Robert C. Lautman was a distinguished architectural photographer who established his practice in Washington, D.C. in the 1940s. Over the course of his career, he photographed many of the city’s most iconic buildings and institutions, such as the National Cathedral, the Capitol, and the Smithsonian museums. Lautman’s sweeping collection of photographs encompasses many of the […]
As part of its mission to inspire curiosity about the world we design and build, the National Building Museum actively collects objects, photographs, and paper materials that document the building process. This wide-ranging scope includes pieces of buildings, architectural toys, construction tools, technical and architectural drawings, building photographs and negatives, and souvenir buildings, among many
—14,000-square-foot experience transforms the Museum’s Great Hall into an imaginative landscape for exploration, creativity, and intergenerational play— WASHINGTON, D.C.– July 3, 2026—THE PLAYGROUND is now open at the National Building Museum. The 14,000-square-foot installation, developed with New York-based design practice Snarkitecture – and design collaborator Gluten – is the largest indoor installation in the Museum’s history. Through August 30, visitors can experience the Museum’s
From the 2018 Funhouse summer installation
In the summer of 2024, Joan LaGrave and her daughter Elizabeth Albanese donated this blueprint machine to the National Building Museum. Recognizing its value to the history of architectural practice, Museum staff promptly placed it on display in Visible Vault: Open Collections Storage . Ever since, visitors have had fun guessing what exactly the machine is
In celebration of World Book Day, staff at the National Building Museum are turning the pages in Building Stories to share the books that have shaped their imaginations and informed their work. From century-old illustrated alphabets to contemporary picture books that explore perspective, place, and possibility, these selections reveal the many ways storytelling and the
National Building Museum (NBM): Introduce yourself! Who is Terremoto? Terremoto: Terremoto is a landscape architecture office based in Los Angeles and Berkeley, California, co-founded by David Godshall and Alain Peauroi in 2012. Terremoto has always questioned the dominant norms of landscape and garden-making. We started with modest home gardens, and though our body of work
—Global Technology Leader Recognized for Transforming How the World Is Designed and Made to be Celebrated at May 27 Gala— WASHINGTON, D.C.– April 14, 2026—The National Building Museum is proud to announce that Autodesk will receive the 2026 Honor Award, in recognition of the company’s four decades of transforming how buildings, infrastructure, and the systems
In 1912, two young electrical engineers, Daniel O’Conor (originally from New York) and Herbert Faber (originally from Cincinnati), discovered that high-pressure plastic resins could replace the mineral mica in insulation material for electrical parts. Mica had long been valued for its excellent electrical and thermal insulating properties, but its brittleness, mechanical weakness, and inconsistent quality