F ST—The National Building Museum has partnered with architect David Rockwell's company to put on an interactive exhibit called PLAY WORK BUILD in which people can learn about the history and range of creative block play. It includes the Rockwell Group's much-loved Imagination Playground and all the details about this November opening are after the jump. [Curbed Inbox; previously]
NATIONAL CATHEDRAL—The energetic amongst us might want to take part in the Tower Climb happening on September 29th. There are only three time slots available to hike the 333 steps to the top and this event has a tendency to sell out so dust off the running shoes. [OfficialSite]
BLOGOSPHERE—Please welcome to the dancefloor the newest blogger over on Housing Complex. Aaron Wiener has taken up the reins to cover buildings, development, real estate, and the people behind them. [WCP]
WASHINGTON, D.C.— This November, the National Building Museum, in collaboration with internationally renowned design firm Rockwell Group, presents a hands-on, interactive exhibition exploring the history and creative range of block play. Entitled PLAY WORK BUILD, the exhibition combines items from the Museum's extraordinary architectural toy collection with Rockwell Group's Imagination Playground, a breakthrough play space that turns the traditional playground on its head with a focus on loose parts and blue foam blocks of all shapes and sizes. Over the past five years, Imagination Playground has been installed in over 600 locations worldwide. Through this innovative presentation of block play, families will be able to collectively experience the connection between early examples of imaginative play and its modern-day interpretation. PLAY WORK BUILD opens November 18, 2012.
The exhibition begins with a display of architectural and construction toys culled from the Museum's extraordinary collection of more than 2,300 sets. In each gallery, the history of play with a particular emphasis on blocks is explored. Organized thematically, examples of some of the earliest American construction toys, including alphabet blocks made by S.L. Hill in the 1870s and finger-joint building blocks made by Charles Crandall in the 1860s, are on view. Original Froebel Blocks, designed by Friedrich Froebel, the first advocate of "free play" in childhood and the use of toys for educational purposes, are displayed along with early Erector sets, including one that could build a robot, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and a variety of rare plastic-molded toys from midcentury, as well as skyscraper, house, and village construction sets. Wall texts add to the narrative, with celebrated architects, designers, and engineers recounting how childhood block play influenced their decision to pursue work in the built environment.
Visitors of all ages are then encouraged to test their building skills in a variety of scales. In the second gallery, tables of foam blocks in different shapes and sizes, designed by Rockwell Group and produced exclusively for the exhibition, are available for small-scale block play. The floors and walls of the next gallery are covered with Rockwell Group's trademark blue foam material, with hundreds of large-scale blocks filling the room. Adults and children will be able to reconfigure objects and their environment through a variety of shapes, holes, and connectors that allow for more complex building opportunities. Visitors can create structures directly on the floor, build them off of the walls, or combine the two as they invent individual narratives, construct and dismantle, or simply enjoy the forms and textures.
The final gallery showcases an original interactive installation of virtual block play created by Rockwell Group's digital interaction team, the LAB. As visitors walk in front of the video projection, their reflections in the form of blue blocks will appear on the wall. As more people enter the projection space and begin to move, more blocks fill the screen. At regular intervals, the screen will automatically fill with virtual blocks, which can then be knocked down by visitors' gestures.
"Blocks have always been a fundamental element of play, and were greatly inspirational to Imagination Playground. We are thrilled to work with the National Building Museum and to create a unique indoor play space within the historical context of construction and block play," said David Rockwell. "Play—for children and adults—cannot be affirmed enough. At Rockwell Group, we like to build, take down and start all over again through creative collaboration, and that is exactly what this exhibit offers in a fun, informative, interactive way."
"The National Building Museum is always looking for new ways to investigate the world of buildings and, by combining our architectural toy collection with the Rockwell Group's inventive foam blocks, we have an extraordinary vantage point," says Chase W. Rynd, the Museum's president and executive director. "Through the interactive component of the exhibition, in particular, visitors both young and old will be able to examine and appreciate the complexities of the building process—from the sheer fun to the thought-provoking challenge of figuring out the multiple ways we can shape the world around us."
TICKETS
Tickets for PLAY WORK BUILD are required. Admission to the exhibition is $8 for adults, $5 for youth, students, and seniors, and free for National Building Museum members and children under three. Visit www.nbm.org for information about purchasing tickets online. Be sure to bring your entire family to enjoy this unique exhibition and hands-on learning experience.