National Building Museum Annual Report 2006 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR T IS HARD NOT TO BELIEVE IT WAS We opened eight new exhibitions ALL PRE-DESTINED,” wrote founding during the past year and offered literally “Itrustees Herbert M. Franklin and hundreds of lectures, symposia, youth Cynthia R. Field in the Winter 2005–06 programs, and family festivals. As usual, issue of Blueprints, which marked the 25th our programming attracted a lot of anniversary of the establishment of the attention from the media, drawing National Building Museum. They were coverage throughout the United States and referring to the happy marriage of a in many other countries. It is quite dynamic educational institution dedicated exciting to see the name of the National to the building arts and the spectacular Building Museum appearing in newspapers historic landmark that is its home. from places as far-flung as Belarus, Brazil, Herb and Cynthia’s comment and China! Chase W. Rynd President and Executive Director was apt, and yet we know that nothing I am grateful to all of our Photo by Liz Roll. in the built environment is inevitable members, staff, and trustees for their or immutable. Every building, every contributions to the Museum’s success. I landscape, every city we experience is the close with a special note of thanks to result of a string of ideas, decisions, and Carolyn Brody, who has so ably served as even conflicts—some small, some chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees momentous—that shaped its final form. over the past six years. She has both led Such strings of events make for fascinating and represented the Museum with aplomb, stories, and it is the Museum’s mission to and we have all benefited from her tell and interpret them. insights and her great spirit. Through exhibitions, education As you read this, we are already programs, and publications, the Museum well into our next fiscal year, under encourages people to see—really see— the leadership of our new chair, Michael the world that surrounds them. The Glosserman. Exciting things are afoot uniqueness of our mission resonates with once again, and we look forward to your people of all ages and backgrounds, as ongoing support and participation. reflected in our growing attendance figures. During the 2006 fiscal year, Sincerely, which ran from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006, the Museum attracted a total of 376,474 visitors—an increase of 4 percent over the previous year—plus more Chase W. Rynd than 1.6 million “virtual” visitors to our President and Executive Director website, up an impressive 39 percent over fiscal year 2005. 2 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR HE END OF FISCAL YEAR 2006 marked I have been honored to serve the conclusion of my six years as chair with so many dedicated trustees, many of Tof the National Building Museum, and whom are not only valued colleagues, but what a terrific experience it has been. I am also dear friends. My fellow board members so proud of what we have accomplished, come from diverse professions and places, and I know more great things are on the but all of them share a commitment to the way, as I marvel at the Museum’s mission of the National Building Museum, ambitious plans for the future. as well as great joy in presiding over its Six years does not seem such a ongoing success. long time, but the world has changed so That success owes much to the much since I became chair. So far, the Museum’s talented and hard-working staff. early years of the twenty-first century have In particular, I extend my thanks to our Carolyn Schwenker Brody been defined largely by cataclysmic natural executive director, Chase Rynd, and to Chair disasters and the growing specter of global his predecessor, Susan Henshaw Jones. Photo by Diana Walker. terrorism, forcing us all to re-examine our I am also pleased, as I have often said, relationships to the built world. At the that Michael Glosserman is succeeding me same time, however, the past few years as chair—I know that the Museum is in have brought many positive developments. good hands. The burgeoning interest in sustainable Finally, I thank the Museum’s design and development, for instance, has members, contributors, and many other given rise to great optimism not only about admirers, who recognize that ensuring the the future health of our natural quality of our buildings and communities environment, but also about exciting is a shared responsibility, and one that possibilities for new forms of architectural brings profound rewards. expression and innovative community planning. Meanwhile, emerging Sincerely, technologies have offered the promise of safer, more beautiful, and more comfortable buildings than ever before. Through it all, the National Building Carolyn Schwenker Brody Museum has exercised invaluable Chair leadership in shaping the public debate about these complex issues. 3 Leadership in Design Central China Television Headquarters and TVCC One of the vital roles of the National Building Museum is to provide a Television Center in Beijing, China designed forum for meaningful public discussion about developments in architecture, by Rem Koolhaas and the Office of Metropolitan engineering, construction, planning, landscape architecture, and preservation. Architecture. Digital rendering by Office of In order to achieve this, the Museum identifies practitioners and scholars Metropolitan Architecture. who are at the forefront of changes in these disciplines. Through lectures, exhibitions, and publications, the Museum offers many platforms for such leaders to share their ideas and views. 4 LEADERSHIP IN DESIGN Spotlight on Design The popular Spotlight on Design lecture series is the cornerstone of the Museum’s public programming. Leading designers from the fields of architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture regularly appear at the Museum to present their latest work. In April 2006, the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas attracted an audience of nearly 1,400 people, the largest of the year for a public program. Other participants in the past year’s lecture series included: Antoine Predock, winner of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal; Japanese McMahon, senior resident fellow at the architect Shigeru Ban; Craig Dykers, of the Urban Land Institute and former vice Norwegian firm Snøhetta; and all eight president and director of land use programs of the innovative young firms recognized at the Conservation Foundation. as Emerging Voices for 2006 by the Architectural League of New York. In fiscal year 2006, Building for the 21st Century Throughout the year, members of was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy The Corinthians, the Museum’s major donor Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and Smart Growth was presented in association group, and other VIPs enjoyed special, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and private dinners and receptions with the the Smart Growth Network. invited speakers. Inspiring Audiences The 2005–06 Spotlight on Design series was sponsored by Lafarge, the world leader in building Other symposia, films, and special programs materials. Additional support was provided by the rounded out a wide selection of education National Endowment for the Arts. events during fiscal year 2006. Films included those exploring the work and life Lunch and Learn of Louis Kahn, John Lautner, and Moshe top / The audience for the lecture by The Museum offers a number of informal, Safdie, plus a mid-Atlantic preview of a Rem Koolhaas fills the lunchtime lectures free of charge in documentary on the 1893 Chicago World’s Great Hall. Photo by F.T. Eyre. partnership with the U.S. Department of Columbian Exposition. above / Moshe Safdie, Energy and the U.S. Environmental A symposium in April investigated a speaker in the Spotlight Protection Agency. During fiscal year 2006, the underrepresentation, but current rise, on Design series. Photo by F.T. Eyre. the Building for the 21st Century series, which of women in the architecture field. The addresses cutting-edge technologies and Museum also organized an exclusive Dine by sustainability, included presentations about Design restaurant preview, presenting a the Solar Decathlon and high-performance, program at a new Georgetown waterfront green commercial buildings. The Smart Growth restaurant, Agraria, with the architects series drew speakers such as The Washington and the restaurant’s executive chef and Post reporter Michael Grunwald, who management firm. In the fall, an inter- discussed his book The Swamp: The Everglades, school student design competition had Florida and the Politics of Paradise, and Ed university-level architecture students 5 LEADERSHIP IN DESIGN The popularity of Liquid Stone led to the publication of a substantial book based on the content of the exhibition and a related symposium held at Princeton University in the fall of 2005. Published by Princeton Architectural Press in summer 2006 with support from Lafarge, the exhibition’s sole sponsor, the catalogue was co-edited by Liquid Stone curator Martin Moeller and Jean-Louis Cohen, the Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture at New York University. The book, which was simultaneously published in French under the title Architectures du béton: Nouvelles vagues, nouvelles recherches, is available through the National Building Museum Shop. Liquid Stone: New Architecture in Concrete was made above / The Ford responding to a design challenge with Calumet Environmental possible by the generous support of Lafarge, the world Center designed by a day-long charrette in the Great Hall. leader in building materials. Chicago-based architecture firm Studio The symposium on women in architecture was Gang, which was Bringing Affordable Housing featured in the Museum’s supported by a generous grant from the Beverly Willis 2006 Spotlight on Architecture Foundation (www.BWAF.org). to the Nation Design: Emerging Voices lecture series.