Sylvan Theater at The Washington Monument Grounds

Washington, D.C. / USA

Description
The National Mall is our nation’s center stage and the site of some of the most important acts of communication and communion in our country. At the heart of the Mall and visible for miles, the Washington Monument is the literal and philosophical compass for our nation – a timeless symbol of the spirit upon which our nation was founded. Extending from this central landmark, the rejuvenated Sylvan Theater, the Sylvan Grove, embodies the surprise and magic of the Shakespearean forest that inspired the name of the original theater nearly a century ago.

The Sylvan Grove is oriented around a sequence of settings that together define a new performance landscape. A new wooded canopy and terraced lawn define the amphitheater, where a wide range of performances and events are seen against the stunning backdrop of the Washington Monument. This ascending landform reorients the theater to views of the mall, conceals traffic and lines of tour buses, and creates new pedestrian connections to the Tidal Basin. The uppermost viewing terrace, a tree lined “balcony”, continues across the roadways to descend to the water’s edge, linking the Tidal Basin and the Mall, two extraordinary but disconnected landscapes.

The Sylvan Pavilion – visible from the Mall, the Metro, and 15th Street – is an extension of the Sylvan Grove, hosts impromptu performances, and offers an all-weather café and multi-use destination for visitors to the mall. The pavilion bends along a pathway south to Independence Avenue, where a new exhibition atrium frames an arrival plaza and drop-off for tour buses. Inspired by the filtering light of the shaded forest, the roof forms a cultural canopy of dappled light that illuminates the activities in the pavilion. The Sylvan pavilion offers panoramic views of the mall and performances. The café terraces and theater stage provide a shaded and generous setting for café tables, gatherings, and events.
The new amphitheater topography supports performances of all scales. The slender amphitheater adjacent to the café supports intimate and spontaneous events. The new Sylvan Grove hosts larger performances and, combined with the slopes of the mall, provides an open arena for the largest events.

The design anticipates a future phase that expands the definition of a high “performance” landscape, connecting the mall to the Tidal Basin, improving traffic flows by consolidating roadways, and creating space for a new working landscape. A rejuvenation of its former identity and a new destination for the community, the edible landscape and new tree nursery supplies the ever-growing demand for replacement trees on the mall.

The Sylvan Grove reinvigorates the Monument Grounds with new landscapes of performance, clarifies the visual connections between the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial, provides new physical connections between the cultural landscape of the Mall and the Tidal Basin, and most importantly, creates a transformed setting for our nation’s most visible center stage.