WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Building Museum partnered with the LAB at Rockwell Group to present the 2019 Summer Block Party installation. Lawn is an immersive installation taking up the entirety of the Museum’s Great Hall, and presents interactive experiences for all ages. Lawn is open July 4 through September 2, 2019.
Lawn allows guests to unwind with quintessential summer activities while connecting to the design of the Museum. It features a vast, sloping green space built on a scaffolding superstructure. Visitors purchase tickets at a reception area that features a building-scale mural of the sky, containing a dimensional title treatment set against a pixelated cloudscape made up of classic summertime iconography. Guests are directed towards a pathway running alongside the scaffolding, leading to a gently sloping trail that will bring visitors to the base of the lawn.
Visitors are met with a green expanse, set on a graceful incline and dotted with clusters of communal lounging areas. The centerpiece of these lounging areas are interactive hammocks suspended from the 100-foot-tall ceiling grid. The hammocks contain hidden speakers programmed with pre-recorded audio from prominent American storytellers, sharing summertime memories. At the top of the lawn is a scaffolding tower that reaches the height of the Museum’s third floor, offering never-before-seen views of the Great Hall, column capitals, and sculptural busts lining the roof.
The lawn itself will be programmed and activated throughout the day with summer entertainment and activities, including movie nights, yoga, and meditation. By creating custom software, the LAB has also developed an Augmented Reality game for kids and adults to chase and collect fireflies throughout the lawn, allowing them to be released back into the space at the end.
“Rockwell Group’s mission to drive connection through design aligns perfectly with our Summer Block Party series,” said Chase Rynd, executive director, National Building Museum. “The LAB has ingeniously brought a quintessentially American ideal into our Great Hall, highlighting the interplay between design and landscape, while also eliciting a sense of wonder and play among visitors of all ages.”
“The lawn is a fascinating example of a typology that straddles the line between public and private space,” said David Rockwell, founder and president, Rockwell Group. “Whether it is a backyard or a public green, lawns bring people together and foster a sense of community, so our goal was to create an indoor lawn that would inspire people to share stories, make memories, and daydream, while honoring the great tradition of summertime.”
Lawn is also sustainable. The surface material, provided by SynLawn, is a USDA certified BioPreferred® product comprised of sustainably grown sugarcane and a soybean-based backing system. The material is 100% recyclable and will be repurposed after the Lawn closes. Additionally, the scaffolding will be re-used on other jobs once the exhibition ends.
Lawn is the sixth Summer Block Party installation, and follows Fun House by Snarkitecture, Hive by Studio Gang, ICEBERGS by James Corner Field Operations, The BEACH by Snarkitecture, and the BIG Maze by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). Lawn also is the second collaboration between the Museum and Rockwell Group, who developed and designed PLAY WORK BUILD, an exhibition exploring the connections between play, design, and the work of building professionals. PLAY WORK BUILD, which opened in 2012, is the Museum’s highest attended exhibition to date.
Lawn will be complemented by other programs and events, and ticket purchasers will be able to visit all of the Museum’s exhibitions, including HOOPS and Flickering Treasures: Rediscovering Baltimore’s Forgotten Movie Theaters.
