BIG’s South Mall redesign will have three main goals: to create a more cohesive and easily navigable master plan to tie the museums and gardens together, to improve the visitor experience with expanded amenities such as retail and restaurants, and to replace aging infrastructure with modern and energy-efficient systems. “Where today each museum is almost like a separate entity, in the future, it’s going to be a much more open, intuitive and inviting campus to meander around,” says Ingels.
Related: BIG Selected to Develop the Master Plan of the Smithsonian Institute Campus
The centerpiece of BIG’s campus redesign will be the renovation and seismic retrofit of the historic Smithsonian Castle, a faux Norman style building clad in eye-catching red sandstone that houses the Smithsonian’s administrative offices. The new master plan will also add new entrances and improved access to the National Museum of African Art, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. BIG will redesign the Enid A. Haupt Garden by elevating and peeling up the corners of the landscape to help bring more natural light into the underground galleries.
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Via Smithsonian Magazine
Images via Smithsonian
