Located along Independence Avenue SW from th to th street, the roughly -acre site includes the Castle, the Arts and Industries Building, the Freer Gallery, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden – all individually listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places – and the mostly subterranean Quadrangle Building which is home to the National Museum of African Art, the Sackler Gallery of Art and the S. Dillon Ripley Center.
Named after the Oaxacan born artist Rufino Tamayo (-) and with the symbolic shape of the cross, the museums shape derives from the client’s preliminary studies that defined the optimal functionality. BIGs proposal further enhances it by taking advantage of the best views from above, making the best of the steep terrain and shading the more social program below and creating exterior and interior spaces that overlap for optimal climatic performance.
The BIG Pin is designed for the warm, arid climate of the Arizonian desert. The concrete mass of the structure acts as energy storage; heat is absorbed during the day and slowly released during the night to offset the active cooling needs. The perimeter balconies provide the visitors with cooling shade and wide views, minimizing direct sunlight exposure, while also allowing for the clearest possible glass façades.
Like a Danish city, the Danish pavilion was best experienced on foot and by bike. The exhibition could be experienced in two speeds, as a calm stroll with time to absorb the surroundings and as a dynamic bicycle trip, where the city and city life rush past. This way, the pavilion’s theme Welfairytales (Welfare + Fairytales) re‐launched the bicycle in Shanghai as a symbol of lifestyle and sustainable urban development.
Virgin Hyperloop has gained significant momentum on the regulatory front, having unveiled West Virginia as the location for the Hyperloop Certification Center (HCC), also designed by BIG. The advancements at the HCC and the historic safety demonstration achieved with this test paves the way for the certification of Hyperloop systems around the world – the future of time and space, warped by Pegasus.