The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has selected architect Norman Foster to design a courtyard enclosure for the Patent Office Building that houses both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery

Art in America, June-July, 2004 by Stephanie Cash, David Ebony

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has selected architect Norman Foster to design a courtyard enclosure for the Patent Office Building that houses both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Foster, whose courtyard canopy for the British Museum in London opened in 2000, will create a 28,000-square-foot glass-enclosed atrium for the Smithsonian.

The $30-million project will provide a year-round venue for concerts and other events and will be one of the largest indoor public spaces in Washington. Scheduled for completion in 2006, the courtyard will debut concurrently with the reopening of the two museums, which are in the midst of a $166-million renovation project begun in 2001.