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Winners To Be Announced In National Mall Design Contest

By: Armando Trull // May 3, 2012
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The "Pavilion Promenade," a mock-up of an indoor-outdoor dining and waterfront recreation era imagined as part of the National Mall Design Competition.  
OLIN + Weiss/Manfredi for Constitution Gardens
The "Pavilion Promenade," a mock-up of an indoor-outdoor dining and waterfront recreation era imagined as part of the National Mall Design Competition.  

The National Mall is often called America's front yard, but like many front yards, some spots could use a bit of TLC. That's the goal of the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall, which is later today expected to name the winners of a design competition for the renovation of three neglected sites  on the mall.

The Washington Monument grounds, the Constitution Gardens near the Lincoln Memorial, and the Union Square/Capitol Reflecting Pool will all get a face lift during the next five years, thanks to the handiwork of three design teams to be announced today. Several design concepts for each site were on view at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Castle for the past month. 

The winners, first reported by the Washington Post, include OLIN & Weiss/Manfredi for the redesign the Washington Monument grounds for its design including a wooded canopy to define a new amphitheater, a pavilion with a cafe, and a walkway to the nearby Tidal Basin.

Rogers Marvel Architects and Peter Walker and Partners will be the designer for Constitution Gardens, and they are planning an overhauled water basin for model boats and ice skating, as well as a restaurant pavilion.

A third team's design to overhaul Union Square and the Capitol Reflecting Pool — including more water features for the pool and a way to turn the pool into a stage — will be sent to the Capitol's architect.

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