Hirshhorn wins approval for Hiroshi Sugimoto's Sculpture Garden revitalization

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


Hirshhorn wins approval for Hiroshi Sugimoto's Sculpture Garden revitalization
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Photo: Smithsonian.



WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has successfully completed the public consultation process for the revitalization of its Sculpture Garden. The National Capital Planning Commission voted to approve the final proposal, joining the Commission of Fine Arts, which voted on July 15 to approve the project.

“We welcome these approvals, which have followed a robust public process that allowed us to hear and incorporate the views of so many who care deeply about the garden,” Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu said. “The final design by Hiroshi Sugimoto, the renowned Japanese artist and architect, will enhance the experience of millions of Hirshhorn visitors in coming years.”

With the approvals, the Smithsonian Institution and the Hirshhorn Museum will move forward with site development plans proposed in the spring of 2019. The plans were reviewed and revised in a series of eight public consultation meetings which addressed the museum’s mission, as well as the sculpture garden’s architectural legacy and landmark status.

Sugimoto’s design accomplishes two important goals: making the Sculpture Garden more accessible and inviting to the 30 million people who pass it on the National Mall each year and offering flexible venues for the kinds of large-scale sculpture and time-based and performance works that are the hallmarks of contemporary art today.

The entrance on the north perimeter will be broadened from 20 to 60 feet, widening sightlines into the Sculpture Garden and doubling the number of ramp entries. On the south side, the design will reopen the underground passageway connecting the Sculpture Garden to the Hirshhorn’s distinctive circular plaza and museum building.

The Hirshhorn is the only Smithsonian museum directly integrated into the National Mall. The revitalization project will connect the 1.5-acre garden on the National Mall with the 4-acre plaza surrounding the museum, which welcomes 1 million visitors annually. The project will address long-overdue repairs to infrastructure, increase the Hirshhorn’s display of modernist sculpture in the east garden by almost 50 percent, and honor the vision of landscape architect Lester Collins, who redesigned the garden in 1981, by expanding the number of native plantings in the garden by 70 percent, thus offering a 150 percent increase in shade and seating.

“Our vision for the Hirshhorn, the only national museum of modern art free and open to the public year-round, champions artists first and foremost,” Chiu said. “The art of our time is often immersive, interactive and ready to break free of walls, and we believe that a museum of the 21st century needs to be responsive to the art being made today.” She noted that the Hirshhorn’s original architect, Gordon Bunshaft, took the same approach when he designed the museum half a century ago.

Sugimoto has adapted and reenvisioned the garden, which Bunshaft said was inspired by Japanese gardens, with a thoughtful, considered and contemplative approach, Chiu said. “Sugimoto’s vision is very much aligned with the garden’s original influences but takes a view toward the future. Our next chapter is one that is more inclusive and accessible and elevates the experiences and voices of today,” she said.










Today's News

December 6, 2021

VFA....Recent Acquisitions: December 2021- Episode 18

Lawrence Weiner, artist whose medium was language, dies at 79

Exhibition examines the history of modern homelessness in New York City

Art Basel stages highly successful return to Miami Beach, marking a landmark 2021 edition

Sikkema Jenkins & Co. now represents Yashua Klos

Exhibition explores the extraordinary breadth of Caribbean-British art over four generations

Rubell Museum unveils new exhibitions

Classic Week at Christie's London offers art from antiquity to the 21st century

Charlotte Jackson Fine Art opens an exhibition of works by Helen Pashgian

MASSIMODECARLO opens an exhibition featuring works by McArthur Binion and Sol LeWitt

Christie's Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art department achieves market leadership in Asia

Andrea Marie Breiling's first exhibition in London on view at Almine Rech

Drawing Room in Hamburg opens an exhibition of works by Johanna Jaeger

Innovative peer-to-peer design network Madeium will drop the first sneaker design NFTs

Study reveals newly discovered architectural masterpiece contained in Rome's Palazzo Albertoni Spinola

Barbados commissions David Adjaye to create major center unlocking imprint of slavery in Barbados

New from the MIT Press: Sex Ecologies, edited by Stefanie Hessler

Why holiday light shows are the therapy we need

Tate Britain Commission 2022: Hew Locke

Hirshhorn wins approval for Hiroshi Sugimoto's Sculpture Garden revitalization

Antony Sher, actor acclaimed for his versatility, dies at 72

Stonewall Jackson, Grand Ole Opry star for over 60 years, dies at 89

Eddie Mekka, a star of 'Laverne & Shirley,' is dead at 69

The Daniel Press: Pioneer of the English Private Press Movement' on view at the Grolier Club

THC Gift Ideas For The Holidays




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful