National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) represents a significant piece of American history once was overlooked and finally being recognized.
Client
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Location
Washington, D.C.
Markets/Services
Cultural
A CULTURE DEFINED BY SHAPE
We worked together to design a structure that would reflect through material and shape the cultural traditions and symbols communicated on the interiors. For example, the building’s shape is a corona, based on the design of a Yoruban caryatid column capital, a traditional type of carved West African column.
The screen enveloping the building is made of 3,600 bronze-colored panels and references the designed ironwork of African Americans that surrounds many balconies and porches in the south.
A SPACE TO LEARN CULTURE
The museum transforms the role of civic institutions, uniquely showcasing history in a way that elicits hope for the future. As director Lonnie Bunch says, “[This] is not just a museum for black people, but a museum to help people of one culture understand the experience of people of a different culture.”
This is an emotional, powerful project, and exemplifies everything civic architecture should be. The narrative related to the architecture is clear. Movement through the buildings is quite amazing, framing these moments of our history.
39th Annual Interiors Awards, Contract Magazine
Jury Comment
SmithGroup as a key member of the Freelon Adjaye Bond SmithGroup design team knew going into the project that the collections inside would represent more than the building itself. It is a firsthand look at the experiences, objects, and creations of a culture that has been the backbone of American society for many generations.
the NMAAHC sits between the National Museum of American History and the Washington Monument on the Washington Monument grounds, a stark but refreshing disruption to the more traditional DC architecture.