The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts has approved a new concept design for the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum.
Located within the U.S. National Arboretum’s Core, the museum is conceived as an immersive and cohesive garden experience. The design organizes the Museum’s program around a central court that orients the visitor to a network of paths that lead to the four exhibitions, an expanded classroom, and administrative services. The exhibitions are conceived not as buildings, but as gardens, and blur the boundaries with the larger, surrounding garden.
The design also establishes a pervasive grove of understory trees as the principal image and identity of the Museum. Mixed species surround and frame the various exhibitions and the central court. Garden walls organize a path through the display while charred wood posts and trellises rise above the exhibitions to filter light and shape a sense of enclosure.
The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum is the first project in Reed Hilderbrand’s Master Plan Update for the U.S. National Arboretum’s core.
Related Stories
Museums | Oct 10, 2016
New, larger Statue of Liberty Museum being built on Liberty Island
The museum will look to complement the Statue of Liberty without drawing attention away from it
Museums | Sep 21, 2016
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
Specialty Buildings Column Series, Part 2 of 6 [Click Here to Part 1]
Museums | Sep 19, 2016
Museums refine their mission in the digital age
Preserving history is still their core function, but museums are using fresh approaches to engage an easily distracted public.
Museums | Sep 14, 2016
Architectural model museum opens in Japan
The museum includes models from Japanese architects including Shingeru Ban, Kengo Kuma, and Riken Yamamoto.
Museums | Sep 14, 2016
Finnish government halts plans for Guggenheim Helsinki
Construction of the museum relied heavily on state funding, which has officially been denied.
Museums | Jun 17, 2016
Construction begins on new and expanded International Spy Museum in Washington D.C.
The building will have a glass veil that surrounds an enclosed black box, a setup that the museum hopes will add vibrancy to its new L’Enfant Plaza location.
Education Facilities | Jun 1, 2016
Gensler reveals designs for 35-acre AltaSea Campus at the Port of Los Angeles
New and renovated facilities will help researchers, educators, and visitors better understand the ocean.
Museums | May 26, 2016
Napur Architect wins design contest for Budapest’s Museum of Ethnography
The Museum of Ethnography’s new home will be part of a large museum complex in Budapest’s City Park
Museums | May 2, 2016
Rippled facade defines Snøhetta’s San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion design
The museum will have three times as much gallery space as before, along with a new theater, atrium, and living wall.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 12, 2016
Studio Libeskind designs angular Kurdish museum rich with symbolism
The museum consists of four geometric volumes separated by somber and uplifting divisions.
