Hirshhorn Fountain

The Hirshhorn Museum is a big donut of a museum, hovering on concrete legs over a concrete plaza . It is dramatic but not the most welcoming spot along the National Mall. The fountain helps. People, especially children, help more. Their laughs bounce off the curved walls as they run round the edge of the fountain. The children give me a reason to stop. I  look at how everything is curved---the shadows, the legs supporting the building,, rippling lines of light reflected from the fountain onto the curved walls above. People help make a modernistic space feel welcoming. Children make it fun.