Photos: Designers, architects compete to makeover National Mall

Posted Apr 09, 2012

By ctansey

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lakeside gardens, dining rooms hovering over water, grassy new amphitheaters and underground pavilions at the foot of the Washington Monument have emerged as finalists in a design competition to overhaul neglected sites on the National Mall.

Designers and architects are dreaming big for a chance to improve America’s “front yard.” One vision calls for a garden “museum without walls” in a place called Constitution Gardens. Another would “peel up” the landscape of the Washington Monument to reveal a large structure below ground with a theater and visitor amenities. Read full story

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In this photo taken Thursday, April 5, 2012, Caroline Cunningham, President of the Trust for the National Mall, left, and Donald Stastny, an architect advising the trust, look at two of several proposed designs for overused and neglected areas of the National Mall in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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This undated artist's rendering provided by Diller Scofidio Renfro & Hood Design, shows a proposed design for Union Square, one of three overused and neglected areas of the National Mall in Washington, which architects and designers have been competing for the chance to renew. (AP Photo/Diller Scofidio Renfro & Hood Design)
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This undated artist's rendering provided by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architect & Paul Murdoch Architects, shows a proposed design for Constitution Gardens, one of three overused and neglected areas of the National Mall in Washington, which architects and designers have been competing for the chance to renew. (AP Photo/Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architect & Paul Murdoch Architects)
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In a photo taken April 5, 2012, Donald Stastny, an architect advising the Trust for the National Mall, is surrounded by boards depicting proposed designs for the National Mall during an interview in Washington. The Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit group seeking to raise money and support to restore parts of the National Mall, is unveiling final design concepts for three parts of ŇAmericaŐs front yard,Ó areas overused and neglected for years near the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument and Constitution Gardens, which competing architects and designers seek to renew. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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This undated artist's rendering provided by Diller Scofidio Renfro & Hood Design shows a proposed design for the National Washington Monument grounds at Sylvan Theater, one of three overused and neglected areas of the National Mall in Washington, which architects and designers have been competing for the chance to renew. (AP Photo/Diller Scofidio Renfro & Hood Design) NO SALES