Smithsonian, Hirshhorn Museum Cancel $15M 'Bubble' Project

                                                                                      The Smithsonian Institute has canceled its plan for t

he Seasonal Inflatable Structure project, which would have covered the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden with inflatable pavilion bubbling. The Smithsonian decided to scrap the project after funding fell short, which leaves Hirshhorn with the task of returning $7.8 million to those who contributed to the project, which includes at least $1 million from Bloomberg LP. $1.5 million had already been spent on planning and design, officials said. The Hirrshorn bubble would have been a seasonal venue that housed performance, arts and cultural programs. It was designed by New York-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. "Nobody had built something like this before," Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian's undersecretary for history, art and culture, said of the increasing costs of the project. "If this was kind of a conventional building ... I think it would have been more predictable." "Without the full support of the museum's board and the funding in place for the fabrication and a viable plan for the operation of the Bubble, we believe it is irresponsible to go forward," Kurin said in a statement. "Architects, artists and Smithsonian staff have praised the bold vision of a temporary bubble-shaped structure on the Mall, but after four years of planning and fundraising, there was not enough funding to construct the Bubble and, more importantly, to sustain programming for years to come.
 News source: www.designntrend.com

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