First Look: A Gigantic Lawn Just Popped Up Inside the National Building Museum

The National Building Museum in Washington, DC,  is literally rolling out the green carpet for Lawn—a brand new installation that, according to their website, will “allow guests to unwind with quintessential summer activities while connecting to the design of the museum.”

Set against the museum’s great hall, the grassy, inclined expanse features communal lounging areas complete with hammocks that hang from the building’s 100-foot-tall ceilings. As you sway in summer’s bliss, speakers hidden in the hammocks play programmed audio from prominent American storytellers. 

In the past, the National Building Museum has transformed its great hall into a hive, a snowy expanse of icebergs, a beach, and a giant maze. The museum’s latest installation was designed in collaboration with the LAB at Rockwell Group.

Attendees can sip refreshments while playing typical turf games—like bocce ball, croquet, or cornhole. Designed by SynLawn, the fully recyclable faux-sod surface is a smart composite of soybeans and sugarcane. Adults and kids alike can also play a LAB-developed, augmented-reality game wherein catchable fireflies hover in front of you.