National Building Museum

Events & Online Programming

We are producing smart, timely, and thought-provoking presentations and panel discussions that can be enjoyed online: first live, via webinar, and then after, as recorded videos. Select live programs will offer the opportunity to earn continuing education credits; at this time, recorded programs are not eligible for such credits. Use this page to find out what we’re planning and what is available for viewing.

The Museum has three signature program series: Climate ABC, Equity in the Built Environment, and Spotlight on Design. We also have the Architecture and Design Film Festival, and the Scully Prize and the Honor Award.

Upcoming Programs

  • Demar Matthews...at the Intersection of Identity and Community September 16, 2022 $15 Museum Member | $10 Student | $25 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    In-person Program

    Can buildings, streets and landscapes affirm identity and define community? How does architecture amplify or silence, reflect or distort perspective, perception and narrative? These are the questions that Demar Matthews, Principal and Founder of OffTOP Design, asks with his work. Merging architecture, art and the Black cultural experience, Matthews investigates the power of architecture as a cultural signifier and vehicle of traditions, values, and identity.
    Read More +
  • Harriet Tubman...at the Intersection of Legacy and Landscape September 20, 2022 $10 Museum Member | Free Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    How can the preservation of landscapes strengthen our understanding of our shared history? The story of Harriet Tubman’s journey from an enslaved person, to a fearless leader of emancipation, to a giant of American history is one of the most dynamic examples of the power of individuals to affect the American cultural narrative.

    Join us as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Tubman’s birth and explore how the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Maryland and the newly opened Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, NY are working to protect and share her legacy through the preservation of the landscapes that shaped her life. Speakers include Jessica Bowes, Cultural Resource Specialist for Women’s Rights and Harriet Tubman National Historical Parks in NY, Chris Elcock, Associate Principal at GWWO Architects, and Deanna Mitchell, Superintendent of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Maryland. The program will be followed by a reception.

    Read More +
  • Mabel Wilson...at the Intersection of Representation and Tradition September 23, 2022 $10 Museum Member | Free Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Spotlight on Design
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    How can architecture redefine our perception of history to include the voices of the silenced and the experiences of the powerless?

    In April of 2021, the dedication of the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers was the culmination of an 11-year student-driven movement to recognize the more than 4,000 enslaved people who built and maintained the campus of the University of Virginia. Join as Mabel O. Wilson, the Nancy and George E. Rupp Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, and Glenn LaRue Smith, FSLA, Co-Founder and Design Director of PUSH Studio, have a conversation about her work on the Memorial and the ability of architecture to challenge tradition and redefine history.

    Read More +
  • Vincent Scully Prize - Dolores Hayden October 3, 2022 $10 Museum Member | FREE Student | $15 Non-member
    • Awards
    • Scully Prize
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    Celebrate the work of Dolores Hayden, Professor Emeritus in the School of American Studies at Yale University. Hayden is the 24th recipient of the National Building Museum’s annual Vincent Scully Prize. Beginning in the 1970s, she pioneered the analysis of American built environments to document the history of gender, class, and race. As an urban historian, architect, and poet, Hayden is the author of several award-winning books about American landscapes and the politics of place. In a conversation with Ellen Dunham-Jones, Director of the Master of Science in Urban Design degree and host of the Redesigning Cities podcast at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Hayden will discuss how gender inequality is maintained by the built environment and reflect on what an egalitarian city with feminist infrastructure might be like. To conclude her program, Hayden will read an excerpt from her most recent poetry collection, Exuberance, explores everyday risk and extraordinary excitement from the early years of American aviation.

    Read More +
  • BlackSpace...at the Intersection of Diversity, Agency, and Design October 18, 2022 $15 Museum Member | $10 Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    The BlackSpace Urbanist Collective is joining the National Building Museum for a series of three facilitated conversations (September 8, October 18, November 19) exploring the importance of Black spaces and the power of design in creating and conserving these spaces for Black people.

    The workshops are thought and action sessions, where participants re-conceptualize an existing interior space using principles of inclusive and culturally affirming design. The workshops will expand thinking about the possibilities for affirming Black cultural presence in design projects and provide participants with a chance for deeper discussion and collaboration. They are limited to 35 people each. No design experience needed! Open to all professionals, students, and the design curious.

    September 8 and October 18 are virtual (Zoom) workshops. November 19 is an in-person design workshop at the National Building Museum.

     

     

     

     

     

    Read More +
  • BlackSpace...at the Intersection of Diversity, Agency, and Design November 19, 2022 $15 Museum Member | $10 Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    The BlackSpace Urbanist Collective is joining the National Building Museum for a series of three facilitated conversations (September 8, October 18, November 19) exploring the importance of Black spaces and the power of design in creating and conserving these spaces for Black people.

    The workshops are thought and action sessions, where participants re-conceptualize an existing interior space using principles of inclusive and culturally affirming design. The workshops will expand thinking about the possibilities for affirming Black cultural presence in design projects and provide participants with a chance for deeper discussion and collaboration. They are limited to 35 people each. No design experience needed! Open to all professionals, students, and the design curious.

    September 8 and October 18 are virtual (Zoom) workshops. November 19 is an in-person design workshop at the National Building Museum.

    Read More +

Previous Programs

  • Mabel Wilson...at the Intersection of Representation and Tradition September 23, 2022 $10 Museum Member | Free Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Spotlight on Design
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    How can architecture redefine our perception of history to include the voices of the silenced and the experiences of the powerless?

    In April of 2021, the dedication of the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers was the culmination of an 11-year student-driven movement to recognize the more than 4,000 enslaved people who built and maintained the campus of the University of Virginia. Join as Mabel O. Wilson, the Nancy and George E. Rupp Professor of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, and Glenn LaRue Smith, FSLA, Co-Founder and Design Director of PUSH Studio, have a conversation about her work on the Memorial and the ability of architecture to challenge tradition and redefine history.

    Read More +
  • Harriet Tubman...at the Intersection of Legacy and Landscape September 20, 2022 $10 Museum Member | Free Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    How can the preservation of landscapes strengthen our understanding of our shared history? The story of Harriet Tubman’s journey from an enslaved person, to a fearless leader of emancipation, to a giant of American history is one of the most dynamic examples of the power of individuals to affect the American cultural narrative.

    Join us as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Tubman’s birth and explore how the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Church Creek, Maryland and the newly opened Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, NY are working to protect and share her legacy through the preservation of the landscapes that shaped her life. Speakers include Jessica Bowes, Cultural Resource Specialist for Women’s Rights and Harriet Tubman National Historical Parks in NY, Chris Elcock, Associate Principal at GWWO Architects, and Deanna Mitchell, Superintendent of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Maryland. The program will be followed by a reception.

    Read More +
  • Demar Matthews...at the Intersection of Identity and Community September 16, 2022 $15 Museum Member | $10 Student | $25 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    In-person Program

    Can buildings, streets and landscapes affirm identity and define community? How does architecture amplify or silence, reflect or distort perspective, perception and narrative? These are the questions that Demar Matthews, Principal and Founder of OffTOP Design, asks with his work. Merging architecture, art and the Black cultural experience, Matthews investigates the power of architecture as a cultural signifier and vehicle of traditions, values, and identity.
    Read More +
  • BlackSpace...at the Intersection of Diversity, Agency, and Design September 8, 2022 $15 Museum Member | $10 Student | $20 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    The BlackSpace Urbanist Collective is joining the National Building Museum for a series of three facilitated conversations (September 8, October 18, November 19) exploring the importance of Black spaces and the power of design in creating and conserving these spaces for Black people.

    The workshops are thought and action sessions, where participants re-conceptualize an existing interior space using principles of inclusive and culturally affirming design. The workshops will expand thinking about the possibilities for affirming Black cultural presence in design projects and provide participants with a chance for deeper discussion and collaboration. They are limited to 35 people each. No design experience needed! Open to all professionals, students, and the design curious.

    September 8 and October 18 are virtual (Zoom) workshops. November 19 is an in-person design workshop at the National Building Museum.

     

     

    Read More +
  • Video
    Spotlight on Design: Folger Shakespeare Library Renovation August 8, 2022 $10 Museum and FSL Members / FREE Students / $15 Non-member
    • Museum Exhibitions & More
    • Spotlight on Design

    Learn about the renovation of Washington DC’s Folger Shakespeare Library, designed by Paul Cret in 1932. Michael Witmore, Library director, and Stephen Kieran, FAIA, LEED Fellow, partner, KieranTimberlake, explore how a historically listed 1930s building can become a more fully accessible cultural hub for the 21st century. Enhancements include new entry plazas and gardens, permanent and temporary exhibitions, study rooms for researchers, and an Education Laboratory.

    The National Building Museum and the Folger Shakespeare Library, in association with the University of South Carolina, are partnering this summer to present The Playhouse. Starting on Friday, July 1–and running through August 28, 2022–visitors can step back in time with the Bard for the latest iteration of the Museum’s Summer Block Party.

    Read More +
  • NBM Late Night: Frontera Performance August 1, 2022 $10 Member/ $5 Student / $25 Non-member
    • Museum Exhibitions & More

    Visit the Museum after hours to explore our exhibitions, including The Wall/El Muro: What is a Border Wall? before diving deep into life at the border with The Frontera Project – an interactive, bilingual theater event created by a company of Mexican and US artists who use music, movement and play to engage audiences in a compassionate, often joyous conversation about life at the US/Mexico Border. Specifically focused on Tijuana/San Diego, they will explore the varied lives of people on both sides of the Border – for audiences who may never have been there themselves. Their mission is to create the possibility for recognition across difference – of perspective, identity – and spark a dialogue about what divides us, and what we share. After the show, stick around for post-performance conversation!

    Visite el Museo durante nuestro programa después de horas para explorar exposicíones, incluyendo The Wall/El Muro: What is a Border Wall? antes de sumergirse en la vida en la frontera con The Frontera Project – una evento teatral interactiva y bilingüe, que incopora además la música y el juego para involucrar activamente al público en una conversación integral sobre la vida en la frontera México/Estados Unidos, más allá de la situación política y la realidad mostrada en los medios de comunicación. De esta manera, más que contar una sola historia, se construye un mosaico de pequeñas anécdotas (personales y ficcionadas) que celebran la riqueza y las contradicciones de la vida fronteriza, particularmente en las ciudades de Tijuana/San Diego, recreando experiencias diversas de personas en ambos lados de la frontera para públicos que quizá nunca han estado ahí. El tema es la Frontera, pero el objetivo del proyecto es crear la posibilidad de reconocernos en las diferencias: de perspectiva, identidad o experiencia, para lograr una conexión que realmente signifique cruzar una frontera. Es por ello que la obra busca llegar a públicos familiares para abrir la posibilidad de diálogo sobre lo que implican las fronteras en el mundo actual. Lo invitamos a quedarse después de la experencia interactiva para una conversacion con los creativos de The Frontera Project.

    Read More +
Load More