Archinect - News

The National Building Museum prepares to launch its Climate ABC programs

2021-10-29T17:51:00-04:00

The National Building Museum has announced the upcoming launch of its new program series, Climate ABC (Action/Building/Community). Commencing on November 16, the series will offer programs designed to both educate the public about climate action and to push for significant solutions in the building industries to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

As stated in The National Building Museum’s announcement: “The series will focus on three essential aspects to addressing climate change: Actions by individuals, businesses, nonprofits, policy makers, and civic entities; examples of Building, both physical structures and landscapes, as well as coalitions of stakeholders; and Communities at every scale that are working to reduce carbon emissions.”

The series will highlight innovative new technologies and best practices from around the world that are accelerating climate solutions. Offered live online, the programs will address topics that can positively influence climate change, includ...

As immigration stories grip newsfeeds, 'The Wall/El Muro' at the National Building Museum examines architecture's role in the U.S.-Mexico border wall

2021-10-13T19:16:00-04:00

As part of the institution’s renewed focus on pressing social issues through its selection of public programming, the National Building Museum has announced a major new exhibition looking into the part design professionals can play in a topic not too far removed from America’s visual imagination.

Opening on Saturday, November 6th, The Wall/El Muro: What is a Border Wall? is a coeval exhibition that quite literally reflects on the crossover between the built environment and mass immigration.

One of the original boundary markers put up by a joint coalition of U.S. and Mexican officials in the 1880's. The marker currently resides in Chamizal National Park El Paso, Texas near the border wall. Photo: Sarah Leavitt.

Billed as a “timely examination of the role of design, architecture, planning, and engineering in today’s border issues and challenges,” users enter a soundscape environment set along the border in Otay Mesa, California. A section of fence taken from Calexico offers visitors a...

Mabel O. Wilson to receive National Building Museum’s Vincent Scully Prize

2021-10-05T19:43:00-04:00

Architect, critic, cultural historian, and current Columbia GSAPP faculty member Mabel O. Wilson has been named as this year’s winner of the National Building Museum’s prestigious annual Vincent Scully Prize recognizing “excellence in practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design.”

The award, named after the late architecture historian, has been given out every year since 1999 and will now honor Wilson as its 23rd recipient. Wilson joins a list of past winners that includes fellow writers Jane Jacobs and Paul Goldberger as well as other important voices like the architect Phyliss Lambert and television commentator Charlie Rose.

The author of Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums and the co-curator of a recent well-received MoMA exhibition, Wilson has steadily made a name for herself through her writing, research, and other creative projects including the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virg...

The Catholic University of America is constructing a replica of a Notre Dame roof truss using medieval techniques

2021-07-26T18:48:00-04:00

Starting today, the Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture and Planning in collaboration with Massachusetts-based nonprofit Handhouse Studio are building a full-scale replica of a truss that belonged to the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

As part of a teaching project by Handhouse Studio, which is setting up education workshops in Washington D.C., the approximately 45-foot by 35-foot structure, labeled as Truss #6, will be built outdoors at The Catholic University’s campus in a 10-day workshop. The construction process will be available for public viewing.

Roof truss demonstration for the Gwozdziec Synagogue in Sanok, Poland. Photo: Handshouse Studio

A team of traditional timber framers, carpenters, faculty, and students from across the United States will use the methods and materials of the original medieval builders. The reconstruction is intended to be a gift to France and the collective effort to rebuild Notre Dame following the 2019 fire that destroyed the cath...

The National Building Museum announces the return of its Summer Block Party

2021-06-14T17:41:00-04:00

The National Building Museum has announced the return of its annual Summer Block Party. Titled Inside Out, the event diverges from previous renditions, which featured massive, immersive installations within the museum’s Great Hall. Instead, festivities will be formatted into smaller projects and public programs both within the museum and on the adjacent West Lawn that are better suited to an early post-pandemic era. The museum’s 2020 Summer Block Party, made in partnership with Folger Shakespeare Library, was postponed due to the pandemic.

Featured projects include a large and vibrant outdoor mural called Equilateral Network by local muralist Lisa Marie Thalhammer. Made to allow visitors to safely enjoy being together while social-distancing, the piece comprises a series of pink triangles and walking paths, spaced 6 feet apart. It was inspired by Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s use of geometry in his city plan for Washington D.C. The use of colors also pays homage to the city’s LGBTQ+ co...

SOM is the National Building Museum's 2021 Honor Award recipient

2021-05-05T14:39:00-04:00

The National Building Museum announced today that it will present its 2021 Honor Award to global design firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). For the first time in 36 years, and inspired by this year’s honoree, the Museum will transform the annual Honor Award into a Climate Change Call to Action, including weeks of provocative, expert-led online programming open to the public.

On June 17, the National Building Museum will present the award to SOM at a dynamic virtual event. The firm will be celebrated for its leadership and commitment to combating the climate crisis by advocating for a seismic shift in the way we design, build, and do business. Starting on May 19th, the National Building Museum and SOM will co-host "NBM Climate Action online programming," a weekly series of panel discussions exploring the building industry’s role in addressing the climate crisis.

The award ceremony will be hosted by Tony Kornheiser of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption and will feature an assemblage of community and industry luminaries, along with a live Q&A after party.

Following the event, the museum and SOM will continue their joint Climate Action programs. The Honor Award celebration and the NBM Climate Action programming will be offered for free to students in order to foster further engagement with the issue of climate change.

Tickets to the event and programming in...

National Building Museum welcomes back visitors with exhibitions from MASS Design Group and architectural photographer Alan Karchmer

2021-03-29T13:40:00-04:00

On March 15th Archinect reported the announcement of the National Building Museum's new Executive Director, Aileen Fuchs. As Covid-19 safety protocols continue to evolve and vaccine distribution continues, museums and other public institutions prepare to reopen their doors in the coming months.

Today, the Museum announced its reopening on April 9th after a 16-month closure. Interim Executive Director Brent Glass shared, "The National Building Museum is reopening with new leadership and an impressive lineup of exhibitions. We are delighted that the public can return to our home in the historic Pension Building and again experience the extraordinary Great Hall, one of Washington's most important interior spaces."

In addition to its ongoing exhibitions like House & Home, the Museum will showcase three new exhibitions that focus on relevant topics related to the built environment. The non-profit architecture firm, MASS Design Group, has continued to lead projects focusing on design jus...

The National Building Museum announces Aileen Fuchs as its new President and Executive Director

2021-03-15T18:26:00-04:00

2021 has mobilized several institutions to reflect on its leadership, core programming, and service towards the community. As museums continue to adjust and adapt to a post-Covid-19 world, many have made changes that fit to improve overall programming and internal management and direction.

On March 11th, the National Building Museum announced Aileen Fuchs as the institution's fifth director. Selected by the Board of Trustees, the Museum expresses its excitement over her leadership. Fuchs will take over Brent D. Glass, who has served as Interim Executive Director since July 2020. Expected to reopen during the Spring, the Museum plans for a new lineup of exhibitions from MASS Design Group and the D.C. debut of the Gun Violence Memorial Project, in addition to the works of architectural photographer Alan Karchmer.

The Museum will have a brand new Visitors Center and an exciting set of programming for the summer. The institution has expressed its confidence in Fuchs and shares, "The ap...

National Building Museum hires new interim director

2020-07-16T19:43:00-04:00

The National Building Museum has announced that Brent D. Glass, Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, will serve as the institution's Interim Executive Director.

Glass takes up the interim position after former Executive Director Chase W. Rynd, Hon. ASLA, departed the museum in June. In an announcement highlighting Glass's selection, the Building Museum announced that Rynd has been elevated to Executive Director Emeritus.

Rynd served as the museum's director for 17 years, the longest tenure for a director of the institution. The Museum has already begun its recruitment process for a new permanent Executive Director and plans to complete the search by the end of this year, according to a press release.

National Building Museum permanently cuts two-thirds of staff

2020-05-26T13:48:00-04:00

Less than a month after it put much of its staff on furlough, the National Building Museum is permanently cutting two-thirds of its staff, citing loss of revenue due to the pandemic. More than 40 administrative and hourly visitor services positions will be eliminated, effective June 1, a museum spokesperson confirmed to DCist on Wednesday. That will leave just 18 core staff who are on partial furlough and two staff members working on grant-based projects.

According to DCist, much of the National Building Museum's revenue comes from renting out the Great Hall, but since the future of large gatherings in D.C. remains uncertain, museum leaders aren't hopeful that lost income will resurface in the coming months. The museum had already furloughed all visitor employees back in April and only partially furloughed the remaining staff on May 1st, reports DCist.

National Building Museum reopens next month with exhibition on architectural photography

2020-02-20T14:28:00-05:00

As the three-month-long renovations for the Great Hall comes to a close, the National Building Museum prepares to reopen on March 13, 2020. The reopening will kick off a yearlong 40th anniversary celebration at the museum. The celebration will begin with a new exhibition: Alan Karchmer: The Architects' Photographer, which examines the work of Karchmer and the overall practice of architectural photography. Karchmer's photos will include the work of various renowned architects and organizations, including Santiago Calatrava, Tadao Ando, Gensler, and TEN Arquitectos among many others.

Château La Coste Art Centre, Le Puy-Ste-Réparade, France, Tadao Ando Architect & Associates. © Alan Karchmer, courtesy National Building Museum.

The renovation allowed the museum to convert its second-floor classrooms into a new exhibition space that will house The Architects' Photographer exhibition. A new ground level Ticketing Gallery will also be introduced. "We used this opportunity to make some long-...

View construction time-lapse of the National Building Museum's new summer installation

2019-07-11T12:36:00-04:00

Imagine bringing the feeling of summer indoors. In conjunction with the National Building Museum's annual Summer Block Party Installation, the Rockwell Group turned the museum's Great Hall into a green-hilled summer experience. Complete with painted murals of blue skies, plenty of space to lounge as well as fun summer activities, visitors can roam throughout the transformed hall. Thanks to EarthCam, time-lapse footage of the installation's construction allows for the public to go behind the scenes and witness the building process of the Great Hall transforming into a dreamy summer environment.

Lawn. Image © Timothy Schenck.

A great way to experience a summer day without breaking a sweat, the Rockwell Group aimed to make the installation as green as possible, literally. All of the materials used, from the artificial astroturf to the repurposing of the site's scaffolding. The artificial grass is made out of plant-based materials by SynLawn. In addition to the grassy slopes, the muse...

First glimpse at Rockwell Group's "Lawn" installation opening at the National Building Museum this Summer

2019-05-01T10:04:00-04:00

Following successful iterations by Snarkitecture, Studio Gang, James Corner Field Operations, and BIG, the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party is back this year with an immersive installation designed by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

For this year's party, the experimental design studio will be bringing a quintessentially American ideal to the Museum's Great Hall. As visitors enter the space, they will be greeted by a building-sized mural of the sky, that then leads them to a sloping green space with interactive hammocks. Recreating a giant yard as the installation's title "Lawn" suggests, the space will accommodate popular summer activities such as movie nights and yoga that are often hosted in parks during the summer months.

Rendering by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

“The lawn is a fascinating example of a typology that straddles the line between public and private space,” said David Rockwell, founder and president, Rockwell Group. “Whether it is a backyard or a public green, ...

National Building Museum partners with The LAB at Rockwell Group for 2019 "Summer Block Party" installation

2019-01-30T13:38:00-05:00

For its 2019 Summer Block Party exhibition, the National Building Museum has reenlisted Rockwell Group's experience design studio the LAB to transform the museum's atrium. The New York-based architecture firm also designed the museum's 2012 exhibit Play Work Build, one of NBM's most highest-attending events ever.

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, design by the LAB at Rockwell Group.

David Rockwell's 10-year old experimental studio has become known for their narrative-based experiences in physical spaces and digital-physical hybrids. One of the projects that brought them to prominence was their design for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where the lobby pillars are wrapped with animated digital content. The firm is currently working alongside Diller Scofidio + Renfro on the highly-anticipated Shed project.

For this year's Summer Block Party installation, the team will re-envision the museum's historic home as the Lawn, details for which are still forthcoming. Since its beginning six years ago...

As vacation season comes to an end, watch how one of Summer's hottest installations was constructed

2018-08-21T13:34:00-04:00

The National Building Museum's Summer Block Party installation Fun House has been one of the hottest events this vacation season in D.C. Designed by New York design studio Snarkitecture, the installation turns a conventional household into a sequence of interactive rooms inviting play. From a front yard featuring seating that spells out F-U-N H-O-U-S-E to a back white patio with deck chairs and parasols, the exhibit has taken over the museum's entire Great Hall for the months of July and August, much to the delight of museum-goers.

With summer coming to an end, the exhibit will be coming to a close on September 3rd. If you can't make it to the Museum before shutting its doors, Work Zone Cam has teamed up with the Museum for the 5th consecutive year to document the event with a time-lapse movie of the entire process.

“It is always exciting to see the time-lapse from Work Zone Cam for our Summer Block Party installation,” said Chase Rynd, executive director of the National Building M...

Snarkitecture's interactive 'Fun House' opens at the National Building Museum

2018-07-05T15:09:00-04:00

Snarkitecture's interactive installation Fun House has opened at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. Following their blockbuster ball pit that took over the Great Hall in 2015 and attracted a record-breaking 160,000 visitors, the New York design studio has come back for the Museum's highly anticipated, annual "Summer Block Party."

Photo by Noah Kalina.

Established by architect Alex Mustonen and artist Daniel Arsham, the practice operates in the space between art and architecture and are known for their monochrome and mostly stark white aesthetic. They just reached their 10-year anniversary, an accomplishment fiercely celebrated by their installation, which looks back on their decade of work showcasing 42 of the firm's projects.

“Fun House represents a unique opportunity for us to bring together a number of different Snarkitecture-designed interiors, installations, and objects into a single, immersive experience,” said Alex Mustonen, co-founder of the firm. It is the firs...

Visitors delight in the Instagram-worthy Jeanne Gang installation at the National Building Museum

2017-07-24T19:52:00-04:00

Studio Gang's 2017 Summer Block Party installation called the “Hive," opened to the public in the beginning of July. Since then, many have flocked to the National Building Museum in Washington D.C to experience the structure made of 2,700 wounded paper tubes. For those not near the D.C. area and therefore unable to experience the installation in real life, here are some of the best photos from Instagram to ease the FOMO (fear of missing out).

The new exhibition at the National Building Museum, 'Architecture of an Asylum', explores the links between mental health and architecture

2017-07-10T17:58:00-04:00

Dix made sure the hospital that became St. Elizabeths in 1916 had heat, tall arched windows and screened sleeping porches where patients could catch summer breezes. Photos, models and floor plans included in the museum exhibit show handsome brick buildings — with towers, high ceilings, open space and river views.

Washington's National Building Museum features an exhibit that tells the story of architecture of St. Elizabeths or, as originally named upon its opening in 1855, the Government Hospital for the Insane.

Started by Dorothea Dix, the 19th century reformer who fought for the facility to represent healthier standards for mental health treatment, the history of the federally-operated hospital bears traces of America's changing healthcare system, evolving theories of how to care for the mentally ill, as well as the later reconfiguration of the campus as a federal workplace and mixed-use urban development.

The porches of the 1890s Allison Buildings, shown above in 1910, were later enclosed to provide more space for patient beds. Image courtesy of National Building Museum

"Some things cannot be cured," says Denise Everson, an architect in the D.C. area who specializes in design and health. "But I think humane treatment — I think, creative treatment — is where we should go as a community, as...

See Jeanne Gang's 'Hive' get built in this time-lapse of the National Building Museum's newest installation

2017-07-06T20:42:00-04:00

Every summer, the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. puts on an imaginative Summer Block Party series of temporary structures. Past installations that have graced its historic Great Hall have included James Corner's "ICEBERGS," Snarkitecture's "BEACH," and BIG's "Maze."

This year, the museum tapped Studio Gang to temporarily transform the space. The resulting installation, named "Hive," has opened to the public and will be available to visit through September 4th. The structure, resembling some sort of cross between a beehive and pipe organ, is that tallest structure the Museum has displayed thus far. Built entirely of more than 2,700 wound paper tubes and topping out at 60 feet, it is shocking that it took a mere two weeks to construct.

First look: Studio Gang's “Hive” installation at the National Building Museum this summer

2017-04-19T13:38:00-04:00

The National Building Museum in Washington D.C. revealed the renderings of Studio Gang's upcoming 2017 Summer Block Party installation called the “Hive”, which is the firm's latest collaboration with the Museum.

Located in the Great Hall, the Hive will be made entirely of over 2,700 wound paper tubes whose heights will range from several inches to 10 feet tall. The tubes will be interlocked to create three interconnected, domed chambers, with the tallest dome reaching 60 feet high and featuring a 10-foot-diameter oculus. Every tube will have a reflective silver exterior and a vibrant magenta interior to create what seems like will be a dazzling environment.

Image © Studio Gang.

People can gather at the larger main chamber for the Museum's summer events, or they can hang out in the smaller, intimate chambers where they can also play with tubular instruments like drums and suspended chimes. Each chamber will have unique acoustic properties to affect the instruments' tones and reverberati...

Looking back at a time when architecture was thought to be a cure for mental illness

2017-03-24T12:34:00-04:00

When the Government Hospital for the Insane opened in Anacostia in 1855, the asylum’s supervising physician, Charles Nichols, predicted that 50 percent of the mentally ill people treated there would make a full recovery. What made him so confident? The building. He’d designed it in accordance with the most cutting-edge theories of the day, which called for sunny, well-ventilated asylums in the countryside

The "Architecture of an Asylum: St. Elizabeth's 1852-2017" is a new exhibit opening at the National Building Museum this weekend. It looks at past theories that contended that design could have a major and healing effect on mental illness. Fresh air was encouraged, as was scattering patients across a campus.

While presumably nicer than precedents: “It turns out that’s not true. You can’t fix brain chemistry with architecture.”

Recounting stories from the Fairy Tales Architecture Competition — 2017 winners to be revealed February 6!

2017-02-03T14:54:00-05:00

Storytelling has the magical ability to influence our perception of the world we live in, and such observations couldn't be more valuable in the field of architecture. The Fairy Tales Architecture Competition captured the imaginations of architects everywhere when Blank Space first launched the 2014 edition. Every year, architects, designers, artists and the like are invited to write and illustrate their very own architectural narrative.

The competition brings up both evergreen topics and timely issues that constantly press on the minds of architects, but the submissions themselves vastly differ from year to year. What kinds of stories will the 2017 edition tell?

The big winners announcement will happen at Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum on February 6 — so be on the lookout for the winning entries right here on Archinect and Bustler on Monday night!

In the meantime, here's a flashback to the winning entries in the previous Fairy Tales competitions.

2016

↓ 1st Prize: "Welcome t...

National Building Museum selects Studio Gang to design 2017 "Summer Block Party" installation

2016-09-28T13:37:00-04:00

Studio Gang has worked with the museum before, on its 2003 Masonry Variations exhibition and as a part of the 2009 Transforming Skylines and Communities series. While designs for the installation won't be fleshed out until early 2017, it will most likely follow in the playful, accessible style of previous Summer Block Party installations by BIG, Snarkitecture, and most recently, James Corner Field Operations.

The museum's aim is for the designers to create "innovative, interactive experiences that temporarily transform the Museum’s historic home and challenge visitor perceptions of the built environment." Studio Gang's appointment to next year's installation comes on the heels of the closing of James Corner Field Operations' "ICEBERGS" pavilion earlier this month.

Related on Archinect:

Dive into James Corner's field of ICEBERGS, now at the National Building Museum

2016-07-06T20:07:00-04:00

Walk into the Great Hall of Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum right now and you'll find a glacial landscape of geometric "icebergs" floating before you. Landscape architect James Corner worked alongside the NBM to design the chilling scene, as part of the museum's 2016 Summer Block Party. In the past, the yearly series hosted Snarkitecture's monochromatic BEACH and BIG's gigantic maze.

Opening this past Saturday, ICEBERGS lets visitors catch a break from D.C.'s hot, humid summers. The installation is based on themes related to physical experience and landscape representation, according to James Corner Field Operations, welcoming visitors with an “interactive and playful space of respite and reflection”.

Encased in a large blue net, the installation comprises over 30 prismatic triangular pentahedrons and octahedrons constructed from translucent polycarbonate panels, and range from 16-56 feet in height.

Visitors can cool off as they lounge on chunky, triangular beanbags strewn a...

Cool off at James Corner's ICEBERGS at the National Building Museum this summer

2016-03-09T17:45:00-05:00

James Corner Field Operations is transforming the National Building Museum's Great Hall into a glacial landscape of ICEBERGS for the museum's annual Summer Block Party installation, following two wildly successful years with Snarkitecture's monochromatic BEACH and BIG's gigantic maze. Today, James Corner revealed their initial concept for the collaborative project.

ICEBERGS emphasizes the themes of landscape representation, physical experience, geometry and construction, according to the architects. Once the installation opens on July 2, people will get to wander through an immersive underwater-world of geometric icebergs, with the tallest "bergy bit" towering at 56 feet to the third-story balcony of the museum.

The 12,540 square-foot installation will be comprised of more than 30 prismatic triangular pentahedrons and octahedrons made from reusable translucent polycarbonate panels, with some hanging from the ceiling to appear as if they were floating. A "water line" suspended at 20 f...

James Corner Field Operations chosen to design National Building Museum's summer 2016 installation

2015-10-28T14:25:00-04:00

James Corner Field Operations (JCFO) has been selected to design the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party 2016 installation. The National Building Museum selected JCFO after the success of 2015's "The BEACH," an installation designed by Snarkitecture that allowed 180,000 Washington, D.C. museum goers to experience the beach via an ocean of one million translucent plastic balls (and a few monochromatic deck chairs). More information about the 2016 summer design, which main man James Corner said "will be an opportunity to explore something new and unexpected," will be released in the spring.

For more of Archinect's coverage of James Corner Field Operations:

• James Corner Field Operations’ Winning Design for Navy Pier Redesign

• Field Operations to Helm New Miami Underline Project

• James Corner Field Operations selected for Nicollet Mall redesign in Minneapolis

• "Eco-Gentrification," or the social ramifications of "urban greening"

...

The BEACH to be reincarnated in arts competition for D.C.'s Dupont Underground initiative

2015-09-01T12:55:00-04:00

The wildly successful BEACH installation is down to its final exhibition days at Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum. Since opening on July 4, over 120,000 visitors both young and old "splashed" around in its bubbly waters, lounged about on the "shore", and perhaps saw a live band rock out in the 10,000 square-foot monochromatic ball pit, designed by Brooklyn-based Snarkitecture. Although the Beach closes on September 7, that won't be the last of it.

Recycling the Beach was always part of the plan. Even before the installation opened, representatives of the D.C.-based initiative, the Dupont Underground, proposed to transport, store, and re-use its building materials.

The Dupont Underground has set its sights on revitalizing an abandoned trolley station beneath the Dupont Circle neighborhood into a public venue for arts and design-oriented events. As part of their inaugural programming, the group will take the Beach's more than 650,000 anti-microbial plastic balls and its 6,000 ...

Snarkitecture's 10,000 sq ft indoor BEACH at the National Building Museum

2015-07-07T14:07:00-04:00

Following Bjarke Ingels Group's wildly successful BIG Maze last summer, one could only wonder how Washington D.C.'s National Building Museum would one-up itself this time around. Enter Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham of Snarkitecture, who envisioned the 10,000 square-foot indoor BEACH that opened on July 4 in the Museum's Great Hall.

Decked out in Snarkitecture's all-white aesthetic, the monochromatic installation has beach chairs and umbrellas on the "shoreline" and an "ocean" of nearly 1 million recyclable translucent plastic balls for visitors to "splash" in, facing a mirrored wall that creates the illusion of a vast expanse. The Museum commissioned Snarkitecture to design the giant ball-pit — which was first announced back in April — for the annual “Summer Block Party,” which consists of various public programming, exhibitions, and events.

'We see the commission as an exciting opportunity to create an architectural installation that reimagines the qualities and possibilities of ma...

National Building Museum turns to Indiegogo to fund upcoming BEACH installation

2015-06-02T14:17:00-04:00

Last summer, the National Building Museum in DC installed BIG's giant wooden maze in its atrium, and attracted over 50,000 visitors. Exactly a year later, the museum is planning another large-scale public installation to draw blockbuster attendance: BEACH, a playa-themed ball-pit for the museum's atrium. Brooklyn-based firm Snarkitecture is designing the enclosure that will house around 750,000 translucent balls, and a variety of beachy objects like beach chairs, umbrellas, and a snack shack. BEACH will open on July 4th of this year – that is, if the Museum can raise the money. Today, NBM announced that it was turning to Indiegogo to crowdfund $10,000 for the installation and related summer programming.

Snarkitecture's BEACH installation was first announced back in April, with no mention of the Indiegogo campaign. As an independent non-profit 501(c)(3), the Museum supports its exhibitions through admissions and outside contributions, but this will be its first crowdfunding effort. It...

Session 14: His bjark is BIGger than his bjite – A chat with Bjarke Ingels at the opening of BIG's "Hot to Cold" exhibition

2015-01-29T15:25:00-05:00

This episode is a doozy. Paul and Amelia left the temperate sunshine of Los Angeles for Washington, DC's frigid monumentality, to interview Bjarke Ingels on the eve of his "Hot to Cold" exhibition at the National Building Museum. The 40-year old architect shared some quick-won wisdom about scaling a business, the Danish condition, and the indispensability of humor and play in architecture.

Donna and Ken joined Paul and Amelia to speak with Lian Chang about her recently published visualizations of the Archinect Salary Poll for the ACSA, in charming emoji-based data sets. The Sessions co-hosts also discuss Aaron Betsky's new appointment as the head of the deeply troubled Taliesin West, and what Thom Mayne's demolition of Ray Bradbury's house means for architecture preservation and sentimentality.

And for another climatological analogy, Paul and Brian Newman, Archinect Sessions's legal correspondent, poke at the tip of the iceberg concerning issues of copyright in architecture.

A remind...