Summer in Washington DC can be a sweltering affair. Elected officials decamp the city during its muggiest months, but for those who stay behind or choose to visit, relief tends to come in one of two ways: head to one of the region's beaches or just stay indoors. For its new architecture installation at the National Building Museum, New York design firm Snarkitecture set out to combine the best of both worlds with its design for an indoor beach – of sorts, anyway.
With no sand or water in sight, 'The Beach' is more of an interpretation; as Snarkitecture senior associate Benjamin Porto puts it, 'we abstracted the architectural elements of a beach'. Sand and water? Translucent plastic balls. Shore? Astroturf. And the horizon line? A panel of mirrors.
Taking over the museum's expansive atrium space, the installation covers 930 sq m with over a million balls, allowing visitors to wade through a sea of spheres. 'The balls act like water,' explains Porto, highlighting the project's emphasis on interactivity. 'You can't just walk through it. It forces you to interact with it.' If its 4 July opening day was any indication, visitors will use the space like an actual bay, floating on the surface of the 'water', diving underneath, and lounging on the shoreline.
Those who might see more of a potential petri dish than a beach can rest easy. Manufactured by the North Carolina-based plastics company Intertech Corp, the balls are made with a new anti-microbial material.
'The Beach' is a de facto follow up to last summer's 'BIG maze' installation at the National Building Museum – a plywood labyrinth designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). It will be open until Labor Day, which this year falls on 7 September.
The installation is an interpretation of an indoor beach, with the sand/water reconceived as translucent plastic balls, the shore as astroturf and the horizon line as a panel of mirrors
'The balls act like water,' explains Snarkitecture senior associate Benjamin Porto, highlighting the project's emphasis on interactivity. 'You can't just walk through it. It forces you to interact with it'
On its opening on 4 July, visitors used the space like an actual beach, floating on the surface of the 'water', diving underneath, and lounging on the shoreline
The installation covers 930 sq m with over one million translucent plastic balls, allowing visitors to wade through a sea of spheres
True to form, 'The Beach' will be open through to the traditional end of the American summer, Labor Day – this year falling on 7 September
ADDRESS
National Building Museum
401 F St NW
Washington DC 20001
United States
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
Stay at Nujuma, a forward-facing sanctuary in the Red Sea regionNujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, sets the bar high as one of Saudi Arabia’s ultra-luxury destinations
-
Pierre Yovanovitch’s set and costumes bring a contemporary edge to Korea National Opera in SeoulFrench interior architect Pierre Yovanovitch makes his second operatic design foray, for The Marriage of Figaro in Seoul
-
The Eagan house from 'Severance' is available to rentThe Taghkanic House by Thomas Phifer serves as the home of Lumon’s CEO in the AppleTV+ series, and can be rented out for dystopian stays
-
Heritage and conservation after the fires: what’s next for Los Angeles?In the second instalment of our 'Rebuilding LA' series, we explore a way forward for historical treasures under threat
-
Why this rare Frank Lloyd Wright house is considered one of Chicago’s ‘most endangered’ buildingsThe JJ Walser House has sat derelict for six years. But preservationists hope the building will have a vibrant second act
-
Buy a slice of California’s midcentury modern history with this 1955 Pasadena houseConrad Buff II Residence has been fully restored and updated for the 21st century
-
Step inside a writer's Richard Neutra-designed apartment in Los AngelesMichael Webb, invites us into his LA home – a showcase of modernist living
-
Join our world tour of contemporary homes across five continentsWe take a world tour of contemporary homes, exploring case studies of how we live; we make five stops across five continents
-
You’ll soon be able to get a sneak peek inside Peter Zumthor’s LACMA expansionBut you’ll still have to wait another year for the grand opening
-
The Architecture of Seduction: how Horace Gifford built a modernist, queer paradiseFire Island is explored through a new edition of Christopher Rawlins’ seminal architectural and social history book on the life and work of Horace Gifford
