Experimental New York design studio Snarkitecture are returning to Washington D.C.’s National Building Museum, three years after their enormous ball pit became a huge attraction for the institution.
The museum has announced the New York collective will create a sprawling Fun House in its Great Hall for the 2018 edition of its annual Summer Block Party, from 4 July to 3 September.
The freestanding structure will recall and re-imagine the idea of the traditional home, with a sequence of interactive rooms featuring familiar Snarkitecture environments and objects that visitors can explore, as well as new concepts that “underline the studio’s peculiar, yet accessible way of reinterpreting the built environment.”
“Part museum exhibition and part immersive environment, the project invites visitors to explore Snarkitecture’s past installations, furniture and objects,” said Alex Mustonen, co-founder of the practice. “In keeping with our goal of making architecture accessible and engaging, we look forward to introducing a new audience to our work.”
Chase Rynd, the museum’s executive director, added: “Making architecture and design approachable and fun is at the heart of the success of our summer series. Snarkitecture really understand our mission of inspiring curiosity about the world we design and build, and we’re excited to be working with them for the second time. We know our visitors will be thrilled to immerse themselves in their world yet again.”
Italian curator Maria Cristina Didero will oversee the exhibition.
In 2015, Snarkitecture’s The BEACH welcomed over 180,000 visitors over an eight-week span. Covering 10,000sq ft (929sq m) of the Great Hall, it was filled with nearly one million recyclable translucent plastic balls.
The piece has since toured around the world. Other Summer Block Party installations include
Hive by Studio Gang,
ICEBERGSby James Corner Field Operations, and the
BIG Mazeby by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).
Fun House will be complemented by programmes and events, and ticket purchasers will be able to visit all of the museum’s exhibitions, including the forthcoming Evicted and Secret Cities: The Architecture and Planning of the Manhattan Project.
