Durham’s Freelon Designing Smithsonian Museum

November, 11, 2009 , by Mark

How many people get to design a building on our National Mall in Washington DC? There are only 11 or 12 buildings placed prominently between the Washington Monument and the US Capitol. Add Durham’s Philip Freelon to that list of people. Mr. Freelon’s firm has completed a slew of award winning cultural museum projects in recent years, but his position as co-design lead alongside David Adjaye on the team for the forthcoming Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is his most crowning achievement to date.

As far as architects go, Adjaye (43, left) and Freelon (57, right) are young guns in a profession that is dominated by old men. Their winning competition entry beat out a lineup of ridiculously world-famous designers including Norman Foster, Diller & Scofidio, Antoine Predock and Moshe Safie, most of whom are 70+ years in age.

The results from the competition were announced back in April of this year. Other members of the winning design team include Davis Brody Bond and SmithGroup. The building will be roughly 300,000 square feet and cost about $500 million. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2015.

See more images of the museum design on Freelon’s website.

Architect’s Statement:

At its best, architecture is the physical manifestation of a culture’s highest ideals. The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) – the institution and the building – embodies the African American spirit. Majestic yet exuberant. Dignified yet triumphant. Of the African Diaspora yet distinctly African American. The NMAAHC will be a building worthy of the museum’s vision - and its prominent place on the National Mall.

The primary architectural idea for the museum was derived from the classical tripartite column with its base, shaft and capital. In Yoruban art and architecture, the column or wooden post was usually crafted with a capital resembling a crown. This crown or corona form is the central idea which has driven the design of the museum.

Reaching toward the sky, the bronze clad corona expresses faith, hope and resiliency. Internal to the building, the corona forms a perimeter zone which surrounds the primary galleries. Daylight enters this zone through patterned openings in the bronze cladding and through skylights – washing wood covered walls with light while providing views upward and outward. At night, the corona glows, presenting stunning views of the museum from a variety of vantage points in and around the Mall.