>In Douglas Cardinal's L'Enfant Plaza studio, the Canadian architect and his
 colleagues labor over computers to complete his striking design of the
 National Museum of the American Indian.

>Scarcely a quarter-mile away, in the Smithsonian Institution Castle, officials
 >proceed with plans to build Cardinal's design without his participation.

As an object lesson in this kind of tragedy, waste and blight of creative
ambition, one only has to look at the Sydney Opera House. The architect,
Joern Utzon, was sacked before completion for what appear to be the same
kinds of  pettifogging reasons as in the case of Douglas Cardinal, and we
got a building that looks great from the outside and like a suburban cinema
on the inside, with stages that don't do what they were intended to do and
unhappy performers eveywhere.
What a wonderful opportunity the Smithsonian has, to build a building not
only of world significance architectuarlly but with such symbolic power as
an expression of reconciliation - a topic that exercises us here in
Australia very much just now _ don't blow it because he's been a bit late
with some drawings!
Julia Clark
Independent Curator & Interpreter

Julia Clark
Independent Curator & Interpreter