National Portrait Gallery - Kogod Courtyard

The Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard is a part of the building housing the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, formerly the Patent Office Building where Walt Whitman once worked as a clerk. The light–filled Kogod Courtyard is a major gathering place in Washington's Chinatown neighborhood, unusual for its distance from the National Mall as a Smithsonian Institution building. It is a welcoming space downtown, as well as a public venue for the museums' performances, lectures and special events. The roof is a wavy glass–and–steel structure that appears to float over the courtyard, letting in natural light but protecting visitors from the elements. The double–glazed glass panels are set in a grid completely supported by eight aluminum–clad columns located around the perimeter of the courtyard so that the weight of the roof does not affect the National Historic Landmark building. The courtyard, which can be viewed from the museums' galleries, accommodates an array of activities, including art–making programs, children's activities, concerts and performances, and is a favored lunching place for both tourists and the many workers in the neighboring Gallery Place office buildings. Captured with a Sony a6000 camera and Sony SEL1018 lens. Audio recorded with a Sony PCM-M10.