Past Programs
A Perspective on Urban Transformation in the Digital Age
Smart Growth
May 6, 2013
How do we power a community’s transformation from mediocrity to excellence, from surviving to thriving, or from apathy to engagement? Ed Walker, founder and CEO of ReGeneration Partners, LLC, and CityWorks, LLC, outlines the roles of design, real property, capitalism, and interdisciplinary social entrepreneurship in evaluating our built and natural environments.
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The Just Right Home
May 6, 2013
Designer and author of The Just Right Home, Marianne Cusato explores the evolution of the American dream home−past, present, and future.
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Saint Elizabeths Historic Buildings
Construction Watch Tours
May 4, 2013
A representative of the General Services Administration leads a highlight tour of the historic buildings on Saint Elizabeths campus.
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DAP II: Furnishing Homeward Presentation and Reception
May 4, 2013
Teen designers present finished furniture products for families in a transitional housing program.
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Dunbar High School
Construction Watch Tours
April 20, 2013
Sean O’Donnell, principal with Perkins Eastman, leads a tour of this 280,000-square-foot project, which is seeking LEED® for Schools Platinum certification.
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Smart, Green, and Connected
April 17, 2013
How do designers measure success in urban revitalization projects? Landscape architect Kim Mathews, RLA, ASLA, principal of Mathews Nielsen, discusses resiliency and renewal through the lens of her firm’s Cinderella projects on New York City’s urban edge.
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A History of Future Cities
April 15, 2013
Daniel Brook discusses his book, A History of Future Cities, which examines four “instant cities”—St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai—to explore three centuries of the developing world’s attempts to modernize overnight.
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The Art of Structural Tile
April 15, 2013
MIT architecture professor and 2008 MacArthur Fellow John Ochsendorf discusses the engineering genius and architectural legacy of the Rafael Guastavino family. Ochsendorf is the author of Guastavino Vaulting: The Art of Structural Tile and the project director for the exhibition currently on view.
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John Russell Pope
Portraits in Design
April 14, 2013
Steven McLeod Bedford, author of John Russell Pope: Architect of Empire (Rizzoli) discusses Pope’s life and work, which includes Richmond, Virginia’s, Union Station, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the West Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
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Green Community Teaching Kit Educator Workshop
April 13, 2013
Learn how to bring city planning and green building concepts into your classroom at this educator workshop. Museum staff will model lesson plans, demonstrate teaching tools and explore materials from Green Community, the National Building Museum’s classroom-ready curriculum kit.
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Industry to Art: Revitalizing Cities through Culture
April 10, 2013
Panelists explore small and medium-sized cities across the United States that are transforming aging factories into art galleries, producing annual cultural events to draw outside visitors, and even offering grants to help artists relocate to new cultural districts.
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Flying in the Great Hall
April 7, 2013
Watch as the DC Maxecuters fly their model airplanes in and across the Great Hall! FREE. Drop-in demonstration program. All ages.
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77H
Construction Watch Tours
April 6, 2013
Part of the ongoing H Street renaissance and development boom in NoMa, 77H is a new mixed-use project anchored by an 80,000-square-foot urban-format Walmart. Jim Woods of The JBG Companies leads a tour of this new project, which includes 10,000 square feet of retail on H Street and 303 residential units.
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Notre Dame: The 21st Century Restoration of an Architectural Icon
April 4, 2013
Benjamin Mouton, Hon. AIA, inspector general for Historic Monuments of France, and president of the Academy of Architecture, discusses the major restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral.
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M. Paul Friedberg
Spotlight on Design
April 3, 2013
M. Paul Friedberg, FASLA, founding principal of M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, and Bradford McKee, editor of Landscape Architecture Magazine, discuss the important role of landscape architecture in the creation of people-centric places.
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Stories of Community Development in D.C.
April 1, 2013
A panel of experts discusses three decades of redevelopment in Washington, D.C. and how that history informs the future of national policy toward cities and neighborhoods.
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Rethinking Urban Rivers in an Age of Climate Change
Smart Growth
March 21, 2013
John R. Wennersten, environmental policy writer, Smithsonian consultant on urban waterways, and author of Global Thirst: Water and Society in the 21st Century, discusses how rivers fit into local and global public policy.
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Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Reimagining Lincoln Center and the High Line
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital
March 21, 2013
Interdisciplinary design firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro discuss their projects in New York City—the High Line and revitalization and expansion of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
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Mother Nature's Child
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital
March 17, 2013
This documentary explores nature’s powerful role in children’s health and development through the experience of toddlers, children in middle childhood, and adolescents. Judy Lem, manager of special projects at KaBOOM! introduces the film.
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Daniel H. Burnham
Portraits in Design
March 17, 2013
Judith McBrien, director of the film Make No Little Plans, examines Daniel H. Burnham’s work, which includes his large scale plans for Chicago and Washington, D.C.
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