Polished stone sculpture threatened by National Geographic expansion prompts reconsideration
A District of Columbia preservation panel told the National Geographic Society on Thursday to suspend its current campus redesign plan pending further review of the proposed removal of an acclaimed sculptural installation on the site.A controversial plan to demolish an existing stone sculpture located at the National Geographic headquarters complex in Washington, D.C. has hit a road block as the city's preservation board has asked the project team to reconsider their designs in an effort to save or repurpose the artwork. Rendering of the proposed campus entry lobby situated where the Marabar sculpture is currently installed. Image courtesy of Hickock & Cole.Architects Hickok & Cole and OLIN are behind the new proposal, which would require demolishing the 1980s-era "Marabar" sculpture created by artist Elyn Zimmerman. David Childs of SOM, the architect who commissioned the sculpture as part of an SOM-led expansion of the headquarters in 1984, has come out against the demolition, as have over a dozen other design, museum, and cultural heritage professionals and organizations, including The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which has led efforts to save the sculpture.
A District of Columbia preservation panel told the National Geographic Society on Thursday to suspend its current campus redesign plan pending further review of the proposed removal of an acclaimed sculptural installation on the site.
A controversial plan to demolish an existing stone sculpture located at the National Geographic headquarters complex in Washington, D.C. has hit a road block as the city's preservation board has asked the project team to reconsider their designs in an effort to save or repurpose the artwork.
Architects Hickok & Cole and OLIN are behind the new proposal, which would require demolishing the 1980s-era "Marabar" sculpture created by artist Elyn Zimmerman. David Childs of SOM, the architect who commissioned the sculpture as part of an SOM-led expansion of the headquarters in 1984, has come out against the demolition, as have over a dozen other design, museum, and cultural heritage professionals and organizations, including The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which has led efforts to save the sculpture.
