ABSTRACT
The collaboration among Adjaye Associates, Guy Nordenson and Associates, and Silman engineering consultants to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture is discussed. The challenges of building an iconic civic monument to house objects and exhibits of extraordinary cultural value on an accelerated schedule were significant. The strong architectural vision called for a technically complex approach to the facade and above-ground structure, a constrained footprint required significant underground structure, and the exhibits themselves required some careful engineering interventions.
