Photo by Ron Blunt

FUTURES is a Smithsonian Institution 175th anniversary exhibition at the Arts & Industries building from November 2021 to July 2022. Designed by Rockwell Group, LAB, 2x4. The  exhibition welcomed 650, 000 visitors.


The Challenge

Smithsonian Institution (SI) approached Rockwell Group to design an exhibition for their 175th Anniversary in the Arts and Industries Building (AIB)- Celebrating the future with curiosity and optimism. We are tasked with:
  • A tight schedule, as the big exhibition has to open in less than a year.
  • A limited budget, as SI is a government institute.
  • Stringent building code, as AIB was built in 1881 with historical significance.
Project Approach

Part exhibition, part festival. Every hall is designed with different character, like the World Expo.
  • Experiential Approach: Multiple FUTURES instead of singular future as depicted from past exhibitions about the future: visitors should freely flow around and explore the exhibits and halls.
  • Practical Approach: We worked out how much space we can clean up and develop based on our limited budget and stringent building code.
Key Development

In the exhibition journey, visitors can see past future-making artifacts sit in conversation with contemporary objects, provoking questions that address both the hopeful and the ambiguous nature of future-casting. "FUTURES" invites artists, designers, and the public to respond to help imagine the many futures that could be.

For the pavilions, we sourced sustainable and grade A fire-rated materials and furniture only, and designed them to be all inclusive, equitable and ADA accessible.
The Outcome

The exhibition welcomed 650,000 visitors within our design of approximately 30,000 square feet of exhibition space at the AIB. By the numbers:
  • 65,000 action commitments made for a better future
  • 30,000 kids guides distributed to inspire the next generation
  • 5,000 articles written about FUTURES
  • 100 school and community group visits
  • 1 marriage proposal



“We want the exhibition in the historic Arts & Industries Building to feel like a modern carnival - celebrating the future with curiosity and optimism.”



Part exhibition, part festival,
“FUTURES” is a prototype for the building’s next big chapter and its first major exhibition in 40 years. Past future-making artifacts sit in conversation with contemporary objects, provoking questions that address both the hopeful and the ambiguous nature of future-casting. “FUTURES” invites artists, designers, and the public to respond to help imagine the many futures that could be.

We designed approximately 30,000 square feet of exhibition space in the four main halls off of the AIB’s central rotunda. The LAB at Rockwell Group contributed a unifying layer of interactive digital storytelling, involving UI/UX design and software development. 


Future Past



“It is about looking back to past generations’ futures and encouraging visitors to realise that our own sense of our future is relative to our present, and will probably look quite different in the future.” — Glenn Adamson

Past future-making artifacts sit in conversation with contemporary objects, provoking questions that address both the hopeful and the ambiguous nature of future-casting. "FUTURES" invites artists, designers, and the public to respond to help imagine the many futures that could be.


Pavilions



Initial sketches for slow pavilion

As the AIB is a historical building from 1881, there is a long list of budget, code and safety constraints, to name a few, the pavilions have to be:

  • ≤ 300 square feet
  • 20’ apart from each other
  • 10’ away from historical walls
  • Host 30-50 objects
  • Free standing and structurally self-supportive
  • Made by sustainable and grade A fire-rated materials only
  • ADA accessible and inclusive


Futures that Unite



Futures that Unite explores how we relate to one another with new ways to connect and collaborate - all aiming to tap into our collective humanity. As our future dreams turn into reality, perhaps we should place the greatest value on one another. The pavilion is composed of 2x4 wood joinery to create a natural and familiar gathering place. The pavilion hosts a 16’ long graphics exhibit, two desks with 5 interactive exhibits, and a few sound generating robots/games. ︎

Credit: Smithsonian Institution


FUTURES


Professional Work ︎ Rockwell Group
2019-21

Site
︎︎︎1881 Arts & Industries Building, Washington, D.C.

Client
︎︎︎Smithsonian Institution

Exhibition
︎︎︎November 20, 2021 - July 6, 2022

Collaborators
︎︎︎Richard Chandler, Antony Cestra, Hayden Minick, Katie Gillespie, Donna Pallotta, Simone Cutri

Responsibilities
︎︎︎Exhibition design of North and South Halls, production of 3D models, diagrams, renderings, presentation and CAD drawing set.
︎︎︎Coordination with curators, artists, interior, graphic and lighting designers, structural engineers, builders and technologists.



Projects start with a question

 


How do we celebrate the future?
︎
︎︎︎ Architecture/Exhibition/Graphics
How can we overcome grief?
︎
 
︎︎︎ Theater/Set & Lighting/Graphics
What can we do to further education quality in under-priviledged areas? ︎

︎︎︎ Architecture/Installation
What if “Art” is redefined in a coporate office?︎
 

︎︎︎ Strategy/Interior Design
How can we take care?︎
 
︎︎︎ Strategy/Industrial Design
How can we connect the existing and the new?︎
 
︎︎︎ Architecture/Exhibition

What does it mean to direct ourselves?︎
 

︎︎︎ Directing/Art
︎︎︎ Strategy
How can we preserve a culture?︎
 
︎︎︎ Art/Exploration
Anymore?︎
︎︎︎ Theater/Lighting
︎︎︎ Sketches/Random Stuff

Projects start with a question


(01)
How do we celebrate the future?
︎
︎︎︎ Professional, Architecture/Exhibition
(02)
How can we overcome grief?
︎

︎︎︎ Professional, Theater/Set & Lighting/Graphic
(03)
What can we do to further education quality in under-priviledged areas? ︎

︎︎︎Volunteer, Architecture
(04)
How can we take care?︎

︎︎︎Academic, Strategy/Industrial Design
(05)
How can we connect the existing and the new?︎

︎︎︎Academic, Architecture
(06)
What does it mean to direct ourselves?︎

︎︎︎Academic, Directing/Art
(07)
What is the post-pandemic future of work?︎

︎︎︎Professional, Strategy
(08)
What if “Art” is redefined in a coporate office?︎

︎︎︎Professional, Interior Design
(09)
How can we preserve a culture?︎

︎︎︎Personal, Art/Exploration
(10)
Anymore?︎

︎︎︎Academic, Theater/Lighting
︎︎︎Personal, Sketches/Random Stuff
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