The new museum is located on the National Mall, a classic esplanade where the main museums and monuments of the United States are concentrated. The context determined the appearance of all non-classical structures located there (although traditionalist ones still prevail): these are "hermetic", restrained buildings, and Ajaye's work was no exception. Its rectangular block, clad in a three-tiered "crown", is a reference to West African Yoruba culture.
Outside, the glazed façade is covered with an ornamental metal grille, which should resemble the traditional wrought iron decorations of mansions in the South of the United States, which were made by African American slaves. The density of the grating can be adjusted according to the season, shielding rooms from the sun or flooding them with sunlight: this is one of the eco-components of the project, which allows it to qualify for the LEED Gold Resource Efficiency Certificate. The main entrance to the museum is decorated with a "porch" - a shaded transition zone between the street and the interior: also an allusion to the architectural detail typical for Africa and the buildings of the African diaspora in the southern states and the Caribbean.
This variety of motifs is driven by a team of authors: Ghanaian-born "world citizen" Ajaye, who has researched African architecture in all its diversity in recent years, Freelon Group and Davis Brody Bond are leading American designers of African American museums, archives and memorials. Together they formed the Freelon Adjaye Bond / SmithGroup (FAB) team. The project budget was $ 540 million.
The museum also takes into account its specific, highly visible location: on the edge of the vast open space surrounding the obelisk of the George Washington Memorial. Therefore, a significant part of the building is buried underground (outside - five floors), and the angle of inclination of the tiers of the "crown" is the same 17 degrees as that of the "pyramidion" at the top of the obelisk.
