Winners Chosen for Redesign of 3 National Mall Sites

he Trust for the National Mall has selected the winning entry for each of the 3 sites to be transformed at the National Mall. The entries aim to connect monuments visually and offer more in the way of entertainment and scenery to the public, all while maintaining a proper amount of security. The areas have grown decrepit after 40 years of use and lacking proper maintenance. Four finalists for each location were displayed for public comment on April 9 after an initial 58 entries.

Rogers Marvel Architects and PWP Landscape Architecture will redesign Constitution Gardens east of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The design is based on a 1976 plan for the site for the bicentennial. A pavilion/restaurant will overlook the lake, while a seating wall with pedestrian lighting will frame the Ellipse, which will be subtly raised to be more prominent. Performances, model boating, and ice skating are other activities residents and visitors can look forward to.

OLIN & Weiss/Manfredi will redesign the Sylvan Theater, southeast of the Washington Monument. The performance space is a large grassy bowl whose outer edge rises 32 feet, just before reaching the base of the monument, which serves as a backdrop to the events taking place. A bridge under a tree canopy will connect the space with the southern grounds of the Washington Monument.

Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Davis Brody Bond will redesign Union Square near the Capitol. Symbolic of the reflecting pool at Lincoln Memorial, a large reflecting pool will take the place of the nearest grass panel on the Mall, but with the potential for much more interaction. Diagonal pathways will cross the 2-inch sheet of water, which can be drained for special events from time to time on the paving below. A series of outdoor rooms and retaining walls will flank the central space.

Groundbreaking for at least one of the projects should begin by 2014, with the first ribbon-cutting expected in 2016. Fundraising will now take place for the $700M project.

Read more and view a gallery of other proposed designs for the mall at The Washington Post here.