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 every Wednesday evening until August 24th. The museum describes the series as a selection of “American films that reflect themes found in the National Building Museum’s 25 years of exhibitions — such as sustainability, transportation and transit and office design in
America.” As enthralling as a series of films about sustainability and office design sounds, fortunately the thematic connections are often tenuous at best. Many of the films seem only related to building or architecture in that they take place in a city. While this may disappoint some architecture lovers, they should take some solace in the wide variety of great American films on display. The selection is, for the most part, exceptional, from Roman Polanski’s Chinatown to the Charlton Heston sci-fi classic Soylent Green.

Doors open at 7:15 p.m., and before each film screening, there will be a live local music act beginning at 7:30 and ending shortly before the films begin at 8:15. According to the Building Museum’s website, chairs will be in short supply, so you may want to bring something to cushion yourself. Concessions will be available, though food and non-alcoholic beverages are permitted, so don’t worry about having to smuggle in a bag of candy in your pants. The event takes place in the museum’s “Great Hall“, (link contains java) a mammoth chamber of arches and columns designed and built by General Montgomery C. Meigs in 1887 pictured to the right. Even if architecture and cinema aren’t your cup of tea, the hall itself is worth visiting for its own sake, and the museum’s newly opened exhibits “Washington: Symbol and City” and on Washington’s Jewish community are worth checking out if you stop by during the day.