David Macaulay, the self proclaimed “explainer of things,” has been drawing and illustrating architecture for the past 30 years. In The Art of Drawing Architecture, the National Building Museum showcases Macaulay’s knack for deconstructing buildings and showing their many layers from various perspectives. Preferring simple materials, such as pen and ink, Macaulay recreates vast spaces on single sheets of paper.

Spanning his career, the exhibit starts by documenting his most recent work, Mosque, a book published in 2003. Vast amounts of research go into his books, and highlights from Macaulay’s extensive creative process are displayed here, from studying the real buildings and taking video and photographs, to preliminary sketches, scale models, and final illustrations.

The exhibit travels backwards in time highlighting Macaulay’s interest not only in architecture, but engineering, as well. Drawings of bridges, domes and skyscrapers line the walls, ending with samplings from Macaulay’s first books. Pages and concept drawings from the Motel of Mystery (1979) and Great Moments in Architecture (1978) show Macaulay’s wit and criticisms, questioning the built environment. The majority of the collection is simply hung, in mitered plywood with a glass covering. Inside, the drawings and illustrations are held up by simple push pins.

Photo copyright David Macaulay; Courtesy National Building Museum

The exhibit encourages exploration and asks visitors to try their hand at drawing. An ink and color wash sketch of train tracks from Great Moments in Architecture invites you to sit down at a workstation to “find the vanishing point.” Step-by-step photographs, as well as pencils, rulers and erasers help you on your way.

Small illustrations done in unusual spaces throughout the exhibit are great little surprises. A pigeon sits on a ledge, a drawn electrical outlet is found in a corner, and one shelf holds a seismograph whose inner workings are run by a mouse on a treadmill, with a hole at the bottom that states "Employee Entrance Only."

Along with Macaulay’s humor the exhibit gives an intimate look into his thought process through the presentation of his sketchbooks. Two are on display so that visitors can flip through them. Notes and scribbles for both Mosque and other books show research, architectural details, layouts and questions. One notation asks: “Is it possible to really integrate the story and the process?”

Macaulay’s illustrations of the built environment from Underground shows a perspective far advanced for their time. Done before the aid of computers, the drawings show the various layers to city streets. Tunnels for the subway and pipes, cars driving on the road and people walking on the sidewalks, to buildings grounded in their plane, Macaulay has a knack for showing multiple viewpoints at once.

The Art of Drawing Architecture is on display through Jan. 21, 2008 at the National Building Museum. Located at 401 F St. NW, the Museum is open Monday though Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.