Black History's Future

Grand Plans Unveiled For African American Museum on the Mall

By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 28, 2009;
The future National Museum of African American History and Culture -- as envisioned by competing teams of architects -- will most likely include water features and music halls, evocations of slave ships and the African past, and vistas acknowledging its important, monumental neighbors.

Yesterday, the Smithsonian Institution unveiled conceptual designs from six prominent architecture teams for what could be the last important building on the Mall. It was the first opportunity to see what the physical structure, scheduled to open in 2015, might look like. The models are on display at the Castle Building for public comment until April 6. The teams, which include "starchitects" such as I.M. Pei and Sir Norman Foster, were not present for yesterday's briefing.