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.

Previous Programs

  • BlackSpace...at the Intersection of Diversity, Agency, and Design February 25, 2023, 2-5 pm $20 Museum Member | $5 Student | $35 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    On February 25, BlackSpace Urbanist Collective for a fast-paced, hands-on and interactive design charette where participants reconceptualize the built environment using principles of inclusive and culturally affirming design​. Charette expands thinking about the possibilities for affirming Black cultural presence in design projects. This program will be followed by a reception at 5pm.​

    The BlackSpace Urbanist Collective facilitates conversations exploring the importance of Black spaces and the power of design in creating and conserving these spaces for Black people. Their workshops are thought and action sessions, providing participants with a chance for deeper discussion and collaboration. No design experience needed! Open to all professionals, students, and the design curious.

    This program qualifies for 3 LU/HSW (AIA), 3 PDH (LA CES/ASLA).

    This program will be in-person at the National Building Museum.

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  • Celebration of Howard University and Albert Cassell Thursday, February 23, 2023, 6-8 PM $10 Museum Member | Free Student | $15 Non-member
    • Equity in the Built Environment
    • Upcoming Programs

    Register

    In celebration of Black History Month and in partnership with Howard University, the National Building will host a panel discussion exploring the life, work and impact of Albert Cassell, at the Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture. A Howard University Architecture Professor and author of the pivotal Howard University 1932 Master Plan, Cassell’s legacy continues to shape the face of Howard University’s campus and the broader U street corridor. Through his teaching and practice, Cassell paved the way for generations of architects of color, including the subsequent generations of his own family. This program also commemorates the 112th anniversary of the founding of Howard University’s Department of Architecture.

    Please note: online ticket sales end at midnight on February 22. Availability permitting, tickets can be purchased day-of at the door.

    This program will be presented in the Innovation Space at the Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture, 2300 6th St NW, Washington, DC 20059.

    Doors open at 6pm. Program from 6:30 – 8pm.

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  • 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.

     

     

     

     

     

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

    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.

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  • 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

    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.

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  • Video
    Harriet Tubman...at the Intersection of Legacy and Landscape September 20, 2022
    • Equity in the Built Environment

    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.

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