SPECIAL NOTICE VERBIAGE_Zen Assoc FINAL.pdf

SPECIAL NOTICE OF INTENT

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR SOLE SOURCE AWARD OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND

ISHIZUMI STONE WALL FABRICATION SERVICES

Authority

The Smithsonian Institution intends to designate Zen Associates, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts and

Washington, DC, as a specialty subcontractor to provide 1) preconstruction services including research, staging, and constructability analysis, and 2) construction phase services including stone selection, phasing, skilled labor and coordination required to fabricate traditional Japanese stone walls (Ishigaki) using traditional stone piling techniques (Anoushuzumi and ishizumi) on a sole source basis for its

Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Revitalization project. This justification is issued in accordance with the authority provided in 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(3) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source.

This requirement includes but is not limited to expertise as to relevant Important Cultural Properties recognized by the Japanese government, management of complex construction elements, bilingual

Japanese language fluency, and construction of comparable structures.

Justification and approval are as follows.

Folding Screen section showing ishizumi castle wall construction

Nagoya City Museum

Collection

Cited in Bunkacho Manual of Stone Wall Repairs, January 15, 2015, p. 42

F20R010032

Hirschhorn Sculpture Garden Revit Traditional Stone Wall Construction Services Notice

Project Background

The HMSG Sculpture Garden Revitalization project is the result of a collaboration between the

Smithsonian and Hiroshi Sugimoto, an artist, photographer and architect renowned for art and architecture, including but not limited to performing arts production, photography, museum re-design, and public exhibitions of art in the Guggenheim, the Tate, and the Museum of Contemporary Art In

Tokyo.

In 2018, the Smithsonian contracted with Mr. Sugimoto’s DoorFour, LLC doing business as Sugimoto

Studio, to deliver preliminary and final concept designs for a redesign of its Sculpture Garden. Gordon

Bunshaft’s final design for the garden was strongly influenced by classical Japanese karesansui or dry landscape tradition of which Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto is the best-known example. Mr. Sugimoto’s concept for the renovated garden draws from this influence and pairs pre-modern, ‘handcrafted’ finishes with standardized, industrial finishes that have become idiomatic to modern style architecture from its early to later movements.

Mr. Sugimoto’s concept for the Sculpture garden includes but is not limited to ishizumi walls (also called

“boulder walls”) comprising 565 linear feet of the garden wall, which is 74,000 sf overall. For these walls, Mr. Sugimoto has elected to use an early style of ishizumi that features large, unhewn stones

(“accent stones” or “boulders”) set into multiple layers of smaller, ashlar ballast stones (“landscape stones”) and gravel beds. This type of wall construction was common in civic architecture during Japan’s late Edo period to the present day and is known for its high degree of structural integrity, withstanding generations of use and multiple seismic events1. Ishizumi stone wall construction techniques require a preliminary assessment of extremely large, naturally weathered accent stones and staging of same. The monumental accent stones are then dry stacked with the ballast according to each stone’s specific dimensions.

Ishizumi walls are Important Cultural Properties designated by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs

(“Bunkacho”)—designated even in cases of castle complex ruins where the walls alone are extant. 2 In

2009, Bunkacho identified a shortage of skilled artisans qualified to perform repairs, and designated ishigaki as protected cultural properties.3 Educational materials and programs published in 2015 to address the shortage are available exclusively in the Japanese language. Please see images in Exhibit A for excerpts of Bunkacho’s Ishigaki Seibi no Tebiki or Manual of Stone Wall Repairs. 4

The earliest of these traditional techniques are thought to have been developed by the Anou-shu, a masonry artists’ guild in the Mt. Hiei region of Shiga prefecture. Anou-shu construction techniques include proprietary information that has been protected and passed down through 15 generations of working masons. Awata Construction, founded in 1964 by 14th generation mason Junji Awata, one of a handful of recognized dynastic successors of traditional stone wall building methods in Japan. Please see

Exhibit A, Image 5 for a structural diagram of Anou-shu style wall construction.

1 See Exhibit A, Image 1 from Bunkacho Manual of Stone Wall Repairs, January 15, 2015, p. 42 2 CHUNICHI SHIMBUN, Japan’s Ancient Castle Walls Drawing Tourists But Not Enough Masons to Keep Them Up, Japan Times, published November 26, 2019; https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/11/26/national/japans-ancient-castle-walls-drawing-tourists-not-enough-masons-keep/#.Xl5x6qhKiUk retrieved March 3, 2020.

3 Ibid 4 See Exhibit A, Image 1 from Bunkacho Manual For Stone Wall Repairs, January 15, 2015, p. 35-41

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Hirschhorn Sculpture Garden Revit Traditional Stone Wall Construction Services Notice https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/11/26/national/japans-ancient-castle-walls-drawing-tourists-not-enough-masons-keep/#.Xl5x6qhKiUk https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/11/26/national/japans-ancient-castle-walls-drawing-tourists-not-enough-masons-keep/#.Xl5x6qhKiUk

Individual stone selection and hand processing is an integral part of the Anou-shu process. In the words of the proprietors of Awata Construction:

To hear the voice of the stone and to be guided by stone is our job. We go to the stone pile and, for a day or two, walk around and around the stones, committing to memory each stone's personality. Then, drawing a mental image, we start placing the stones in our head. So, by the time the real stone stacking starts, there is already a complete blueprint in our minds. It will be more accurate to say that we converse and listen to the stone, rather than just telling them apart. As you work with the stone for a long period of time, it starts to teach you. The Anou-shu skills were all handed down verbally, but, that is not because it is a mystery, but rather because it cannot be expressed in letters.5

In sum, landscaping architecture and fabrication services requirements for this project entails not only familiarity with traditional Japanese landscaping and construction methods, but also capability to research and understand technical materials written in the Japanese language. Successful completion of this requirement also includes expertise as to relevant Important Cultural Properties recognized by the

Japanese government, fluency in Japanese, and recognized skill in construction of comparable structures.

Zen Associates’ capabilities include at least 25 years of expertise building traditional Japanese stone landscape features, familiarity with traditional building practices from the late Muromachi to early Edo period, experience working with Important Cultural Properties designated by Bunkacho, construction of comparable elements, management of complex construction projects, and bilingual or native fluency in the Japanese language.

After several months of market research, it is the Smithsonian’s intention to name Zen Associates, Inc.

as the firm that will work under supervision of Sugimoto’s project team experts to cut stone and fabricate the walls using Anoushuzumi stone piling techniques.

Responsibility to perform. Zen Associates, Inc. is the only responsible firm to fabricate authentic, Japanese stone wall elements in the Hirshhorn Garden due to its unique capabilities which are described above.

Anticipated cost will be fair and reasonable.

The Smithsonian has determined the cost of stone wall fabrication will be fair and reasonable.

Conclusion

This Notice of Intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. Any interested party that believes they can fulfill this requirement should submit a capability statement to be reviewed. All submissions will be considered, however there is no guarantee that submissions in response to this notice will in any way alter the Government's acquisition strategy.

Responses to this notice shall be submitted NLT 5 pm Eastern Standard Time on March 27, 2020 to:

5 Awata Construction, Inc. website. http://www.anoushu.jp/en/e_index.html accessed March 6, 2020.

Eve Errickson, Supervisory Attorney Advisor, Erricksone@si.edu

Telephone responses will not be accepted.

Contracting Office Address:

600 Maryland Avenue SW

Suite 5001

Washington, DC 20024

Attn: Eve Errickson

Place of Performance:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Independence Avenue & Seventh Street SW

Washington, DC 20560

Primary Point of Contact:

Eve Errickson, Supervisory Attorney-Advisor

Erricksone@si.edu mailto:Erricksone@si.edu

Exhibit A

Image 1, Folding Screen section showing castle wall construction, Nagoya City Museum Collection

Image 2, 30-37: Traditional Ishigaki hand tools showing regional and period differences from the collection of the Stone Folk Museum in Kagawa Prefecture, Takamatsu City.

Image 3, Cross section illustration of a stone wall at the Takematsu Castle Historic Landmark Site, showing multi level construction method. Kagawa Prefecture, Takamatsu City.

Image 4, photo of an excavated cross section of ishigaki wall at Komine Castle Historic Landmark site, showing multilevel construction method, Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture.

Image 5, Anou-shu style wall in cross section diagram showing structural elements, ashlar and natural stones.