After a years-long process, Japanese artist and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto’s design for a revamped Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden was just approved.
The new design will make the downtown DC sculpture garden more accessible to visitors, and make it easier to house large-scale and time-based works and performances. This includes widening the north entrance—it will expand from 20 to 60 feet—which will double the number of ramp entries. On the south side, the underground passage that connects the garden to the museum’s circular plaza will reopen.
Also on the agenda: infrastructure repairs, a 50 percent increase in modernist sculptures in the east garden, and 70 percent more native plants, which will provide more shade and seating.
Sugimoto has a long history with the Hirshhorn. His first major US exhibition was held at the museum in 2006, and he helped with its lobby redesign a few years ago. Elsewhere, his exhibitions have appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and National Gallery in London.
This will be the first major update to the sculpture garden in more than 40 years. Expect to see the changes in 2024-2025, which coincides with the Hirshhorn’s 50th anniversary.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Ave. and Seventh St., SW.
