AfricanAmerican Museum. I was one of the arcing tekts. What feeling did you hope this museum would cain . I hope it would give a sense of uplift and being connected to this very unique location on the washington mat on the Nations Capital but one which would also give you a sense of intrigue, to explore the extraordinary exhibits here. You have this fantastic window on washington to see right through you have an International Background. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how that informed your work on this very American Museum . I was born on the heart of the continent. As a teenager i grew up in london and started my practice about 20 years ago. My practice has always had an international outlook. We worked all over the years. The Nobel Peace Center in oslo is one of our proejsz, almost local community projects. Schools and educational environments. Even competition libraries, ex, housing in new york. But when we were asked to join this competition, it was an extraordinary moment that we were thrilled to be a part of. We felt it was such a complicated project that we wanted a team that would allow each team to do the best they could. What perspective do you think your International Background and work has brought to this museum . I think its given an ability to view the content and the story from a different position. Its emotional for me, too, but maybe not in the same way. I dont have family who went through the slave trade that way. But i have great empathy with it. I think the struggles of the africanamerican communities really reflect sort of the aspirations of the entire black Community Around the world. So its something that we all look to. Its a shared narrative. I understand the Exterior Design of the museum was your inspiration. Uhhuh. Where did that come from . Inspiration really was from understanding that the Africanamerican Community come from the central and west of africa and in the central and west of africa theres this extraordinary tradition of architecture that creates these incredible structures and i felt that it would be prudent to take to make a reference to that extraordinary tradition so that africanamericans now who probably dont know about these incredible traditions but understand the place they came from had these ij credible crafts and traditions and its part of their narrative and their history, too. So its part of this very important reference inspiration, but also the work of africanamerican craftsmen in the south, Metal Workers who were extraordinary, who built some of those beautiful houses we know in the south, the incredible metal work on those houses. They were predominantly built by slaves. We wanted to honor that tradition of labor and krachlt. So you see this incredible detail which is about that language. In those motifs are they reflective of the Plantation Homes in the south . They are. You will see the ironwork which is really a classical leaf wrapping into grids of iron. I call it a mapping using Computer Technology to describe the way in which the ornament is made. Its really a drawing of how ornament is made which is then represented on this building. Were standing now in the Oprah Winfrey theater. Yes. And the design here in the theater is an echo of that design. Can you explain how . Yes. Its actually dpfl same patten but weve reduced it in scale. So really in the Oprah Winfrey theater we want you to sort of feel youre in the heart of the building. Whereas on the outside of the building is objects framed by them all. In the inside you are the center and the building surrounds you. The porch element to the museum is significant kchlt you tell us why . Yes. We wanted very much on the south side of the mall to create a real welcome and the welcome of the south that you file in the community, this idea of living insideoutside but living under shade, we thought was a very important idea that we wanted to find a 21st century translation of. We worked with our engineers and our landscape designers to creates a water body and a canty leavered structure which creates a microclimbed, an incredible shade and draws the winds, from a hot summer day as you go up and down the ballmall sweating, youre able to come here and the cooling effect are really enhanced by the porch and the water reflecting pool. Tell us a little bit about the water element and the symbolism behind that. Water, i think, is a very important material for foundati foundational material. Labor in the south, irrigation and water was very much part of the coastal nature of the agruyerian south. Water, i think, is something that the Africanamerican Community cannot kind of move away from. Its parts of that foundation. Martin luther king also discussed water being justice, the sort of the justice of water, the cleansing spiritual element thats always been a part of the community. I was very inspired by those words and wanted to use that as part of the reflection in the building. So when you look in the special room in the memorial room, you will have youll see that effect. We are actually sitting on the Washington Monument grounds. Thats the significance of this particular site, because it is kind of referred to it as a knuckle position between the mall, the ellipse, Washington Monument, lincoln, jefferson and so forth. So its at i would say probably one of the most critical points in the development of the Washington Monument grounds and of course it created, i think, some controversy being on this particular site. And in the end, i think it turned out well and probably is the right place for this particular museum, particularly at this time of our history. Why do you think its the right place . Well, i think this museum, im hoping, once it does open in another ten days, will be a healing element for this country and maybe even the world. Particularly at this time. Because of what we are going through as a nation, internationally as well, the struggles that are going on between races, ethnic issues, im hopinghat this will be a real learning experience and an education to the people who come here and can see that we need to heal ourselves and we need to be more than just separate individuals or separate people. We need to be a people. There are a lot of white marble buildings on the mall and out the windows of this museum, you can even see the white house. Uhhuh. Tell us about the design of the exterior of the museum. What does it mean . Well, first of all, ill back up to when we did the competition for this particular building. And which we were fortunate enough to win, our team. And at that time we actually had 60 of the building above ground. But we went through all of the review agencies here in town which probably was more my role on this project, because im the washington local architect. Having worked with the smithsonian for more than 25 years on some of their more institutional buildings, ive been in a position to work with most all the agencies during that period of time. So in that review process, it is made clear that the footprint of having 60 of the building above ground was too much for the Washington Monument grounds and they asked us to reverse that, which we redesigned and came up with the final design, of course, that we see here today that has only 40 above ground and 60 below ground so then in that competition we had as part of the inspiration of the design the idea of a corona or crown. And that comes from a cariated column that was developed in the west african place which was the artistic west african community. There was actually on this floor a column which is the column that was the inspiration for this and if you were to look at it, you would see a threetiered crown. That was the inspiration for this particular corona of the building. As we put 60 abobelow corona, which i think was good. The other portion of this which was inspirational in terms of maintaining the idea of having the Monument Grounds coming all the way through is that the entire base of the building was glass. And that is to make sure that you feel like the Washington Monument grounds continues right through the building and all the way over to 14th and constitution. So there are these great four pillars that really contain the structure and the core of the museum. Everything else is supported from that so when you look to the outside and you see this wonderful corona and the structure that is there, its basically coming off the top of the building through a vertical truss all the way down to the bottom, supporting these horizontal trusses that you see here. And to that was then clad the corona panels of which there are 3,600 corona panels. And what do you mean by the corona panels . Well, if you were to look to the outside, each of those panels is roughly three feet by five feet. And the design was inspired by wrought iron work done by slaves in charleston and new orleans. Lonnie bunch, i think, had the idea that if we took the panels that were done in that wrought iron, connected certain points, came up with this, if you will, modern derivation of that wrought iron panel. So each one of those has that same feel to it and then they move back and forth. There is a different porocity depending on where you are in if building and some have more transparency than others so we go anywhere from 65 solid to 95 solid. But wherever theres an opportunity for review, for you to connect to exterior and feel a part of the context of the Washington Monument grounds and the surrounding area, the mall lincoln, the ellipse, white house, jefferson memorial, the capital at the other end, national archives, all of those are grounding points to establish the context for the museum, and so there is a visual connection made to each of those. Theres a window over here that looks to the white house. This long window is looking at the Washington Monument grounds. To give you the context of the Lincoln Memorial and also world war ii memorial and, of course, the Washington Monument. And then as you move around youll see various other view viewpoints. You grew up in the segregated south. I did. Where did you grow up . I grew up in memphis, and i lived there until i went away to college, actually. It was at a time in the i would say the 50s and 60s that there was a great deal of change. I grew up, went to school in segregated schools. I went to you would go to a department store, and as a young person, you arent afraid to ask questions, of course, of your parents. And i would say, so, tell me, why is there a colored restroom . Why is there a white restroom . Why are these signs there for colored water fountain and white water fountain . And i was just told thats the way it is. And i said, but why . I mean, arent we all people . We just have different color skins. But i did not go to school at that time with any africanamerican or really much in the way of other ethnic groups. Thats, of course, greatly changed, much to my delight. I actually went to undergraduate school at clemson university, and the reason i went there for Architecture School was because they were one of the first to admit an africanamerican into the architecture program. A fellow by the name of harvey gant who graduated, became an established, wellknown architect and also became the mayor of North Carolina in charlotte. So its been a wonderful experience for me personally to see the change that has happened. When i first worked with the native american community, we did the Cultural Resource center for the smithsonian and then we did the National Mall museum. Over 12 years, you learn a lot about a culture that is different than yours. And im hoping that will be the case when people come to this museum. We have all learned definitely Something Different by being involved in this museum, and im hoping it will have the same change effect on the people that visit. Robert anderson, where are we standing . Were standing 30 feet below grade in the africanAmerican History and Culture Museum in the history gallery. What are the history galleries . The history gallery is a collection of 50,000squarefoot galleries on three Different Levels within the museum. We had actually to excavate down 75 feet to get to the lowest floor within the museum so what youre seeing is a chronological sequence of galleries that basically tell the story of africanAmerican History from the Middle Passage all the way up through modern times as you ascend upwards through the building. What Design Elements will visitors find here . I think a lot of it is in the lower spaces here, one of the things youll notice is how the spaces kind of expand and contract. Inside the mezzanine levels, the ceilings are around nine and a half feet so you get a very intimate relationship with the more case work pieces that you see in the lower levels, whereas if you step out into the main chamber, youre experiencing the 65foot roof. So i think theres an interesting dichotomy of space within the history galleries. Your company is part of the design team that was involved in the construction. Thats correct. Tell us a little bit about the chronology that brings you here today. Well, our firm, along with the freelong group out of North Carolina, by the time the museum opens next week, we will have worked on the project for close to 10 years. Max vaughan, who is the dean of africanamerican architects, our late partner who passed away during the competition, he and phil freelong out of North Carolina, they had authored the predesign and programming studies two years prior to when the competition was announced. The project was competition phased for about a year in 2008, i think it was. And our firm, along with david adjaj associates, the freelong group and the smith group came up with the scheme that won the competition. So you see 400,000 square feet of museum where 60 of the building is below grade. Now, one of the things youll notice about the competition scheme, that relationship was inverted to complete the city block, but as we started to study the options in the building we found that it had a much more intimate relationship with the Monument Grounds by pushing more of the program below grade, and functionally it makes sense. Story galleries dont want Natural Light nor does theater or changing galleries so its an interesting relationship top to bottom you see through the building. Museum director lonnie bunch has talked about the mall as being americas front yard. So, keeping that in mind, what was behind your nception of the history galleries and how it connects not only to the mall but to the Exterior Design of the building . Well, the main thing that you see is the atrium. The reason thats positioned on the north side of the building is we can physically accept light. So its nice to see that light wash down into the chamber, and as you move lower and lower in the building, youre going further and further back in time. There actually is light. Thats one of the unique sequences through the building is this ascension into the light and the thematic and story of the museum follows much of that. Tell us about the symbolism that we see here in these galleries and behind the narratives that are told. Well, the narratives well have to give credit to Ralph Appelbaum and associates. They were the exhibit designers. Our job was for the basebuilding package within the history gallery which describes the volumes. Some of the more interesting pieces that you see, like the pullman train car, thats a segregated rail car, we had to help go down there and catalog it to understand how to put simple things in it like sprinklers, electricity, mechanical systems within it so there are certain pieces that had to go into the building before the roof was on. That was very critical to the completion of the project. And when you figure 60 is below grade, it was a real race getting it up to ground level so we can move upwards. What do you hope visitors are going to take away from these history galleries . You know, we get this question a lot, and often in comparison to the 9 11 museum which our firm designed in new york city, and i think the thing that this museum benefits from is the advantage of time. 9 11 museum is a story thats been told over 15 years, where we have centuries to discuss here. And i think its a very good barometer for how were doing as a society. Theres a snapshot of that history behind you. Tell us a little bit about the choice for this design element as visitors first enter the history galleries. I think what youre seeing here is a synopsis top to bottom. So this is kind of an introduction to what you will see walking through the history galleries. The Smithsonian National museum of africanAmerican History and culture opened its doors to the public for the first time in september. Next on American History tv, the opening ceremony. Speakers included president obama, former president george w. Bush, and Founding Museum director lonnie bunch. And patti labelle, Stevie Wonder and denice graves performed. This is about two hours