BIG's Smithsonian campus design draws fire from critics

Dive Brief:

Bjarke Ingels Group’s plans for a $2 billion, 10-to-20-year renovation of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, has been met with resistance, and at the center of the dispute is a 4-acre garden that will be demolished to make way for a modern outdoor space, Dezeen reported.
BIG’s design for the Enid Haupt Garden’s replacement features a plaza that resembles "a carpet with its corners turned up," with glass panes on its floor to allow light into the spaces underneath. Along with the garden and its gates and walls, the overhaul also will see the demolition of three museum entrance pavilions.
Critics of BIG’s plans have started an online petition to stop the garden from being destroyed, and nearly 1,500 people have signed it so far. Joining the opposition to the garden’s elimination is the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the DC Preservation League and the Committee of 100 on the Federal City.

Dive Insight:

The museum grounds are south of the National Mall, which sees 24 million visitors each year. Proponents of the museum’s plan said the new design will improve its own visitor flow throughout its 17 acres. In addition to those speaking out against the planned changes to the garden area, The National Capital Planning Commission, which must approve the undertaking, has also expressed unease about the proposal during meetings, according to Dezeen.

James Goode, a previous curator for the museum, perhaps had the harshest words for the design, Dezeen reported. In defense of the garden, he said in an editorial last month for The Washington Post, "Bjarke Ingels's replacement is a wasteland of skylights reminiscent of a regional shopping mall. The erupting 'swoops' of turf, glass and steel lack respect for the surrounding historic buildings. Peaceful and contemplative are replaced with arid, windswept and unfriendly."

BIG is not shy when it comes to daring designs. Last month, the Danish architecture firm revealed its design for the new Washington Redskins stadium, which has a semitransparent arena and a surrounding moat for kayakers. While designed to host the NFL team on a yet-to-be-determined site, Ingels said he could foresee families using the stadium grounds all year long as a recreation destination.

The company also has designed the future "Charleston East' Google complex in Mountainview, CA. The tech company’s new offices will link to its existing space and, according to Building Construction + Design, will resemble a "futuristic circus tent" capable of accommodating 3,000 employees.