Location: DC

District of Columbia

Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial

An aerial rendering of the circular memorial design, featuring a curved walkway and integrated landscaping.

The Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial is an oasis rising out of the fabric of the National Mall. Nestled adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, two of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital, the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial is comparatively modest in size, but extraordinarily […]

Folger Shakespeare Library

Two people walk past a vibrant garden bed. A low stone wall in the foreground is inscribed with a poem about "humble hedges" and "the cosmos."

The Folger Shakespeare Library renovation project, in collaboration with KieranTimberlake, expands public space, improves accessibility, and enhances the experience for all visitors. OLIN worked closely with the museum on the design, which replaces a surface parking lot and monoculture lawn plantings with a series of at-grade and sunken outdoor spaces, including two welcoming east- and […]

National Geographic Museum of Exploration

An elevated, wide-angle rendering of the National Geographic Museum of Exploration entrance, featuring a modern glass pavilion, a pedestrian plaza with integrated planters, and a multi-level building with lush green terrace roofs.

Phase two of National Geographic’s headquarters renovation brings the Museum of Exploration to DC. National Geographic enlisted Hickok Cole, OLIN, and the team to reimagine the central plaza, expand the interior experience and design a new pavilion that transforms the existing quiet entry into a dynamic destination in Washington DC.  The pavilion is a showcase […]

Washington Monument

High-altitude aerial view of the Washington Monument and the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The design of the revitalized Washington Monument grounds is bold and clear; a minimalist solution that turned a project originally funded to prevent terrorism into a handsome civic amenity. It demonstrates that the union of sound security and artful design is not only possible, but can also be functional and graceful. The Washington Monument’s 72-acre […]

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

A wide-angle view of the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden on a sunny day, featuring green lawns, a gravel path, and various sculptures including a stack of blue chairs and a black geometric form.

The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is a welcome oasis in the vast scale and bustling environment of the adjacent National Mall. It is a lush retreat created by plantings, pathways, and furnishings designed to highlight some of the finest examples of 20th century sculpture in the nation’s capital. OLIN’s concept for the garden […]

Washington Canal Park

A nighttime scene of an outdoor movie screening in a park. Audience members sit in lawn chairs and a circular metal sculpture facing a large inflatable screen, against a backdrop of lit office buildings.

Washington Canal Park is a model of sustainability, a social gathering place, an economic trigger and one of the first parks certified under the Sustainable Sites Initiative. This three-block-long park is sited along the historic former Washington Canal system, on a three-acre site which had previously served as a parking lot for school buses. Inspired […]

11th Street Bridge Park

Aerial view of a proposed multi-level pedestrian park bridge spanning a wide river next to an existing highway bridge in an urban setting.

OMA+OLIN’s winning design for the 11th Street Bridge Park Competition connects two historically disparate sides of the Anacostia River with a series of rooms and active zones, including two sloped ramps that elevate visitors to maximized look-out points to landmarks in either direction. Each ramp terminates in a waterfall that visually reconnects the ramps to […]