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A serious and sustained effort to make D.C. home to one of the most progressive architectural works in the nation ended in failure this year. The Smithsonian Institution simply couldn’t get on board with Richard Koshalek’s vision for putting the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the museum he served as director, under the dome. Lacking institutional support and with only part of the Hirshhorn’s board behind him, Koshalek resigned as plans for a temporary inflatable pavilion sputtered. Washingtonians will never see the so-called Bubble inflate in spring and fall, a flag that would have signaled—well, the real purpose of the Bubble was a subject of debate. But what’s certain is that the Smithsonian passed on an opportunity to install a curious addition by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the design firm responsible for New York’s celebrated High Line. The Hirshhorn enters into its 40th year at square one—without a director and without wild visions like the Bubble or Doug Aitken’s “Song 1” to chase. But a new look may nevertheless be in the offing: Uncharacteristically, the Smithsonian hired Bjarke Ingels Group, a youthful and novel architecture firm, to create a new master plan that will almost certainly touch up the landscape around the Hirshhorn’s concrete donut.