Selldorf Architects has been commissioned to upgrade the main galleries and public spaces at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC.

The practice caused controversy with its recently-approved proposals for Venturi Scott Brown & Associates’ Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery in London. It will deliver a “comprehensive reinstallation” of the Washington gallery’s exhibition and interpretation spaces, the Smithsonian said.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum – known as SAAM – houses one of the world’s largest and most inclusive collections of American art, including works by John Singleton Copley, Winslow Homer, and Georgia O’Keeffe. The museum is based in Washington DC’s Greek revival-style Old Patent Office Building, which it shares with the US National Portrait Gallery.

…