum will sit across the street from the Washington Monument. The Washington Post says it "could be the last important building on the Mall." The competition has drawn entries..
A competition is underway for the contract to design the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum will sit across the street from the Washington Monument. The Washington Post says it "could be the last important building on the Mall."The competition has drawn entries from starchitects like I.M. Pei and Diller Scofidio + Renfro (pictured). And, if I'm not wrong, there's not a single African American architect in the running. David Adjaye is of African descent, but he's British. Part of me thinks the design should come from someone with a subjective understanding of what it is to be African American. But then again, Maya Lin wasn't a Vietnam veteran.At any rate, my favorite is Sir Norman Foster's nautilus-like structure. But I'm sure there are all sorts of high-falutin allusions and symbols in all of them that I'm not hip to.At any rate The Washington Post has a photo gallery of the entries and a story.UPDATE: I'm wrong. Architects Devrouax + Purnell are African American. So is J. Max Bond from Davis Brody Bond. And there are African American partners at Moody Nolan. Sorry for the error.
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