CLOSE AD ×

Watch Studio Gang's "Hive" installation rise at the National Building Museum

Opening July 4

Watch Studio Gang's "Hive" installation rise at the National Building Museum

Hive, an exhibition by Studio Gang, will be this year’s Summer Block Party installation at the National Building Museum. While it opens July 4, you can watch its progress from the comfort of home, courtesy a work zone cam on the Museum’s website.

Built entirely of more than 2,700 wound paper tubes, the installation features three interconnected, domed chambers that reach 60 feet in height and mimic insect hives. Its tallest dome features an oculus over ten feet in diameter; it will filter in light to create light and shadow patterns.

The tubes, which are made out of sustainable material, have a reflective silver exterior and a magenta interior that contrasts sharply with the Museum’s historic 19th-century architecture and Corinthian columns. Hive‘s form is inspired by other iconic built structures, including Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch and Brunelleschi’s Dome at the Florence Cathedral in Italy, as well as natural forms like a spider web. The smaller chambers also feature tubular instruments ranging from simple drum-like tubes to chimes.

The installation creates pockets of spaces within the vast Great Hall, allowing different programs to occur within each area. Its modification of sound, light, and scale aims to challenge the way humans interact with spaces and installation sculptures.

Hive will go on display from July 4, 2017, to September 4, 2017. Visit nmb.org to find the web cam and for further information on special exhibitions and programs.


CLOSE AD ×