Existing comment:
National Building Museum; Outside
This building was constructed in 1882 as the Old Pension Building. It was designed by General Montgomery Meigs, Lincoln's Army Quartermaster, who also designed the Arts and Industries Building and helped with the dome of the Capital as well as the Renwick Gallery.
Until World War II, the building housed the Pension Office. In 1980, it was transformed into the National Building Museum, the first museum dedicated specifically to architecture in this country.
Inside is a huge courtyard--the largest enclosed open space in Washington--with four levels of balconies. Eight Corinthian columns, 76-feet-tall and 25-feet around, are the largest in the world. |