FUTURES

Washington, D.C.

Interactive Experiences

FUTURES brought 650,000 visitors to the AIB, making it the first and largest exhibition on the future on the National Mall.

In honor of the Smithsonian Institution’s 175th anniversary, its historic Arts & Industries Building (AIB) was temporarily reopened to visitors for a nine-month exhibition titled FUTURES in Washington, D.C. Dating back to 1881 but closed since 2004, the building is the second oldest of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall and a National Historic Landmark.

Rockwell Group collaborated with the Smithsonian on a cohesive overall guest experience, interior design, exhibition design, wayfinding, experiential graphics, and technology installations. Spanning approximately 32,000 square feet of ground-floor exhibition space in the four main halls off the AIB’s central rotunda, the show was a fitting prototype for the building’s next big chapter and its first major exhibition in 20 years.

Client: Smithsonian Institution

Project Category

Selected Press

Serving as a precursor to the dynamic, future-oriented programming that eventually be housed in the building after its renovation, FUTURES used experiential learning, installations, and immersive digital content to illustrate how particular values and priorities can shape our future. The exhibition also showcased historic objects and modern innovations from fields such as artificial intelligence, bioengineering, and communication.

“This exhibition approaches the idea of the future with curiosity and optimism.”

David Rockwell

FUTURES exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building

Futures AIB 09 — Oriented around the building’s central rotunda, the exhibition provided visitors with a non-linear experience, prompting a multitude of interpretations for the objects and installations on view. Each of the four exhibition halls around the rotunda housed customized, flexible, and demountable pavilions, which were organized as walkable “cabinets of curiosity” in intimate diorama settings underneath the halls’ mezzanines.

Sustainable materials dominated the architectural palette and finishes, including recycled metal curtains, recycled wall panels, wood and wool acoustic panels, recycled cardboard tubes, felted material created from recycled PET water bottles and printed fabrics.

Part exhibit, part festival, the exhibition was a dynamic collection of content that generated wonder and excitement with unconventional, optimistic, playful architectural forms. Carpet tiles in a swirling pattern created an environment for interstitial spaces with a dynamic, patchwork-like quality.

The exhibition content and experiences was also made available digitally, with LAB at Rockwell Group creating a touch-free digital ecosystem, sponsored by SoftBank, that enhanced the storytelling experience for visitors.