The Tidal Basin frames an evolving conversation between the District of Columbia and the Potomac River. Once an engineering work, it later became a beautiful urban park and today is a place of memorials. Its itineraries bring visitors to the water’s edge, among cherry trees, and through the memorials to King, Roosevelt, Jefferson, and others. Unlike the monumental singularity of the National Mall, the Tidal Basin has always been more complex, more ephemeral, and more of a work in progress.
Can the Tidal Basin’s legacy of integrating diverse and overlapping voices and influences now guide its continued adaptation to future environmental and cultural conditions in America?
