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Rachel WellsJulian LopezBrittany JonesJean DanARC 4011/LA 4111 Fall 2018 Project 1: Precedent Study

INTRODUCTION

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is located on the National Mall in Washington DC. Completed in 2014, the NMAAHC occupies the last available site on the mall between the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. The museum’s architecture, landscape, and its contents eloquently tell a story of African American culture throughout United States history.

FORM

The three-tiered inverted ziggurat-like form of the building itself is directly inspired by a crown or headdress seen in traditional Yoruban art and sculpture of West Africa (see facing page). The pitch of all three tiers matches that of the top of the Washington Monument to the west while the museum’s overall height above grade matches that of the National Museum of American history to the east. Additionally, the museum features windows called “lenses” which allow visitors to see prominent features of the National Mall. Outside

THE CROWNPROJECT: National Museum of African American Art & CultureLOCATION: Washington D.C.ARCHITECT: Freelon Adjaye Bond/ SmithGroupLANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN)EXHIBITION DESIGNER: Ralph Appelbaum

Associates

the museum, the form of the landscape is also directly informed by site context as the ground’s curvilinear paths are a direct extension of those on the grounds of the Washington Monument (see site plan).

MATERIAL

The use of polished black granite on the museum grounds symbolizes permanence and directly pays an homage to the Tiber Creek which once ran through the national mall and was used by slaves to transport goods out into the Potomac

River. Plant material on the site is less informed by site context and more by cultural history. Over 400,000 crocus flowers are planted across the site which symbolize hope and resiliency and bloom in February, Black History Month. Finally, on the building’s exterior is a skin called “the corona”. Brass-plated aluminum panels cover the museum’s glass façade in a pattern directly inspired by the ironworks skillfully-crafted by slaves in many southern cities like New Orleans, LA and Charlotte, NC.

FIGURE-GROUND CONTEXT DIAGRAM Scale: 1” = 2,500’ - 0”

Project Site

Buildings

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Water

Lincoln Memorial

White House

Washington Monument

Capitol Building

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Rachel WellsJulian LopezBrittany JonesJean DanARC 4011/LA 4111 Fall 2018 Project 1: Precedent Study

Image Source(s):1. www.brunoclassens.com2. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin3. www.eagleeyezphotography.com4. www.yatlagniappe.com

www.aphrochic.com5. www.loc.gov6. www.newyorker.com7. www.nmaahc.si.edu8. www.newseum.com9. Gullah Images: The Art of Jonathan

Green | www.bakker.com10. www.newsdesk.com11. The Washington Post/Getty Images

All others are original

CONSTITUTION AVENUE

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SITE PLAN Scale: 1” = 120’ - 0”

SECTION Scale: 1” = 180’ - 0”

0’ 240’60’ 120’

0’ 360’90’ 180’

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National Museum of American History

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WASHINTON MONUMENT GROUNDS

TO WHITE HOUSE

TO MUSEUM OF AMERICAN

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