National Building Museum, Architecture and construction museum in Judiciary Square, United States.
The National Building Museum occupies the former Pension Building, a red brick structure completed in 1887 to Montgomery C. Meigs's Renaissance Revival design. Its symmetrical facade rises to a triangular pediment above eight tall round-headed arches, with rows of pedimented rectangular windows below. Inside, a Great Hall measuring 316 by 116 feet is ringed by Corinthian columns.
The building was completed in 1887 as the Pension Bureau and administered retirement payments for Civil War veterans. After decades of government use, it opened as an architecture museum in 1980.
The name recalls its original government function, while the galleries now display rotating installations by contemporary architects. Visitors often see models and photographs that explain how American cities were built.
The museum entrance is at 401 F Street NW, beside the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and a short walk from Judiciary Square Metro. The Great Hall, measuring 316 by 116 feet, is used for events and can be closed to visitors during installations; check the museum's own calendar before travelling. The building is a National Historic Landmark, and its brick stairs were built with low, gently sloped steps for aging veterans.
The exterior walls carry a continuous frieze about 1,200 feet (370 meters) long depicting Civil War military scenes, designed by sculptor Caspar Buberl. The relief runs around the entire building and shows soldiers in different moments of wartime life.
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