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ARTS + INDUSTRIES
The astounding building in which you're standing has long been a place to encounter the future. Built using progressive techniques and with record efficiency, it opened in 1881 as the National Museum. Dubbed America's 'Palace of Wonders,' it marked a radical shift in the idea of what the Smithsonian could be: our first purpose-built museum, a space to spark discovery and amplify wonder.
The Arts + Industries Building has also been an incubator for the Smithsonian itself, and has been used to display everything from dinosaurs to rocket ships. Over the years it has hosted working research laboratories and displayed new inventions: the telegraph, the light bulb, electric cars, computers. A few months after the lunar landing, Apollo 11 astronauts unveiled a moon rock brought back to Earth in the building's rotunda.
In 2004, the deteriorating building was closed to the public, and soon after, declared one of America's Most Endangered Places. An intensive restoration project has now stabilized the exterior (including 2 1⁄2 acres of roof and over 900 windows). Its beautiful interior, which remains close to its original state, is now ready for a historic full renovation. |