The LAB at Rockwell Group has partnered with The National Building Museum to present the 2019 Summer Block Party installation Lawn. Designed to be an immersive installation taking up the entirety of the Museum’s Great Hall, the project will present interactive experiences for all ages. The lawn itself will be programmed and activated throughout the day with summer entertainment and activities, including movie nights, yoga, and meditation. By creating custom software, the LAB has also developed an Augmented Reality game alongside the installation.
Lawn allows guests to unwind with quintessential summer activities while connecting to the design of the Museum. It features a vast, sloping green space built on a scaffolding superstructure. Visitors are met with a green expanse, set on a graceful incline and dotted with clusters of communal lounging areas. The centerpiece of these lounging areas are interactive hammocks suspended from the 100-foot-tall ceiling grid. The hammocks contain hidden speakers programmed with pre-recorded audio from prominent American storytellers, sharing summertime memories. At the top of the lawn is a scaffolding tower that reaches the height of the Museum’s third floor, offering never-before-seen views of the Great Hall, column capitals, and sculptural busts lining the roof.
“The lawn is a fascinating example of a typology that straddles the line between public and private space,” said David Rockwell, founder and president, Rockwell Group. “Whether it is a backyard or a public green, lawns bring people together and foster a sense of community, so our goal was to create an indoor lawn that would inspire people to share stories, make memories, and daydream, while honoring the great tradition of summertime.”
“Rockwell Group’s mission to drive connection through design aligns perfectly with our Summer Block Party series,” said Chase Rynd, executive director, National Building Museum. “The LAB has ingeniously brought a quintessentially American ideal into our Great Hall, highlighting the interplay between design and landscape, while also eliciting a sense of wonder and play among visitors of all ages.”
Lawn will be the sixth Summer Block Party installation, and follows Fun House by Snarkitecture, Hive by Studio Gang, ICEBERGS by James Corner Field Operations, The BEACH by Snarkitecture, and the BIG Maze by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). Lawn is open July 4 through September 2, 2019.
News via National Building Museum
