Hirshhorn Museum - Washington, D.C.
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Hikenutty
N 38° 53.294 W 077° 01.398
18S E 324515 N 4306319
The Hirshhorn, a Smithsonian Museum, was designed in 1974 by Gordon Bunshaft of the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill firm. Its shape is a large open cylinder, resting on massive arching piers and it houses a wonderful modern art collection.
Waymark Code: WM44Y4
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 07/07/2008
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member geobwong2k
Views: 47

The following information regarding the Hirshhorn Museum is from author Carol Herselle Krinsky's book, "Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill":
The Hirshhorn Museum rises three stories on four massive, curving, concrete piers containing staircases, elevators, and mechanical services. Bunshaft is not sure that laymen appreciate the drama of piers situated so far apart, but as they are conspicuous in preconstruction renderings of the museum, it is clear that the piers were important to him. For structural reasons, Weidlinger advised that they be made heavier than initially planned, and as a result they limit circulation space at the entrance....Below the entrance floor is a lower level used for changing shows, and auditorium, shops, and rest rooms. The lower level and second and third stories are the principal exhibition spaces; the fourth floor accommodates staff offices and a study and storage center.

...The Hirshorn Museum, 82 feet 4 inches high and with a maximum diameter of 231 feet 7 inches, occupies only part of its paved enclosure, which is 300 x 400 feet in size; other Govenment-owned musuems in Washington tend to be 800 or 900 feet long. It is therefore less grandiose than it seemed before the massive Air and Space Museum on the next block east was completed.

...Inflation also forced Bunshaft to eliminate a restaurant and some storage spaces, part of a 40,000-square-foot shrinkage of the lower level. Gravel replaces flagstone in front of the building, and the budget for the sculpture garden was seriously reduced. Bunshaft helped persuade Hirshhorn to contribute an extra million dollars to help make up for unexpected costs and to save the fountain in the courtyard.

The following information about the museum's founding donor, Joseph H. Hirshhorn, is from Wikipedia.org:

The Hirshhorn Museum's founding donor, Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981), immigrated to New York from Latvia when he was 4 years old. His widowed mother settled with her 13 children (Joseph was the twelfth) in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

In time, Hirshhorn would become a financier, philanthropist, and well-known collector of modern art whose gift to the nation of 6,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed-media pieces established his namesake museum on the National Mall.

City, State or City, Country: Washington, D.C.

Year Built: 1974

Architect: Gordon Bunshaft, SOM

Webpage from GreatBuildings.com or other approved listing: [Web Link]

Other website with more information about building: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Submit a photo you have taken of the building or an interesting detail of the building. (No GPS photos wanted) If you have additional information about the building please add it to your visit log.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Great Buildings of the World
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point