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@avinaim - UnsplashRobert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard
📍 United States
The Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard is the shared central courtyard of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, housed in the historic U.S. Patent Office Building in Washington’s Penn Quarter. In 2007, an undulating glass-and-steel canopy designed by Foster + Partners transformed the formerly open courtyard into a covered public gathering space. Its flowing roof contrasts with the formal stone façades and repeating window bays of the 19th-century building, bringing contemporary engineering into a monumental historic setting. Trees and shallow water features soften the enclosure, while reflections echo the canopy’s geometric lattice. Looking upward reveals the courtyard’s most recognizable composition: curved glass overhead, framed by the straight lines of the surrounding architecture.
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