April 8, 1980

April 8, 1980. The design for the South Quadrangle project on the Mall,  prepared by Junzo Yoshimura and completed by the firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbot, receives general approval from the District of Columbia Commission of Fine Arts.

This view of first model for the project looking north shows the Smithsonian Institution Building (center), the Arts and Industries Building (right), and the Freer Gallery (left) framing the two new underground museums–the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the National Museum of African Art. In the proposal, each has a sunken court and the center Victorian Garden from the 1976 Bicentennial remains as a centerpiece.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives

Related posts:

ICYMI: Highlights from the week that was June 2 – June 8, 2019 2017 Secretary’s Research Prizes Awarded Office of Protection Services has a new director ICYMI: Highlights from the week that was April 15 – April 21, 2018