Liberty Bell, Philadelphia

The Liberty Bell Center was designed to provide a larger interpretive space for the Liberty Bell while preserving the historic character of Independence Mall. Designed by architect Bernard Cywinski with the Olin Partnership, the project became controversial after archaeological excavations uncovered remains of the President’s House and revealed that George Washington’s enslaved workers had lived near the site. The completed center incorporates an outline of the slave quarters and interpretive exhibits, placing the Liberty Bell within a broader and more complex history of American freedom and inequality.