Looking and Legos

We took advantage of Daddy's day off for Presidents' Day and traveled downtown to the National Building Museum. Traffic wasn't as light as I expected it would be, but we managed to find a pretty fabulous parking spot only about a block and a half from the museum. And, better yet, parking enforcement was suspended yesterday...meaning no feeding the meter! Woot! If you'd rather take the metro, the Judiciary Square metro station is directly across the street from the museum's F Street entrance. Wheelchair and stroller accessible entrances are located on G Street and 4th Street, though if you find yourself at the F Street entrance (like we did) there really aren't that many stairs, and they are shallow. With a little caution, I could have probably wheeled or carried the stroller up the stairs myself...but Daddy to the rescue!


The building itself is a marvel. It was designed by architect Montgomery Cunningham Meigs and constructed between 1882 and 1887 as the U.S. Pension Bureau. The building's most stunning elements are the terra cotta frieze around the exterior designed by Caspar Buberl and the soaring Great Hall, with its arcaded columns and lively fountain. Access to the Great Hall is free, and you might even be able to catch a free docent-led tour of the historic building. Admission to the exhibitions is $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for children over the age of three. If you have an active child over the age of two, consider checking out the Buidling Zone. Access to the Building Zone is included in your regular admission or can be purchased separately for $3.00 per person.

If Diggory was older, I would have let him play with the foam arch building blocks and the items on the Discovery Carts in the Great Hall. But, as it was, he was perfectly content crawling around on the floor...and investigating the fountain.

After you purchase your exhibition tickets at the information desk, pick up a visitor guide, events calendar, self-guided tour brochure, and the drawing guide titled "Drawing Big," written by artist and author David Macaulay. It's a fun activity for older kids and adults on how to draw architecture, explaining one-point perspective, horizon lines, vanishing points, and perspective lines. There's also ample space for creating your own drawing.

We explored the first floor exhibition galleries first, starting with the temporary exhibition Unbuilt Washington, on view through May 28th. As the introductory text suggested, seeing models and drawings of "what could have been," often made me appreciate what actually exists even more. The exhibition begins with a more big picture view of the plans for the layout of the city itself, and moves into plans for the National Mall and other neighborhoods, before displaying plans for individual buildings and monument projects. The floating aquarium in the Anacostia River and the Dolphin America Hotel were particularly befuddling.

Before heading up to the LEGO exhibition, we peeked into the two long-term exhibitions of items from the museum's permanent collection. Cityscapes Revealed presents architectural fragments, photographs, and drawings of historically important buildings from across the country. Washington: Symbol and City explores the capital as both the hub of the federal government and a home to more than 600,000 people. In addition to federal buildings and monuments, the galleries also address residental structures and transportation infrastructure.

Take one of the two elevators to the second floor. Onview through September 3rd, LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition displays fifteen large-scale models of famous buildings built entirely from LEGO bricks by LEGO certified professional Adam Reed Tucker. (I didn't know you could build with LEGOs as a profession.) I enjoyed seeing the several buildings from the Chicago skyline, including the "Corn Cobs." You can't take strollers inside the gallery, but there is clearly marked stroller parking just outside the entrance. After you explore the building models, try your hand at building your own architectural wonder. There are tables and thousands of LEGO bricks for your creative pleasures.

Nathan and I both wondered, "How many germs are on these things?" and "How do they clean this up every night?" Well, at least one of our questions was answered by seeing the gentleman with the large broom sweeping up piles of LEGOs. Diggory is, of course, too young to play with LEGOs. He would just eat them. But Daddy can't wait for him to be old enough to at least play with Duplos...maybe Nana will bring Daddy's bucket of LEGOs the next time she comes to visit.

Two quick points before closing out this entry. The restrooms on the first and second floors have changing tables, and there's a small cafe run by Firehook Bakery on the first floor. Also, don't forget to admire the Great Hall from the second floor balcony while you're up there. It's quite a lovely view.