Rockwell Group to Design Exhibition at the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian Institution’s Arts and Industries Building (AIB) in Washington, DC has announced that Rockwell Group will spearhead the design of the museum’s first major exhibition in 20 years. Slated to reopen in November 2021 to commemorate its 175th anniversary, the museum will host FUTURES, an exhibit dedicated to the institution’s role as an engine for the future Artwork, technology, historic artifacts, and modern innovations from fields ranging from artificial intelligence to bioengineering will be showcased across 32,000 square feet. “In a world that feels perpetually tumultuous, there is power in imagining the future we want, not the future we fear,” says AIB director Rachel Goslins. “For 175 years, Smithsonian has been helping people better understand who we are, where we have been, and where we want to go. With FUTURES, we want to invite all visitors to discover, debate, and delight in the many possibilities for our shared future. There’s no place better to do this than in the Arts and Industries Building, the nation’s original home for big ideas.” FUTURES will comprise unique environments hosted in each of AIB’s four monumental halls: Past Futures, Futures that Inspire, Futures that Unite, and Futures that Work. Pavilions designed by Rockwell Group will reinforce the theme of each hall, doubling as an experiment in sustainable building design. Unconventional materials like mushroom mycelium bricks, solar cells, and recycled or recyclable resin and metal be featured, while the firm’s innovation studio the LAB will develop a digital ecosystem to further elevate the guest experience. “Future forecasting is often tied to technological advancements, but we wanted our design to help tell more than one story, free from constraints,” says Rockwell Group founder and president David Rockwell. “For FUTURES, we were inspired by the joy of discovery and spontaneity in a hybrid exhibit-festival. At a time when coming together for shared rituals and experiences has been so limited, our design seeks to find hope in our unique ability to spark change and shape the future collectively.” In addition to pieces sourced from 23 Smithsonian museums, FUTURES will debut a series of new art commissions and large-scale technology projects rolled out over the course of 2021. The exhibition will be open to the public from November 2021 through July 2022.