The Ideas Lab Public Feedback booklet captures more than 1,000 participants responses over four months to surveys on the Tidal Basin Ideas Lab website. Presented through personal accounts and infographics, the booklet provides a snapshot of public reaction to the designs and offers commentary on the visitor experience. Surveys remain open and will be continuously collected. If you haven’t done so already, complete the surveys here.

The Ideas Lab Key Themes booklet evaluates four common areas of focus that emerged from the Ideas Lab proposals. They are presented here to inspire discussion with the National Park Service, stakeholders, and the public to support a long-term vision that addresses the myriad challenges to the Tidal Basin.

Each year thousands of visitors walk along the shore of Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin to enjoy the blossoming cherry trees and visit monuments to leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King, Jr. Its beauty is matched by the complexity of the Tidal Basin’s many meanings by visitors from around the world.

But this iconic memorial landscape is under threat. Rising sea levels compromise the basin's historic resources and visitors’ experiences, creating hazardous flooding on the sidewalks and compromising the roots of our beloved cherry trees. To protect this cultural landscape, the National Trust, together with Trust for the National Mall and the National Park Service, asked five prestigious landscape architecture firms to reimagine the Tidal Basin, and their innovative proposals have sparked new thinking about what this landscape can become.

If you have ever visited this local National Treasure, the National Trust would like feedback about your experience. Share your thoughts with a short survey; the responses will help inform decisions about the future of the Tidal Basin's design.

This week, the Tidal Basin Ideas Lab—a partnership between the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Trust for the National Mall, and the National Park Service, alongside civic partner Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—unveiled proposals from five leading landscape architecture firms that reimagine the future of Washington D.C.’s iconic Tidal Basin and National Mall. Visit the online exhibition to learn more about the Tidal Basin's histories and challenges, as well as to share feedback on the ideas for its evolution.

The National Mall Tidal Basin Ideas Lab—a collaborative forum to address major challenges facing the Tidal Basin—has taken on new meaning amid the pandemic. In this dynamic Q&A introduced by National Trust President Paul Edmondson, principals from the five participating landscape architecture firms discuss their bold and provocative approaches to preserving, enhancing, and revitalizing this iconic National Treasure.