National Mall Finalists Exhibit Designs (PHOTOS)

By Karissa Rosenfield
(click here for original article)

The ten finalists competing in the final phase of the National Mall Design Competition are dreaming big. Proposals to restore the National Mall include flourishing lakeside gardens, contemporary cafés hovering over water, grassy new amphitheaters and underground pavilions exposed at the foot of the Washington Monument. Since the announcement of the finalists, the teams have been refining there proposals behind closed doors.

Now, the Trust for the National Mall has released the highly anticipated proposals to the public. From now until Sunday, at the Smithsonian Castle and the National Museum of American History, you can view each proposal in its entirety. If you don’t live in the D.C. area, no need to worry. Continue after the break to catch a glimpse of each submission and learn how you can help the jury decided who will revamp America’s “front yard”.

The designs will bring the next evolution to the aging mall. The estimated $700 million restoration will include three selected areas – Union Square including the Reflecting Pool and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, Sylvan Theater on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the Constitution Gardens between the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

Below, we have provided you with a render that represents each proposal. Click on the name’s of each design team to be redirected to the official competition website. There you can view each proposals and leave your feedback for the jury.

The winning designs will be selected by a Jury of eight renowned experts from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, community activism, historic preservation, public branding, graphic design and sustainable land use. Each finalist will be judged on the functionality, sustainability and constructability of the proposal and its ability to reflect the “established vision and design influences”. The winning design teams will be announced May 3rd, 2012.

All images are courtesy of the Trust for the National Mall.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[pastgone]

03:37 PM on 04/29/2012

The "aging" mall. I love words like that. Hey, guess what. Right after they mess it up with another "redesign", it will still be the "aging" mall.

[CSKAP]

11:05 AM on 04/16/2012

Doing some homework the entire “leave it alone” naysayers were out in force when the Washington Monument, the Jefferson, the Lincoln and the Roosevelt, the Vietnam and Korean and WW2 monuments were proposed. (Actually agree with the WW2, looks a bit too Teutonic for me)
It is the showcase of America and where literally millions of tourists come to “See America”.
The current worn out lawn and scattered trees give the mall a shabby and disheveled appearance.
The mall also comprises part of one of the greatest running trails in America as well.

[wingin it]

01:22 PM on 04/16/2012

It's a chance for us to show current American design in a huge public arena, something we lack, compared to volume of modern urban and park spaces (of all sizes) in other countries. This is also an opportunity to employ hundreds of contractors, designers, and local businesses. I'm looking forward to see who wins!

[pastgone]

03:40 PM on 04/29/2012

"Current American design?" Have you seen the WW2 memorial? That's what these fascists have been doing to the mall. "Teutonic?" Fascist.

The lawn is going to periodically wear out and have to be resodded no matter what they do. They put giant festivals with hundreds of thousands of people out there. You aren't going to get rid of muddy sod. I live a few hundred yards from the mall. Leave it alone. They're only going to make it worse, because the people that are in charge these days have NO idea what they are doing.

[scholasticus]

08:16 AM on 04/16/2012

Leave it alone. Any "improvements" will require extensive and expensive maintenance. Otherwise, in just ten years the "new" design will look shabby. And who pays for all of this?

[pastgone]

03:43 PM on 04/29/2012

Look, dude. I'm for leaving it alone, too, but I have a sneaking suspicion that your concern about where your tax dollars are going suddenly evaporates when it comes to the defense budget, which eats up maybe 400 dollars for every buck they'd spend on the mall. Which only means that you aren't REALLY concerned with how your taxes are spent. You are REALLY concerned with doing what Fox News tells you to do.

[Lo Chiaro]

05:27 PM on 04/15/2012

If they do it, only the Peter Walker scheme should be trusted.

All the others are playing with themselves, which is a misdemeanor when it's done in public.

[Gerald OHare]

09:58 AM on 04/15/2012

Spend that money on the highways and bridges in our country that need repair.

[raker]

08:57 AM on 04/15/2012

Stop building all that tacky junk on the National Mall. Beautify the mall by tearing down a few recent monstrosities.

[Peace Walker]

10:19 PM on 04/14/2012

None of this is necessary. These squares and gardens and theaters are beautiful (and more natural) as they are. Do not spend money on THIS. Where is that women's history museum? How much more are we going to cut mental health services? Education programs?

[jokamachi]

08:54 PM on 04/14/2012

The more they overtake the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drain.

[DevonTexas]

12:57 PM on 04/14/2012

$700 million for landscaping? did Romney win the election?