| Location | Washington, DC |
| Owner | Smithsonian Institute |
| Program | Courtyard Enclosure |
| Size | 20,000 sqf. |
Today, our society continues to challenge and explore the necessary balance between the advance of technology and the preservation of nature: of the innovative impulse and creative aspiration. In so doing we further articulate the relationship between invention and history. Invention and innovation were intrinsic to the founding spirit of the republic. They were the egalitarian tools that allowed the democratic ideal to be extended to society at large by the distribution of knowledge, thereby improving the quality of everyday life for its' citizens. In our proposal for the Smithsonian Patent Office Courtyard Enclosure, the courtyard becomes the 'Democratic Living Room' of the nation, an enclosed courtyard imbued with the phenomenon of light and atmosphere - the quintessential forces of inspiration in the continuum of American art. A floating plane of light is supported by the diaphanous undulation of a glass grid shell roof, establishing a radiant plane of light - a luminous vapor, visible throughout the city. It is an atmospheric landmark, distinct from a static monument.
Themes