An exploration of 40 of the Museum's outstanding home-grown past exhibitions from 1980 through 2010.

1. On Exhibit
A Selection of Exhibitions from 1980 — 2010

2. Sheet Metal Craftsmanship
Progress in Building
January – August 1988
Sheet Metal Craftsmanship
celebrated the many uses of
sheet metal and the skills of
those who shape it.
The exhibition’s structures were
designed by architect Frank Gehry as
sculpture on a grand scale, and built by
nearly 600 union sheet metal workers
and contractors.
Photo: Walter Smalling, Jr.
The installation was placed in the
Museum’s Great Hall and contained
35,000 square feet of sheet metal.
Curator: David Chase

3. Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection
Exhibition Series
September 1989 – February 2004
Catalogue: Pete Hamill, Tools As Art: The Hechinger Collection (Abrams, 1995)
The Museum hosted a series of six
exhibitions featuring the acclaimed
collection of John Hechinger, Sr.
The series included:
• Tools as Art: The Hechinger Collection
(September 1989 – March 1990)
• Tools as Art II: Exploring Metaphor
(April 11, 1997 – September 28, 1997)
• Tools as Art III: All Saws
(October 31, 1997 – April 19, 1998)
• Tools as Art IV: Material Illusions
(June 26, 1998 – May 16, 1999)
• Tools as Art V: Fantasy at Work Photo: Museum Staff
(June 30, 1999 – January 9, 2000)
• Tools as Art VI: Instruments of Change
(September 16, 2000 – February 9, 2004)

4. Washington: Symbol and City
June 1991 – September 3, 2001
This first installation of the Museum’s
long-running exhibition introduced
visitors to the story of how
Washington, D.C. has developed
over time.
Washington: Symbol and City traced the
city’s history from its beginning, when
the nation’s founders believed that the
capital should symbolize the new American
democracy.
It discussed the development of monumental Photo: Allan Sprecher
buildings as well as the transformation of the
city into a metropolis.
Curator: Melissa McLoud Exhibition Design: Miles Fridberg Molinaroli

5. From Mars to Main Street
America Designs, 1965-1990
November 1992 – February 1994
From Mars to Main Street explored
the scope and diversity of the federal
government’s design impact on our
lives.
The exhibiton argued that the form and quality
of the built and natural environment has
been influenced by the design services our
government has purchased, commissioned, or
produced.
Photo: Museum Staff
Curators: William Bushong and Jim Johnson Exhibition Design: Lee Skolnik, Architecture and Design Partnership

6. Barn Again!
March 12 – September 11, 1994
Traveling exhibition: March 1997 - February 2006 (by The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service)
Barn Again! asserted that the
barn is an adaptable agricultural
structure, a symbol of community
and country life, and a monument
in the American landscape.
A late nineteenth-century heavy timber-
frame barn was raised in the Great Hall at
the opening of the exhibition.
Curator: Gregory K. Dreicer Exhibition Design: Huntley Design Inc.

7. World War II and the American Dream
How Wartime Building Changed a Nation
November 11, 1994 – December 31, 1995
Catalogue: Donald Albrecht, ed., World War II and the American Dream: How Wartime Building Changed a Nation (The MIT Press, 1995)
World War II and the American Dream
presented the products of the U.S.
Government’s war building program.
The building program involved a wide variety
of construction projects, including factories,
test facilities, and housing.
The exhibition displayed a variety of these
projects—from the Quonset hut to plexiglass
and standardized housing—and explored the
effects of war on the material dreams and
aspirations of all Americans.
Photo: Paul Warchol
Curator: Donald Albrecht Exhibition Design: Michael Sorkin Studio and Design Writing Research

8. Building the Ballyhoo
Architectural Photography by the Wurts Brothers Company
February 16 – August 18, 1996
Building the Ballyhoo featured
the Museum’s collection of
photographic prints produced by
the Wurts Brothers commercial
photography firm.
The exhibition demonstrated how these
images helped generate enthusiasm
for a century of American building and
shaped popular understanding of the built
environment in the United States.
Curator: Carolyn M. Goldstein

9. Between Fences
May 31, 1996 – January 5, 1997
Catalogue: Gregory K. Dreicer, Between Fences (Princeton Traveling exhibition: 2005-current (by The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhbition Service)
Architectural Press, 1996)
Between Fences traced the history of
the fence in North America and its
effect on the American landscape.
The exhibition also introduced the concept
that fences are essential to the way we think
about land, the way we behave on that land,
and the way we expect our land to look.
Photo: Clifford Russell, Jr.
Curator: Gregory K. Dreicer Exhibition Design: Boym Design Studio

10. Main Street Five-and-Dimes
The Architectural Heritage of the S. H. Kress & Co. Stores
May 9, 1997 – January 4, 1998
Catalogue: Bernice L. Thomas, America’s 5 & 10 Cent Stores: The Kress Legacy Traveling exhibition: November 1998 - Winter 2001
(National Building Museum and the Preservation Press, 1997)
Main Street Five-and-Dimes examined
the architectural history and
significance of the S. H. Kress stores,
familiar landmarks on America’s
Main Streets throughout most of the
twentieth century.
The exhibition featured vintage photographs,
architectural drawings, and artifacts from the
Museum’s permanent collection.
Photo: National Building Museum Collection
Curator: Alan Z. Aiches

11. Lying Lightly on the Land
Building America’s National Park Roads and Parkways
June 6, 1997 – January 11, 1998
Lying Lightly on the Land explored the
unique history of America’s national
park roads, encouraging visitors to
consider how, when, and why they
were built.
It also demonstrated the social, technological,
and environmental factors involved in their
development and encouraged informed
debate about the future of America’s parks.
Guest Curator: Tim Davis, National Park Service

12. Breaking Through
The Creative Engineer
February 26 – November 8, 1998
Traveling exhibition: February 1999 - December 2001
Breaking Through explored how
creativity is expressed through the
work of modern engineers.
The exhibition used case studies to provoke
reflection about how an engineer can break
through the ordinary to create something
entirely new.
It also encouraged visitors to reevaluate the
importance of creative thinking—both for
engineering and for the human condition.
Photo: Clifford Russell, Jr.
Guest Curators: Robert Freidel and Dian Belanger Exhibiton Design: The 1717 Design Group, Inc.

13. Smart Growth and Choices for Change
Exhibition Series
April 1999 – March 2001
Traveling exhibition: Fall 2001 - Fall 2002
This four part exhibition series
addressed the problems of sprawl and
suggested alternative solutions.
Where Do We Go From Here? provided
an overview of sprawl and the principles of
smart growth.
(April 20 – September 7, 1999)
Reimagining the Suburbs examined specific
smart growth approaches in planning suburbs.
(October 22, 1999 – March 26, 2000)
Reinvigorating Cities explored how to combat
the drain of people away from the urban core.
(April 19 – September 6, 2000)
Metropolitan Perspectives presented
metropolitan-wide solutions to sprawl.
(October 11, 2000 – March 4, 2001)
Curator: Mary Konsoulis Exhibition Design: Chester Design Associates, Inc.

14. Stay Cool!
Air Conditioning America
May 1, 1999 – January 2, 2000
Stay Cool! examined the
transformative power of air
conditioning in America and
demonstrated how this defining
technology of the 20th century
launched new forms of architecture.
The exhibition showed how the creation
of “man-made weather” altered the way
Americans live, work, and play and made
many modern conveniences, such as
indoor malls, movie theaters, and the
modern home possible. Photo: Clifford Russell, Jr.
Curators: Donald Albrecht and Chrysanthe B. Broikos Exhibition Design: Pentagram Design Inc.

15. The Corner Store
September 23, 1999 – March 6, 2000
Catalogue: Ellen Beasley, The Corner Store: An American Tradition, Galveston Style (National Building Museum, 1999)
The Corner Store revealed the history
and impact of this building form
on the American landscape and
discovered a story of enterprise,
ingenuity, and community.
The exhibition took place amidst the
disappearance of many familiar corner store
landmarks, but it suggested that traditional
corner store buildings could still find a second
life in modern American communities.
Photo: Clifford Russell, Jr.
Curators: Ellen Beasley, Chrysanthe Broikos, and Elizabeth Opsahl

16. See the U.S.A.
Automobile Travel and the American Landscape
November 19, 1999 – May 7, 2000
See the U.S.A. explored the
popularity of car travel for
many Americans in the
twentieth century.
The exhibition showed visitors the
wide variety of new facilities providing
services and amusement that were built
in response to these travelers.
It featured a number of quirky and
extravagant examples of roadside America
that were designed to grab the attention of
travelers.
Curators: John Margolies and Exhibition Design: 1100 Architect
Michael R. Harrison

17. The White House in Miniature
March 29 – September 17, 2000
The White House in Miniature
presented the decorative and
structural changes that two
centuries of First Families, architects,
engineers, and interior designers
have brought to architect James
Hoban’s original design.
Cosponsored by the White House Historical
Association, the exhibition featured an almost
exact replica of the real White House made
by John Zweifel and remains one of he
Photo: Clifford Russell, Jr.
Museum’s most popular exhibitions to date.
Curator: Pamela Scott Exhibition Design: Research & Design, Ltd.

18. WOOD
An American Tradition
September 9, 2000 – April 22, 2001
WOOD: An American Tradition
described the four major traditions
of building in wood throughout
American history: log construction,
timber framing, balloon framing,
and platform framing.
While presenting icons of these four
traditions, the exhibition also explained
how wood has been the material of choice
for construction, household goods, and
Photo: Museum staff
tools in every facet of American life for
almost 400 years.
Curators: Michael Harrison and Exhibition Design: Threshold Studio
Michael O’Brien

19. Monuments, Mills, and Missile Sites
Thirty Years of the Historic American Engineering Record
October 26, 2000 – May 20, 2001
Monuments, Mills, and Missile Sites
showcased the legacy of the
Historic American Engineering
Record: a public archive
documenting engineering marvels
and industrial icons.
The exhibition included examples of
technological advances, milestones in
engineering, and other commonalities
of America’s rich industrial and
engineering heritage.
Photo: Museum Staff
Guest Curator: Laura Greenberg Exhibition Design: Chester Design Associates, Inc.

20. On the Job
Design and the American Office
November 18, 2000 – August 19, 2001
Catalogue: Donald Albrecht and Chrysanthe B. Broikos, On the Job: Design and the American Office
(Princeton Architectural Press and the National Building Museum, 2000)
On the Job examined the evolution of
the American office, tracing the past
and present of office design into the
future of contemporary office space.
The exhibition explored both the architecture
of offices and the social transformation and
cultural progress that occurred there.
Photo: Allan Sprecher
Curators: Donald Albrecht and Chrysanthe B. Broikos Exhibition Design: Pentagram Design

21. Twin Towers Remembered
Photographs by Camilo José Vergara
November 10, 2001 – March 10, 2002
Catalogue: Camilo José Vergara, Twin Towers Remembered Traveling exhibition: April 2002 - Jan 2003
(Princeton Architectural Press and The National Building Museum, 2001).
Twin Towers Remembered featured a selection of
Camilo José Vergara’s photographs documenting
30 years of the World Trade Center’s Twin
Towers, from construction through destruction.
His work has been displayed in three other exhibitions
at the Museum:
• The New American Ghetto (January 26 – May 5, 1996)
• El Nuevo Mundo: The Landscape of Latino Los
Angeles(December 3, 1998 - March 28, 1999)
• Storefront Churches (June 20 – November 29, 2009)
The Museum’s current outreach program, Investigating
Where We Live, was inspired by Vergara’s work and
these exhibitions. Photo: Allan Sprecher
Guest Curator: Thomas Mellins

22. On Track
Transit and the American City
January 26 – October 27, 2002
On Track mapped the unique
relationship between transportation
and the American city through three
metaphorical places: Expanding City,
Suburban City, and Regional City.
The exhibition focused primarily on public
transportation systems, like rail transit, and
their influence on the urban form in the past
and the future.
Curators: Kathleen Franz and Mary Konsoulis Exhibition Design: Chester Design Associates, Inc.

23. The Turner City Collection
Rendering a Century of Building
May 4 – November 3, 2002
In The Turner City Collection, the
Museum featured nine drawings
made by The Turner Construction
Company to document their major
projects each year.
These projects were depicted together to
form a single imaginary city, which was named
the Turner City.
The Turner City drawings became an
annual tradition, and today they are part
of the National Building Museum’s
Photo: Allan Sprecher
permanent collection.
Curator: G. Martin Moeller, Jr.

24. Do It Yourself
Home Improvement in 20th-Century America
October 19, 2002 – August 10, 2003
Catalogue: Carolyn Goldstein, Do It Yourself: Home Improvement in 20th-Century America (Princeton Architectural Press, 1998)
In Do It Yourself, curators
examined the 20th-century cultural
phenomenon of home improvement
in America.
The exhibition began with the first “power”
tools of the 1870s and 1880s, continued
through the midcentury popularity of the
American Dream home, and finished with
today’s hobby of improving and restoring
contemporary and historic housing.
Photo: Allan Sprecher
Curators: Carolyn Goldstein, Michael R. Harrison, and Exhibition Design: Pentagram Design, Inc.
Chrysanthe B. Broikos

25. Big & Green
Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century
January 17 – June 22, 2003
Catalogue: David Gissen, Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the Traveling Exhibition: October 2003 – March 2005
21st Century (Princeton Architectural Press, 2003)
The curators of Big & Green
examined five issues that design and
building professionals are addressing
in order to reduce the negative
environmental impact of skyscrapers.
Those issues are energy; light and air;
greenery, water, and waste; construction;
and urbanism.
The exhibition argued that even the largest
structures can promote integration and
cooperation between the built and natural
Photo: Allan Sprecher
environments.
Curators: David Gissen and Susan Piedmont-Palladino Exhibition Design: James Hicks
Exhibition Graphics: Pure+Applied

26. Saving Mount Vernon
The Birth of Preservation in America
February 15 – September 21, 2003
Saving Mount Vernon told the
story of the Mount Vernon Ladies’
Association’s efforts to purchase
and preserve George Washington’s
beloved Mount Vernon estate as an
American icon.
Their success inspired other groups around
the country to preserve other properties of
historic significance, and encouraged the
historic preservation movement in America.
Curator: Pamela Scott

27. Picture This
Windows on the American Home
March 29 – August 11, 2003
In Picture This, Museum curators
examined the role of windows
in both the architecture and the
culture of the American home.
The exhibition presented a history of
windows in the context of American
domestic life, and it also discussed the
metaphoric meaning of windows as both
ways to see the outside world and ways
the world can see inside.
Photo: Museum staff
Curator: Donald Albrecht Exhibition Design: Matter Practice
Historian: Sandy Isenstadt Video: Ben Rubin, EAR Studio, Inc.

28. Up Down Across
Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Sidewalks
September 12, 2003 – April 18, 2004
Catalogue: Alisa Goetz, ed., Up, Down, Across: Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Sidewalks (Merrell Publishers, 2003)
In Up Down Across, the Museum
examined elevators, escalators, and
moving sidewalks in their historical
and design contexts.
The exhibition viewed these devices as
mechanical systems, through their diverse
uses, as the inspiration for new architectural
forms, and through their presentation on film.
The curators argued that even though these
devices may seem mundane, they have
radically transformed our buildings, our cities,
Photo: Allan Sprecher
and our lives.
Curators: Abbott Miller and Alisa Goetz Exhibition Design: Pentagram Design

29. Masonry Variations
October 18, 2003 – April 4, 2004
For Masonry Variations, four teams of
architects and craftworkers from the
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied
Craftworkers (BAC) were invited to stretch
their imaginations and push the limits of
masonry materials.
The teams created full-size constructions of:
BRICK: Carlos Jiménez and J. Keith Behrens
STONE: Jeanne Gang, AIA, and Matthew Stokes
Redabaugh
Photo: Allan Sprecher
TERRAZZO/TILE: Julie Eizenberg and Mike
Menegazzi
AUTOCLAVED AERATED CONCRETE
(AAC): Winka Dubbledam and Robert Mion Jr.
Curators: Stanley Tigerman Exhibition Design: Elizabeth Kaleida
with Howard Decker Exhibition Graphics: mgmt. Design

30. Stories of Home
Photographs by Bill Bamberger
December 4, 2003 – March 7, 2004
Stories of Home presented a
collection of photographs taken
by Bill Bamberger that explored
the meanings of home and
homeownership to a variety
of Americans.
It was a culmination of “This House is Home,”
an initiative organized by the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill through its
Center for the Study of the American South
and Center for Urban and Regional Studies.
Curator: Chrysanthe B. Broikos

31. D.C. Builds
The Anacostia Waterfront
January 17 – May 23, 2004
D.C. Builds explored the complex
story of the Anacostia River’s
life as a working river and
built environment.
The exhibition also looked into current
efforts to restore the river as a place of
beauty and civic potential.
The rediscovery of the Anacostia River
reflects a new trend in urban growth
across the country to capitalize on once-
Photo: Brett Seamans
abandoned or abused riverfronts.
Curator: Mary Konsoulis Exhibition Design: Pure+Applied

32. Symphony in Steel
Ironworkers and the Walt Disney Concert Hall
January 31 – August 22, 2004
Symphony in Steel featured 100
black-and-white photographs of the
Walt Disney Concert Hall in
Los Angeles, California taken by
Gil Garcetti.
The photographs celebrate the remarkable
achievements of the ironworkers who
assembled the steel frame and the finish
ironworkers who applied the stainless steel
skin to the building. They were drawn from
Garcetti’s two books Iron: Erecting the Walt
Disney Concert Hall and Frozen Music.
Curator: Alan Z. Aiches

33. Affordable Housing
Designing an American Asset
February 28 – August 8, 2004
Catalogue: Affordable Housing: Designing an American Asset Traveling Exhibition: March 2005 – November 2007
(Urban Land Institute and National Building Museum, 2005)
Through a number of highlighted
projects, Affordable Housing
demonstrated that low-cost housing
does not need to be low quality.
The projects featured in the exhibition proved
that affordable housing can be durable,
environmentally sensitive, comfortable,
attractive, and economical to maintain.
Photo: Brett Seamans
Curators: Ralph Bennett and Isabelle Gournay Exhibition Design: Chester Design Associates

34. Liquid Stone
New Architecture in Concrete
June 19, 2004 – April 17, 2005
Catalogue: Jean-Louis Cohen and G. Martin Moeller, Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete (Princeton Architectural Press, 2006)
Liquid Stone featured more
than three dozen examples of
recent projects that utilized
concrete technology in sometimes
surprising ways.
These projects were selected to highlight
innovative uses of concrete in a building’s
structure, surface, and/or sculptural form,
and to suggest possible new directions for
the future of concrete in architecture.
Photo: Allan Sprecher
Curator: G. Martin Moeller, Jr. Exhibition Design: Tod Williams
Billie Tsien Architects

35. Tools of the Imagination
March 5 – October 10, 2005
Catalogue: Susan Piedmont-Palladino, ed., Tools of the Imagination: Drawing Tools and Technologies from the Eighteenth Century to the Present
(Princeton Architectural Press, 2006)
From pencils and paper to advanced
computer technologies, Tools of the
Imagination examined the tools
used and results achieved by
architects and designers over the
past 250 years.
It included tools and drawings from Thomas
Jefferson to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill,
along with those from Frank Lloyd Wright,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, I.M. Pei, Frank
Gehry, and others.
Photo: Allan Sprecher
Curator: Susan Piedmont-Palladino Exhibition Design: Andrew Pettiti, Knowtis Design

36. The Green House
New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design
May 20, 2006 – June 3, 2007
Catalogue: Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne, The Green House: New Traveling Exhibition: February 2008 – May 2010 (Full Exhibition);
Directions in Sustainable Architecture (Princeton Architectural Press, 2005) August 2008 – November 2009 (Panel Exhibition)
By focusing on sustainable design and
environmentally-friendly materials,
The Green House demonstrated that
houses and apartments can be
green, comfortable, and stylish
at the same time.
The exhibition showcased an actual modern
sustainable house within its galleries:
the Glidehouse designed by Michelle
Kaufmann in 2004.
It challenged visitors to join the “green”
Photo: Gretchen Franti/Hoachlander Davis Photography
movement by making simple changes
in their homes.
Curators: Donald Albrecht, Alanna Stang, and Christopher Hawthorne Exhibition Design: Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis (LTL) Architects
Exhibition Graphics: Pure+Applied

37. Reinventing the Globe
A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century
January 13 - October 8, 2007
Reinventing the Globe traced the
longstanding fascination with William
Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and
the numerous efforts to evoke the
spirit of that structure in subsequent
theater designs.
The exhibition culminated with five dramatic
interpretations of Shakespearean theaters for
the 21st century by John Coyne, H3 Hardy
Collaboration Architecture, Office of Mobile
Design, the Rockwell Group, and Michele
Saee Studio. Photo: F.T. Eyre
Curator: G. Martin Moeller, Jr.

38. David Macaulay
The Art of Drawing Architecture
June 23, 2007 - May 4, 2008
David Macaulay featured the
drawings of the artist David
Macaulay, who is well known
for his illustrations that show the
way things work.
The exhibition focused on the artist’s use
of drawing to research historic buildings,
to render architecture from engaging
perspectives, to reveal underlying
structures, and to critique and
redesign the contemporary landscape
of American architecture. Photo: F.T. Eyre
Curators: Kathleen Franz, Chrysanthe B. Broikos Exhibition Design: Malcolm Grear Designers, Inc.

39. Eero Saarinen
Shaping the Future
May 3 – August 23, 2008
Catalogue: Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen and Donald Albrecht, eds., Traveling exhibition: October 2006 - May 2010
Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future (Yale University Press, 2006)
This exhibition was the first major
retrospective of the work of architect
Eero Saarinen, designer of iconic
works such as the St. Louis Arch
and “Tulip” furniture.
Saarinen produced a body of work that not
only explored the promise of new materials
and technologies, but also seemed to capture
the uniquely American spirit of optimism
during the post-World War II economic boom.
The exhibition was organized by the Museum
Photo: Peter Cutts
along with the Finnish Cultural Institute and
the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki.
Curator: Donald Albrecht Exhibition Design: Roy Mänttäri

40. Green Community
October 23, 2008 - October 25, 2009
Catalogue: Susan Piedmont-Palladino and Timothy Mennel, eds., Green Community (APA Planners Press, 2009)
Green Community explored how
the health of our communities, our
planet, and ourselves depend on how
we plan, design, and construct the
world between our buildings.
The exhibition introduced visitors to
communities where citizens, political
leaders, planning and design professionals,
developers, and government agencies
are working together for a more
sustainable future.
Photo: Anne McDonough
Curator: Susan Piedmont-Palladino Exhibition Design: Matter Practice
Exhibition Graphics: mgmt. Design Exhibition Interactives: Potion

41. House of Cars:
Innovation and the Parking Garage
October 17, 2009 - July 11, 2010
House of Cars examined the
architecture and development
of parking garages in the
twentieth century.
The exhibition provided examples of well-
designed garages that encouraged visitors to
see these familiar structures in a whole new
way, and to understand the significance of the
parking garage to our cities and ourselves.
Photo: Anne McDonough
Curator: Sarah Leavitt Exhibition Design: Patrick Rogan, Assemble
Exhibition Consultant: Shannon Sanders McDonald Exhibition Graphics: Krohn Design