Project Big and Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century

Client National Building Museum Curator David Gissen


Big & Green revealed how architects and engineers are reducing the environmental impact of the contemporary skyscraper. Organized in five categories—Energy; Light and Air; Greenery, Water and Waste; Construction; and Urbanism—the show demonstrated that, through thoughtful design and careful construction management, even the largest structures can foster more harmonious integration of the built and natural environments. The exhibition design applied green principles to a 7,000-square-foot interactive display of project illustrations, drawings, photographs, models, and structural mock-ups. Hung on a framework of recycled and recyclable-paper cardboard tubes, the display surfaces were not painted or otherwise finished with noxious chemicals, which would have prohibited future recycling. All of the imagery was printed on Tyvek, an efficiently produced, recyclable material.
                         Photographs: Robert LautmanPhotographs: Robert Lautman