>> In her lifetime, Hildreth Meière was considered the most famous, distinguished, and prolific Art Deco muralist in the country. This month, the National Building Museum opens the first major retrospective of her work in Walls Speak: The Narrative Art of Hildreth Meière. On view will be Ms. Meière's sketches, studies in gouache, full-scale cartoons and models which represent 25 of her most important commissions. Opening March 19. more ›

My mother and I used to think we were so clever sneaking out of the house after the post-pumpkin pie haze to spend our tryptophan relaxing time at the movie theater, while our extended family lay sprawled on the couches in front of the boob tube ... until a few years later when the entire world caught on and every theater had lines around the block on Turkey Day. Lucky for you, we're in Washington,... more ›

>> D.C. United and Chivas Guadalajara renew their budding rivalry this evening. The match is part of the Copa Nissan Sudamericana, a 34-team invitational tournament featuring the best clubs of South America and several North American teams looking to crash the party. The match could be one of the most entertaining, competitive affairs this season. United aims to atone for their first round exit from the tournament two years ago; they also seek to... more ›

Written by DCist contributor Morgan Hargrave It is entirely possible that the only people who visit the National Building Museum are intrepid tourists who have strayed from the Mall, or perhaps those only there to count the ridiculous number of columns in the Great Hall. It would be a shame if this were actually true, since the NBM has plenty to offer. Of particular note for tourists and locals alike is an exhibit, Washington: Symbol... more ›

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... more ›

FRIDAY: >> It may be that we've simply gotten so, so, so many press releases about The Horrors show tonight at the Rock and Roll Hotel, and we've been beaten into submission to mention it. Give the punky-garage rock revivalists a chance for $12 at 8:30 p.m., and let us know if they're worth all the fuss. Seattle's Schoolyard Heroes open, plus locals Scanner Freaks. >> One of the most anticipated new hip hop albums... more ›

As we mentioned earlier this week, sometimes we don't envy Washington's urban planners. Their challenges often encompass issues as varied and complicated as economic development, land use planning, sustainability, design and social justice. Add to that the design politics associated with the symbolism invested in the nation's capital, and planning for D.C. becomes a unique urban problem to tackle. Not that it stops us from trying. Yesterday, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission... more ›

Whether we make the mental connections or not, everything about our city is interrelated: • The health of the Anacostia and Potomac watersheds is directly affected by runoff from roads; • Our roads are designed and routed to ease our daily commute to get to and from jobs created by regional economic growth policy; • Growth is dependent on a reliable and expanding base of skilled workers; • Workers attracted by lively mixes of shops,... more ›

>> If "gorgeous weather" isn't enough of a reason to get you outside, this weekend's kick-off for the National Cherry Blossom Festival should get you to shake off that winter gloom. Head over to the National Building Museum tomorrow to kick-off the celebration with Family Day events from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the opening ceremony from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Lots of hands-on art activities, like oragami and fruit carving, will keep... more ›

We noticed new contributor Oblivious Dude popping up in our photo pool with some amazing shots. This take on the Building Museum at sunset is especially nice, but take a minute to browse through his photostream and you'll see this is a guy who really knows how to capture colors. more ›

>>It's 5:00 and already time to set our Snowpocalypse meters to "high." Some schools are closing early with the mere mention of precipitation. [NBC] >> In reality, this whole event looks like a dud to us. NWS has moved the winter weather advisory up to end at 5 a.m. tomorrow and place accumulation of 1 inch as an outside chance at the best. All we can really expect at this point is a "light wintry... more ›

MONDAY: It's hard to think of a more appropriate person to have written On the Wealth of Nations, part of the new Grove Atlantic Great Books series where contemporary writers flesh out the work of humanity's most important thinkers, than P.J. O'Rourke. Harder still to imagine a time when everyone agreed that P.J. O'Rourke had a sense of humor. At Politics and Prose at 7 p.m., also Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Cato Institute,... more ›

The National Building Museum shows the other buildings how it's done here. The shadows in the architecture and the virbrant red coloring pop grandly off the exploding clouds in the sky. Flickr user krwaltondc picked just the right time of day to catch this shot. Find the EXIF data here. more ›

DCist is, collectively, having one of those Fridays. You know, one of those Fridays when your boss dumps a bunch of work on your desk and wants it done before you leave for the weekend (the sweet, sweet weekend) and your Internet keeps crapping out so you can't even check your email. The weekend is quickly approaching and we haven't yet had time to scour the best of the city's offerings. But, we think... more ›

The Capital Fringe Festival gets started in earnest today, with offerings all over town. Highlights include sci-fi dating, middle school antics, Canadian exports, songs for the deaf, a day-long performance piece, and spoonbending. It could be a little overwhelming if DCist weren't here to guide you through it, no? So before we get into it, let us first introduce OUR AWESOME FRINGE FESTIVAL MAP, which details the locations of all Fringe venues, by date. Special thanks to DCist Tom for putting that together. You can go directly to all of DCist's coverage of Fringe here. more ›

District residents are particularly immune to motorcades. There isn't much that will make us stop and crane our necks these days, especially not the site of the traffic-inducing, gas-guzzling lines of cars that ferry the country's leaders to and from home and work. But for the next three days, one of those motorcades could be carrying royalty. Yes, we near jumped out of our skin when we found out that Britain's Prince Charles and his... more ›

An unknown DCist reader posted this photo, taken inside the Hirshhorn Museum, to DCist photos. Today there'll be a few clouds early and sun and highs in the mid 80s later. Looking for something to do tonight? Check out the free screening of Summer Stock at the National Building Museum. Bike Trail Specifics Disputed: The Metropolitan Branch Trail, a planned bike path connecting a new trail in the District with the already existent Capital... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Today will be sunny with highs in the upper 80s, so you can leave that umbrella at home. We were happy to read that the steamy hot temps will ease all week with highs expected in the 80s and evening lows in the 60s. While we were cruising Flickr to find today's photo, taken by Aziz Gökdemir of the ever-photogenic interior of the National Building Museum, we came across an interesting... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Today the temperatures will be in the mid 90s. With a heat index back up over 100 this afternoon the weather services has issued a heat advisory in effect from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m., so stay cool. Looking for something to do? Ben Folds is at Wolftrap, George Washington University is showing "Finding Neverland," and the National Building Museum is screening "How to Succeed At Business Without Really Trying," in the... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Today will be as hot as yesterday with temps in the high 90s and a heat advisory is in effect. It will be sunny in the morning but become cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Ben Bochnowski posted this photo of the Washington Monument to DCist photos. Tonight, there's two free films on our calendar - at George Washington University and the National Building Museum - and we... more ›

This post comes from new DCist contributor Sam Biddle Like a host of museums not affiliated with the Smithsonian and not on the National Mall, the National Building Museum exists slightly off the tourists' beaten path. However, as dedicated urban enthusiasts the museum is one of our favorites, and extremely Metro-accessible to boot. This year the museum is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a free summer-long film series that began this weekend and will continue... more ›

This DCist thinks the National Building Museum is unsung. It is the most amazing space in this fair city (in the gigantic red-brick Montgomery Meigs-built old Pensions Building) and the exhibits are not run of the mill. Who knew concrete could be interesting? The museum’s latest show, "Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Community," is really a classic immigrant story: Jews get persecuted in other countries, come to the U.S. and D.C. for a... more ›

Today will be partly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and highs in the upper 80s. This photo is from the photo album on the website of Jack's Boathouse in Georgetown. Post Focuses on Metro Safety: The Post's four-part investigative series on WMATA continues today with a story focusing on safety issues, which concludes "Time and again, records show, the public transit agency has disregarded the advice of... more ›

FRIDAY: >> All weekend long we've got Filmfest DC! Check out the schedule here, and if you haven't picked up a copy of this week's City Paper, you really should, because they've got some good Filmfest coverage. >> If you're feeling crafty, you won't want to miss the Smithsonian Craft Show this weekend: there are 120 booths exhibiting and selling some of the nation's finest arts and crafts. Just check out, for example, some of... more ›

Oscars, Oscars, Oscars! That's the main event going on this weekend (care to leave your picks in the comments?) but there's tons of other fun things out there. Check out this week's Arts Agenda and Music Agenda for some suggestions, like the opening of the Modigliani exhibit at the Phillips Collection on Saturday (a portrait of his is at right), or the continuation of the Teenbeat reunion tonight (check out shesbitter.com for some pictures of... more ›

If you were wondering what deep pocketed inauguration visitors will be doing in D.C. tonight, odds are they will be attending one of three candlelight dinners taking place at Union Station, the National Building Museum and the Washington Hilton (AKA the "Hinckley Hilton"). Those who donated more than $100,000 to the inauguration will be invited to one of the events. According to the Post, the dinners "are intimate -- in inaugural terms -- with about 600 guests at each venue." The president, first lady, vice president, and Mrs. Cheney will stop by each event. DCist doubts they'll be taking our personal transportation choice for the trip from Capitol Hill to Dupont Circle via downtown, the D6 (.pdf), since a number of bus lines will be re-routed to avoid security blockades. more ›

A major permanent exhibit on the history, geography, and architecture of Washington D.C. will open at the National Building Museum this Saturday. more ›

DCist has heard nothing but glowing reviews for the National Building Museum's exhibit on affordable housing, which will close this Sunday, August 8. The positive review in the Post, said the displays "demonstrate a renewed commitment to social housing by a significant portion of the architectural profession, and they illustrate a new variety and sophistication in affordable housing design. The photo is of D.C.'s LeDroit Park, one of the 18 designs on display at the... more ›