DC STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY FORM PROPERTY INFORMATION Property Name(s): Smithsonian Quadrangle (95% Draft DOE) Street Address(es): 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20560 Square(s) and Lot(s): Reservation 3A Property Owner(s): Smithsonian Institution The property is being evaluated for potential historical significance as: An individual building or structure. A contributing element of a historic district:1 A possible expansion of a historic district: Specify A previously unevaluated historic district to be known as: Specify An archaeological resource with site number(s): Specify An object (e.g. statue, stone marker etc.): Specify A new multiple property/thematic study regarding: Specify Association with a multiple property/thematic study: Specify Other: Specify See continuation sheets for current photographs of the property, map, description, rationale for the 2 proposed determination of eligibility, images, drawings, and other pertinent information. ________________________________________________________________________________ PREPARER’S DETERMINATION Eligibility Recommended Eligibility Not Recommended Applicable National Register Criteria: Applicable Considerations: A B C D A B C D E F G Prepared By: Daria Gasparini, Principal, Robinson & Associates Date: October 7, 2016 DC SHPO REVIEW AND COMMENTS Concurs with Recommendation Does Not Concur with Recommendation David Maloney Date: District of Columbia State Historic Preservation Officer Reviewed by: DC Government Project/Permit Project Log Number: 1 The Smithsonian Quadrangle is a contributing element of the National Mall Historic District. See Robinson & Associates, Inc., National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, “National Mall Historic District,” August, 31, 2016, prepared for the National Park Service. Although the purpose of this individual Determination of Eligibility for the Smithsonian Quadrangle is not to elaborate extensively on its contributing status to the historic district, a brief explanatory statement in the Previous Evaluations section is provided. 2 All photographs are by Robinson & Associates (June 2016) unless otherwise indicated. DC State Historic Preservation Office Determination of Eligibility Form for the Smithsonian Quadrangle Figure 1: Aerial view of the Enid A. Haupt Garden and the entrance pavilions to the National Museum of African Art (at left in background) and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (at right in background), Smithsonian Quadrangle. (Photo courtesy Martin Stupich.) Figure 2: View looking northwest from Independence Avenue of the entrance pavilions to the National Museum of African Art (at right in foreground) and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (at left in background), Smithsonian Quadrangle. 2 DC State Historic Preservation Office Determination of Eligibility Form for the Smithsonian Quadrangle Figure 3: View looking north across the central parterre of the Enid A. Haupt Garden, Smithsonian Quadrangle. Figure 4: Map of the Mall with the location of the Smithsonian Quadrangle identified with an orange star. [USGS Topographic Map, 2014] 3 DC State Historic Preservation Office Determination of Eligibility Form for the Smithsonian Quadrangle Figure 5: Site plan showing the location and arrangement of the Enid A. Haupt Garden and the aboveground pavilions of the Smithsonian Quadrangle. [Image courtesy Surfacedesign] INTRODUCTION The Smithsonian Quadrangle is located in Washington, D.C., on a 4.2-acre site within the National Mall bounded by the Freer Gallery of Art (Freer Sackler Gallery) on the west, the Smithsonian Institution Building (the Castle) on the north, the Arts and Industries Building on the east, and Independence Avenue on the south. (See Figure 5.) The Quadrangle comprises a multilevel subterranean structure with three aboveground entrance pavilions set within a rooftop garden dedicated as the Enid A. Haupt Garden. The building functions as a combined museum, office, education, and support complex that contains the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, and the National Museum of African Art. The Smithsonian Quadrangle (1983-87) was designed by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott (Jean Paul Carlhian, Design Principal) in the Postmodern style following a concept by Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura. The landscape architect of record was Sasaki Associates. PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY The purpose of this Determination of Eligibility is to provide a preliminary evaluation of the Smithsonian Quadrangle for its potential significance as an individual building under the National Register of Historic Places Criteria for Evaluation in satisfaction of the requirements of the D.C. Historic Preservation Office. A Determination of Eligibility is an initial consideration of the National Register eligibility of a resource used to fulfill a state or federal agency’s obligations under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. It provides objective, accurate, and meaningful documentation of a historic resource to assist in reaching a consensus determination between an agency and a State Historic Preservation Office and can be followed by further evaluations. For the purposes of this Determination of Eligibility, the Smithsonian Quadrangle is classified as a building.3 This classification refers to the historically and functionally related unit comprised of the 4.2­ 3 This is consistent with the National Register nomination for the National Mall Historic District, which classifies the Smithsonian Quadrangle as a contributing building for its significance under Criterion A and Criteria Consideration G in the area of education. See Robinson & Associates, Inc., National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, “National Mall Historic District,” August 31, 2016, prepared for the National Park Service. 4 DC State Historic Preservation Office Determination of Eligibility Form for the Smithsonian Quadrangle acre Quadrangle site, which encompasses the Haupt Garden, the entrance pavilions to the Sackler Gallery, the National Museum of African Art, and the Ripley Center, and the Quadrangle’s subterranean structure. This Determination of Eligibility evaluates the Quadrangle under each of the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. These include Criterion A, properties associated with significant events; Criterion B, properties associated with significant persons; Criterion C, properties that embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, properties that represent the work of a master, or properties that possess high artistic value; and Criterion D, properties that yield information important to prehistory or history. In addition, due to the fact that it was completed twenty-nine years ago, in 1987, this Determination of Eligibility evaluates the Quadrangle under National Register Criterion Consideration G, for properties less than fifty years old. The content of this Determination of Eligibility follows the guidelines established by D.C. Historic Preservation Office. It includes a description of the resource focusing on its principal public spaces, a concise narrative describing the historic context in which the building and its associated landscape were designed and developed, and a description of key changes to the building and grounds over time. The evaluation of significance section includes a summary of the Quadrangle’s existing National Register status as a contributing building of the National Mall Historic District and an assessment of its potential significance as an individual building at the local and national levels. The evaluations follow the U.S. Department of the Interior guidelines for applying the National Register Criteria for Evaluation and Criteria Considerations. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Smithsonian Quadrangle is a Postmodern style building designed by architect Jean Paul Carlhian of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott and landscape architects Sasaki Associates following a design concept developed by architect Junzo Yoshimura. It was constructed between 1983 and 1987 on a site south of the Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall. A preliminary evaluation of the Smithsonian Quadrangle for its potential significance as an individual building under the National Register of Historic Places Criteria for Evaluation has determined that the building does not now qualify as exceptionally significant as required under National Register Criteria Consideration G for resources less than fifty years of age. As such, this Determination of Eligibility recommends that the building does not at this time meet the eligibility requirement for listing on the National Register. Consideration should be given to reviewing the potential significance of the resource when adequate local or national historic contexts are available or when additional time has passed. The Quadrangle is, however, a contributing resource of the National Mall Historic District for its significance under Criterion A (properties associated with significant events) and Criteria Consideration G as part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of cultural and educational buildings on the National Mall. 5 DC State Historic Preservation Office Determination of Eligibility Form for the Smithsonian Quadrangle DESCRIPTION The Smithsonian Quadrangle is comprised of three underground levels, three aboveground pavilions, and a designed landscape. Ninety-six percent of the Quadrangle is located underground; the total size of