Throughout the National Mall’s history, African Americans have helped shape every aspect of its development: from the land and buildings to the ways in which we view and experience this iconic space. Below we highlight some of the African American thought leaders, community leaders, business leaders, performers and others who have influenced the National Mall and who continue to build its robust future.
Read MoreThe Trust for the National Mall developed the History, Heroes and Hope Award in 2014 to honor the spirit and ideals that the National Mall represents for our country. The Award has recognized dedicated public servants, long-time volunteers, and patriotic donors, all committed to restoring, enriching, and preserving our National Mall.
Read MoreThe National Mall was stunning during the inaugural events this week. While there were many changes to traditional events, the National Mall – “America’s Front Yard” – with its iconic monuments and memorials continues to serve as a meaningful backdrop to this historic experience.
Read MoreCompiled by Madella Hickman Ring, Antiques and The Arts Weekly, January 22, 2021
Tidal Basin Ideas Lab has unveiled proposals from five leading landscape architecture firms that reimagine the future of Washington, DC’s iconic Tidal Basin and National Mall.
Read MoreThe National Park Service, at the request of and in cooperation with the United States Secret Service, will implement a temporary public closure of the National Mall beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, January 15 and extending through at least Thursday, January 21.
More information about specific closures is available online at http://www.nps.gov/inauguration.
Read MoreAs we look back on this unusual year and look ahead with hope and optimism for the year ahead, I want to pause, reflect and thank you for being part of the Trust for the National Mall community.
Read MoreBy Lucy Wang, Inhabitat, November 20, 2020
The National Mall Tidal Basin — also known as “America’s front yard” — is home to some of the nation’s most iconic landmarks such as the Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. But the beloved Washington, D.C. public space is under threat from daily flooding and is in urgent need of critical repairs and improvements. In a bid to save the celebrated landscape, five prestigious landscape architecture firms — DLANDstudio, GGN, Hood Design Studio, James Corner Field Operations and Reed Hilderbrand — have been tapped to reimagine the future of the Tidal Basin and National Mall. Keep reading for a preview of all the designs.
Read MoreBy Nicole Noechel, Washington Gardener, November 2020
Over the past 10 years, Washington’s historic Tidal Basin has experienced worsening daily flooding and crumbling infrastructure, according to the Trust for the National Mall’s Executive Vice President, Teresa Durkin…To address these problems, the Trust for the National Mall, along with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and civic partner Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, have teamed up to create the online Tidal Basin Ideas Lab with five reconstruction plans by world-renowned architects and design firms.
Read MoreWilbur Snyder, a West Point graduate, served for twenty-five years in active duty. He was stationed in Germany, studied Russian, served in the Pentagon in the intelligence part of joint staff doing arms control inspections in the former Soviet Union, and served one tour at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in a unique unit called the Psychological Operations. He is a volunteer at the newly-opened Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.
Read MoreVeteran Don Adam has been a volunteer on the National Mall with the National Park Service since 2002. Adam has volunteered over 20,000 hours at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in honor of his cousin and comrades who gave the ultimate sacrifice. On August 25, 2020 Adams received the George & Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The virtual ceremony was hosted by the National Park Foundation. Adams spent four years in the US Air Force from 1966 to 1970. He served in Japan and South Vietnam.
Read MoreVeteran and volunteer on the National Mall Hank Lazzaro shares the importance of these memorials to educate visitors from around the world about the sacrifices the men and women made in conflict, and to heal those who served. Lazzaro served a 13-month tour in Vietnam and was in the Marine Corps Reserves, totaling 11 years of Marine Corps service. After he graduated from law school he spent 32 years with the Navy, retiring as a Captain. He was a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps; when he left there to go into the Navy to be Captain, he served in the Judge Advocate General Corps. In total, he had 11 years in active-duty time and 32 years reserve time.
Read MoreRetired Senior Master Sergeant of the U.S. Air Force, Harry F. Miller honorably served the United States from World War II through the Vietnam War. Over the course of his more than twenty-year career in the military, Miller experienced “The Battle of the Bulge,” tours in Vietnam, Korea and Japan, the Cuban Missle Crisis and so much in between.
Read MoreAs the Founder and Chairman of the commercial real estate firm bearing his name, John “Chip” Akridge is an innovator in the industry, a committed advocate of community initiatives in the Washington, D.C. region, and a dedicated supporter of philanthropic and charitable organizations. He has served as a member of the Economic Development and Executive Committees of the Federal City Council, and as chairman of the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s Emergency Preparedness Task Force. He has received numerous industry awards and is a strong advocate for the environment. He has served on the boards of leading environmental nonprofits and various agencies of the city government. Chip is a Distinguished Eagle Scout and a Vietnam veteran.
We talked with Chip about his own experience as a veteran, what he hopes visitors take away from their visits to the memorials, and what he wants to share with those who can’t be here in person.
Read MoreWe asked a select group of veterans -- some of whom are in our volunteer corps -- to share stories about their service to the nation and how their acts and views of service have evolved over time. They share a range of experiences and their personal perspectives on what the memorials on the National Mall mean to them, and what they hope others will find when they visit these special, iconic places. By bringing their stories to our readers, we hope you will be inspired to learn more about their lives and to learn more about the veterans in your own lives who have stories to share.
Read MoreBy Eleanor Gibson, dezeen
A bridge to the White House and man-made islands are among the conceptual proposals five architecture studios have developed for preserving Washington DC's Tidal Basin reservoir and the National Mall.
DLANDstudio, GGN, James Corner Field Operations, Hood Design Studio and Reed Hilderbrand all created schemes to reimagine the site for Tidal Basin Ideas Lab – organised by National Trust for Historic Preservation, Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service and architecture firm SOM.
Read MoreBy Kat Barandy, designboom
With the ‘Tidal Basin Ideas Lab’ exhibition, a team of designers unveil proposals to reimagine the sinking tidal basin at Washington D.C.’s National Mall. The team includes leading landscape architects DLANDstudio, GGN,Hood Design Studio, James CornerField Operations, and Reed Hilderbrand. the area includes memorials to Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and martin Luther king jr. as nearly 1.5 million people walk along the basin’s rim during the annual cherry blossom festival each spring, the increased car and foot traffic have driven parts of the tidal basin area underwater while the walkways flood daily.
Read MoreBy Elizabeth Fazzare, Architectural Digest
Home to some of the nation’s most iconic monuments, Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin—the man-made reservoir adjacent to the National Mall—currently suffers from crumbling seawall infrastructure and twice-daily flooding. Today the National Trust for Historic Preservation; the Trust for the National Mall; the National Park Service; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; and American Express unveiled the Tidal Basin Ideas Lab to address these issues through design.
Read MoreAt a Distance, Episode 85, October 22, 2020
Walter Hood, founder and creative director of Hood Design Studio and co-author of the forthcoming book “Black Landscapes Matter,” talks with us about how his new proposal for Washington, D.C.’s National Mall Tidal Basin could facilitate unity, why spaces that elicit discomfort are a step toward reconciliation, and the importance of investing in people and places that society takes for granted.
Read MoreBy Madeleine D’Angelo, Architect Magazine, October 21, 2020
The Tidal Basin on the National Mall is home to some of Washington D.C.'s iconic monuments—including the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial—as well as 3,000 famed cherry trees. But a crumbling sea wall and daily flooding—which will only become worse with sea-level rise due to climate change—have left the area in desperate need of both repair and future-proofing. Aiming to find design solutions for the 107-acre site, the National Trust for Historic Preservation partnered with the Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service, and civic partners Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and American Express, to launch the Tidal Basin Ideas Lab Exhibition.
Read MoreBy Matt Hickman, The Architect’s Newspaper
The Tidal Basin Ideas Lab, a project initiated by a collaboration of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Trust for the National Mall, National Park Service, and civic partner Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), has unveiled a new online exhibition that envisions how the National Mall Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., can evolve, adapt, and thrive while buttressing itself for a future increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate.
Read More
