The Los Angeles-based studio FreelandBuck has been selected to design and install a temporary ceiling in the Renwick Gallery’s Grand Salon in the Smithsonian, the first in what is expected to be a recurring installation series called Above the Renwick Installation.

Their project draws on the tradition of trompe l’oeil ceilings, using various techniques to create an illusion of depth. The design comprises a “catalog” of various notable American architectural styles, brought to life with 21st century technology.

“Trompe l’oeil illusion functions from a single key point – the center of a nave or directly under a dome,” they write. “From other points of view, the illusion malfunctions: figures appear suddenly out of scale, space flattens out, or an entire dome seems to change orientation. Given the constant stream of visual illusion we encounter every day, the glitches may now fascinate more than the intended illusion. The Renwick installation amplifies and coordinates these gaps, opening up the illusion to creative interpretation and leaving the viewer with a visual puzzle to solve.”

“The Installation serves as a field guide to American architecture in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The nine depicted ceilings from across the country include American versions of seven architectural styles: Victorian Gothic, Greek Revival, Beaux Arts, Romanesque, Neoclassical, Art Deco, and Second Empire. Many use a palette of particularly vibrant colors, some newly invented, which we have sampled from.”

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