Brutalist buildings have been called ‘imposing monsters’ and yet they feature prominently in the architectural landscape of the U.S.’s capital. The National Building Museum uses this perspective as a launching point for its new exhibition, Capital Brutalism, which opens on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Co-organized with the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Capital Brutalism is the largest-ever survey of Brutalist architecture in Washington, D.C. and will be on display at the Museum through Monday, February 17, 2025.

Capital Brutalism considers the historical underpinnings, current state, and future possibilities of Brutalist architecture by focusing on seven polarizing Brutalist buildings as well as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metro system in Washington, D.C. The exhibition uses archival documents, drawings, architectural models and contemporary photographs by Ty Cole to explore how the Brutalist phenomenon and these structures first emerged in the United States capital during the Cold War. Speculative redesigns by leading architecture firms including Studio Gang, Brooks + Scarpa, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Gensler, and BLDUS, along with students from the School of Architecture at University of Nevada, Las Vegas help reimagine potential futures for some of these buildings and invite visitors to consider how we can live with them in the future.

“As the only U.S. cultural institution dedicated to the built environment, we could not be more excited to open an exhibition that focuses on buildings right here in our own back yard!” said Aileen Fuchs, president and executive director of the National Building Museum. “Capital Brutalism promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of the architectural history, cultural significance, and the enduring legacy of Brutalist architecture, whose beauty often goes unnoticed, in Washington, D.C.”