The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. has been planning to inflate a bubble from its central plaza for the past few years. And now it's been announced that the temporary pavilion will be called the Bloomberg Bubble, after a major benefactor.
Okay, technically the bubble is named after Bloomberg LP, which, in 2010, donated $1 million to the project, but let's face it—Mayor Bloomberg founded Bloomberg LP, which is the source of his great wealth. And it seems that the donation has, uh, ballooned in size from the $1 million, but there hasn't been confirmation by how much.
The building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft, who designed the gorgeous Lever House in NYC, and is a circular, fortress-like museum. As for the Bloomberg Pavilion, DCist explains, "Washingtonians started calling the project the 'Bubble' not long after it was first announced in late 2009. The Hirshhorn originally hoped to 'inflate' the structure, designed by the architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, later this year, but funding snags pushed the opening into 2013." Diller Scofidio + Renfro is known to NYers for its work on the High Line and the Lincoln Center update.
