Rendering courtesy Design Distill for Reed Hilderbrand/Trahan Architects
Landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand and Trahan Architects have announced that the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts has approved a new concept design for the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, D.C.
The design recognizes the extensive collection of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, which includes some of the finest trees and viewing stones from across the globe. Located within the U.S. National Arboretum’s core, the museum is conceived as an immersive and cohesive garden experience, intended to evoke awe and wonder while also drawing connections to the larger arboretum landscape.
Funded through a gift to the National Bonsai Foundation (NBF), which provides financial support to the museum, this concept design organizes the museum’s program around a central court which orients the visitor to a network of paths that lead to the four exhibitions, expanded classroom, and administrative services. The exhibitions, conceived as gardens rather than buildings, blur their boundaries with the larger, surrounding garden to offer continuing revelation of surprise and discovery.
The design of the Bonsai and Penjing Museum establishes a pervasive grove of understory trees as the principal image and identity of the museum. Mixed species surround and frame the various exhibitions and the central court. The architecture is restrained and practical, deferring to the power of the bonsai. Garden walls organize a meandering path through the display and make available multiple orientations for the bonsai—an elegant, neutral backdrop that allows generous air circulation to mitigate heat. Charred wood posts and trellises rise above the exhibitions to filter light and shape a sense of enclosure. Built of durable, simple materials, the pavilions read as a unified family of structures while framing subtle cultural differences of the bonsai and penjing within.
The museum is the first project within Reed Hilderbrand’s master plan update for the U.S. National Arboretum’s core, which the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts also approved during Summer 2020. The core landscape is a 44-ha (109-acre) site that includes the Ellipse Meadow. Reed Hilderbrand’s work also addresses the larger landscape of the U.S. National Arboretum, namely by identifying those landscape systems and character-defining features that descend from its history as a farm in the 19th century and earlier to decades of development as a renowned scientific research facility focused on agriculture after its founding in 1927. The update also evaluates sustainability, accessibility, and safety within the site while also seeking to reduce impervious surfaces across the National Arboretum.
“It is about deferring to the power of the Bonsai & Penjing. The architectural expression is subtle —composed of elemental components that respond to the unique environmental conditions of the site,” said Trey Trahan, FAIA, founding principal of Trahan Architects. “We wanted the visitor to embark upon a journey that created a sense of mystery, where the boundaries between the landscape and the architecture are blurred, inviting people to reflect upon these unique cultural artifacts within a lush garden setting.”
