The museum will host smaller seasonal exhibits in the Great Hall this summer.
The National Building will reopen to visitors on Friday, April 9. Unlike many of the museums located on the National Mall, the museum elected to remain closed through the pandemic and operated virtually. Visitors will be required to wear masks and the museum will enforce rules for safety and social distancing as required by the D.C. government.
During the hiatus, the National Building Museum welcomed three new exhibits, Justice is Beauty: The Work of MASS Design Group, the Gun Violence Memorial Project, and a photography exhibit inspired by Alan Karchmer. Timed tickets will be sold online in two blocks per day.
Both Justice is Beauty and the Gun Violence Memorial Project were designed by MASS Design Group, an architectural design firm that specializes in structures that promote public health and well-being. Justice is Beauty features images of completed buildings and conceptual drawings of projects like health centers, food labs, and memorials MASS has designed all over the world.
Courtesy of National Building Museum
The Gun Violence Memorial Project is a pod of glass black houses, each filled with letters, pictures, and trinkets donated by families who lost loved ones to gun violence. The artifacts in the exhibit are a representation of the loss felt by families and friends of the 700 victims memorialized in the exhibit. Visitors to the museum can tour the Gun Violence Memorial Project without buying tickets.
Both exhibits will be on display through September of 2022. Alan Karchmer: The Architects’ Photographer, showcases the images Karchmer created of great architecture from around the world.
The National Building Museum has become a respite from the summer heat with its functional, recreational exhibits like The Beach and The Lawn. This summer the pandemic has thrown a bit of a wrench into summer plans and the museum will be postponing Shakespeare’s Playhouse until 2022.
A museum spokesman said,” The museum is planning smaller-scale things for the Great Hall and will be announcing those in the months ahead”.
The National Building Museum and the Museum Shop are open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fridays through Sundays. Tickets start at $7 and must be purchased online.
