Gift of Edward J. Mertes Donated in 1982 At the beginning of the 20th century, architectural terra cotta was firmly established as America’s premier material for detailing commercial structures, especially the new, steel-framed skyscrapers then rising in Chicago and New York City. After the... Read More
By Laura Hicken, Assistant Registrar The Collections Department getting in the spirit of springtime with this playful illustration in our Washington National Cathedral Collection. Noted illustrator Grace Norcross Fisher designed this whimsical guide for the Bishop’s Garden, which includes a list o...
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New exhibition features never-before-shown objects from the collection WASHINGTON, D.C.— On April 20, 2019, the National Building Museum opens Animals, Collected, a new exhibition featuring architectural objects depicting animals, all drawn from the permanent collection. Imagined as a cabinet of c...
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On view through August 28, 2023
...Lions and tigers and … griffins? Oh, my! The National Building Museum is home to 320,000 objects related to the built environment. Many of these artifacts in the permanent collection have never been displayed. Animals, Collected is a chance to explore some of the Museum’s most unusual treasur...
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... Read MoreNever miss a month by subscribing to National Building Museum Online. February 2020 Best of brain busters Q: Julian Abele received an architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1904, and went on to study at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Upon his return to Philadel... Read More