The BEACH is an interactive architectural installation designed by Snarkitecture for the National Building Museum.
The National Building Museum presents a one-of-a-kind destination for visitors, an interactive architectural installation that brings the quintessential summer experience of going to the beach to downtown Washington, D.C. Spanning across the Museum's Great Hall, the BEACH, created in partnership with Snarkitecture, will cover 10,000 square feet and include an "ocean" of nearly one million recyclable translucent plastic balls.
The BEACH is contained within an enclosure and built out of construction materials such as scaffolding, wooden panels, and perforated mesh, all clad in stark white. Monochromatic beach chairs and umbrellas sprinkle the 50-foot wide "shoreline," and the "ocean" culminates in a mirrored wall that creates a seemingly infinite reflected expanse. Visitors are welcome to "swim" in the ocean, or can spend an afternoon at the "shore's" edge reading a good book, play beach-related activities such as paddleball, grab a refreshing drink at the snack bar, or dangle their feet in the ocean off the pier.
Enjoy our snack concession, operated through a partnership with Union Kitchen, a D.C.-based food incubator.
PROJECT:
Taking cues from the familiar experience of a summer day at the beach, Snarkitecture has abstracted both the natural and cultural elements of the beach to create a reduced, monochromatic environment inside the museum's Great Hall. Standard construction materials like scaffolding, drywall, and mirrors are utilized to create the enclosure that leads to an ocean of 750,000 recyclable plastic balls.
The Beach welcomes visitors to explore, play and relax in a fully immersive and unique setting.
Photos by Noah Kalina - noahkalina.com
VISIT
401 F Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
202.272.2448
HOURS
Monday-Saturday:
10 am-5 pm
Sunday: 11 am-5 pm
The Building Zone closes at 4 pm.
ADMISSION
Free access to the Great Hall,
historic building tours,
Museum Shop, & cafe.
Exhibition admission:
$8 for adults
$5 for youth, students, & seniors
$3 a person for Building Zone only
Free for Museum members
WATCH | Web designer and photographer Andy Feliciotti's Vlog about "The Beach"
About Snarkitecture
Snarkitecture is a collaborative and experimental practice operating in territories between art and architecture. The name is drawn from Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of The Snark, a poem describing an "impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature."
Snarkitecture investigates the unknown within architecture - the indefinable moments created by manipulating and reinterpreting existing materials, structures and programs to spectacular effect.
Exploring the boundaries of disciplines, the studio designs permanent, architectural scale projects and functional objects with new and imaginative purposes. Snarkitecture's approach focuses on the viewer's experience and memory, creating moments of wonder and interaction that allow people to engage directly with their surrounding environment. By transforming the familiar into the extraordinary, Snarkitecture makes architecture perform the unexpected.
Snarkitecture was established by Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham.
For more information please visit Snarkitecture - www.snarkitecture.com
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