National Building Museum

If you haven't been here yet and you're at all interested in the built environment, you're missing out.This unique museum offers unpredictable, beautifully curated exhibits in a soaring space within an historic building originally designed for the dispensation of the Civil War Pension fund. In addition there is an expansive museum store with an impressive collection of architecture related books and just plain great design stuff! For example, currently there is a show chronicling the advent and maturing of car culture, using models, drawings, photos and especially memorabilia of early parking garage design including some fantastical unbuilt designs, some artful designs and finally a vertical pez like design for the dispensation of Zip Cars in Japan. Visit www.nbm.org for information on current exhibits and activities.

The Smithsonian Craft Show will be in the this Grand Hall, too, at the end of April. This is an extraordinary show, smaller and more exclusive than the February ACC show at the Convention Center in Baltimore with some of the finest crafts people doing work in the United States today.