Future Smithsonian Museums
Presentation to the Jury of a Charrette for the Siting of New Smithsonian Museums—a Collaboration Between the National Civic Art Society and Catholic University’s School of Architecture.
Looking south from the Smithsonian Castle to the Forrestal Building, NCAS's proposed site for two new Smithsonian museums.
In the fall of 2022, the Smithsonian Institution announced it will be building the American Women's History Museum and National Museum of the American Latino on sites in the Reserve on the National Mall--one site just next to the Washington Monument, the other on the Tidal Basin (see illustration below).
While the National Civic Art Society is strongly supportive of the construction of the museums, we believe that the proposed sites are wholly inappropriate. As NCAS President Justin Shubow commented in Politico, "There’s no grander or more symbolic axis in America. ... We must ensure that no buildings spoil these and other sight lines and symbolic landscapes, as well as public open space in general."
NCAS believes that a far superior site for the museums is the site currently occupied by the Forrestal Building (see photo above), an ugly Brutalist hulk that is currently occupied by the Department of Energy. Located at 1000 Independence Avenue SW, the prominent, honorific, and accessible site is just across the street to the south of the Smithsonian Castle.
To encourage the use of that site, NCAS partnered with Catholic University's architecture school to support a juried design charrette for CUA graduate students. The charrette produced urbanistic proposals for siting the museums at the Forrestal site.
The jury comprised former New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger; architects Anne Fairfax, Elizabeth Moule, David Schwarz, and Teófilo Victoria; and urban planners Dhiru Thadani and John Torti.
The students made their presentations to the jury on March 21, 2023.
The Smithsonian's preferred sites for the American Women's History Museum and National Museum of the American Latino.
Washington, D.C. Height Limit
Ellen McCarthy, Brian O’Looney, Harriet Tregoning, and Justin Shubow Debated Whether Washington, D.C. Should Raise Its Height Limit. Matt Bell moderated.
Since 1910, the maximum height of buildings in Washington, D.C. has been greatly limited by federal law. On April 2, 2023, the National Civic Art Society and Congress for the New Urbanism sponsored a debate over whether D.C.'s limit should be raised.
Arguing for the negative were Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, and Brian O'Looney, Partner at Torti + Gallas. Arguing for the positive were Ellen McCarthy, Partner at The Urban Partnership, and Harriet Tregoning, Director of the New Urban Mobility Alliance. Both McCarthy and Tregoning are former Directors of the D.C. Office of Planning.
The moderator was Matt Bell, Professor of Architecture at the University of Maryland and Principal at Perkins Eastman.
Watch the video HERE.
National Civic Art Society President Justin Shubow Argued That Washington, D.C.’s Height Limit Should Not Be Raised.