The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., has unveiled an extensive renovation aimed at revitalizing its outdoor space and increasing accessibility and visitor engagement. Years in the making, the redesign restores elements originally planned by architect Gordon Bunshaft while introducing new features designed to animate the sculpture garden and enhance its visibility from the National Mall.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only about 20 percent of Hirshhorn visitors ventured into the sculpture garden. The renovation reopens a 60-foot-wide entrance that was part of Bunshaft’s initial vision, improves drainage systems, and incorporates two ramps to meet accessibility standards. A reflecting pool designed by Bunshaft has been preserved, and a new adjacent U-shaped pool has been added. This additional water feature can be drained to serve as a flexible performance space with seating.

Sculpture curator Anne Reeve emphasized the goal of making the garden “very active,” transforming it into a dynamic site for artists to interact with existing works and present their own performances. A rotating exhibition area on the garden’s west lawn will debut with three sculptures by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. Known for his depictions of big-eyed children and animals, Nara’s installation, titled “Sentinels of Stillness,” features three smiling figures enlarged to 13 feet and fabricated in aluminum. Nara originally created these figures in clay as a response to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and nuclear disaster that impacted his home region. Reeve described the sculptures as “incredibly charismatic,” noting their tactile origins in clay modeling.

The Nara exhibition is scheduled to remain on display through November 2027. On the opposite side of the garden, visitors can follow a chronological journey through the museum’s permanent collection, starting with Auguste Rodin’s monumental work “The Burghers of Calais.” This section includes sculptures by major 20th-century artists such as Henry Moore, Joan Miró, Barbara Hepworth, and Yoko Ono’s “Wish Tree for Washington, DC,” a Japanese dogwood tree chosen for its branching structure that invites visitors to hang written wishes.

The garden will also feature new rotating works, including “Tonatiuh,” a volcanic rock sundial by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes; “Shelter,” a 14-foot bronze sculpture of a parent and child by American artist Kaws; and “Wish You Were Here,” a piece by Thai artist Chatchai Puipia depicting disembodied, crossed legs as if lying daydreaming in the garden.

Departing from the Hirshhorn’s hallmark concrete brutalist aesthetic, the renovation introduces stacked-stone walls painstakingly crafted from hand-selected Pennsylvania quarried stone. This choice, overseen by architect and designer Jun Aoki as part of Sugimoto’s studio effort, has drawn some debate among preservationists. Curator Reeve described stone as a unifying motif of the project, symbolizing a connection across time and reflecting stone’s historical importance in the evolution of sculpture.

The updated garden is intended to serve as both an inviting public space and a platform for artists to engage directly with the physical environment and each other, broadening the museum’s role in contemporary sculpture discourse.