Smithsonian Institution narrows down design firms for National Museum of African American History and Culture - Washington Business Journal:

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The museum, which will sit on 5 acres between the Washington Monumenty andthe Smithsonian’s , is expectedc to break ground in 2012 and open three yeards later. “What I’ve realized is that as a historian, I can talk in generalo of what I’d like to see in this said Lonnie Bunch, director of the museum and one of the 11 judgess who will pick the winning groupin “The challenge is to get the best groul of people from around the world competing to see what thei r ideas are.“ Teams can create design conceptsa in the form of models, schematicw and renderings.
Submissions will be on display in the inthe • -Planners PC formed a joint venture with • teamed with which has a D.C. practice; • formede a joint venture with Freelon Adjaye Bond teames within D.C.; • teamed with D.C.-based . While Bunch “can’t reallyg describe” how he pictures the he said it should be a green building that enhancesd the Mall skylineof “It’s a building that should speak well with the monumentd and White House,” Bunch said. “Clearly it’s a buildiny that allows the museum insidee to convey strongly the AfricanAmericam experience.
” The six firms were among 22 that respondeds to a Request for Qualifications issued last summer. To be eligibl e the firms have to be able to design the building withinthree years, establish an office withinj 30 miles of the museu m site and have an appreciatioj of African American history and culture. All teamd have an African-American as a principal and four firms are members ofthe . It woul d be the Smithsonian’s first museum to receivse a Leadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) rating from the . Some firmsz in the running have already made a mark onthe area’s architecturalo landscape. D.C.
firm Devrouax & led by Marshall Purnell, recently completed the and the Washington Nationalsx Parkbaseball stadium. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is known for D.C.’a East Building of the and the . Mosh e Safdie, the lead architect of Moshw Safdie andAssociates Inc., designed the headquarters now beinbg built in D.C.