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Washington, DC

National Building Museum

Good for: architecture, people watching, design, National Historic Landmark, family-friendly

  • Address
    • 401 F St NW
  • Website
  • Price
    • adult/child $8/5
  • Hours
    • 10am-5pm Mon-Sat, from 11am Sun

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Lonely Planet review for National Building Museum

Devoted to architecture and urban design, this under-appreciated museum is appropriately housed in a magnificent 19th-century edifice modeled after the Renaissance-era Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Four stories of ornamented balconies flank the dramatic 316ft-wide atrium, and the gold Corinthian columns rise 75ft high. Rotating exhibits on different aspects of the built environment are hidden in rooms off the atrium.