July 15, 2021 – Today, the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) granted final design approval to our design for the revitalization of the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden.
Billie Tsien, the newly elected chair of the commission, called the design “sensitive, thoughtful, thorough” while describing the Smithsonian’s approach to the landscape revitalization as “how to make buildings and gardens live.”
In preparation for the meeting, the commission solicited advice from landscape architect Laurie Olin who wrote to the commission:” The project as currently proposed by Sugimoto, Harwell, [YUN Architecture], is far superior to what has existed adjacent to the Hirshhorn Museum and the National Mall until now, and if implemented will add a worthy layer to those that will inevitably remain imbedded in the situation. The sculpture garden will become a sequential and combined work of Bunshaft, Collins, and Sugimoto, created through time, one far more interesting than any of them could have done alone.”