Arts and Industries Building

The Arts and Industries Building is the second oldest museum in the Smithsonian on the National Mall in Washington, DC The original name was the National Museum, it was built to give the Smithsonian the first opportunity for public exhibition of his growing collections. Designed by the architect Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze building was opened in the year 1881, when there took place the ball in honor of the inauguration of President James A. Garfield.

The building was symmetrically designed, consisting of a Greek cross with a central rotunda. The outside is decorated with geometric patterns of multicolored bricks. Above the main entrance on the north side of the sculpture Columbia was protecting science and industry mounted by sculptor Caspar Buberl. The interior of the building was partially lit by the use of skylights and clerestory. 1883 the facade was made ​​more dynamic through the use of more chestnut colored bricks.

In 1910, the natural history collections were moved to the new National Museum of Natural History, and the old museum received its present name. In 1964, the remaining exhibits were in the National Museum of History and Technology, now known as the National Museum of American History, relocated. On November 11, 1971, listed the Arts and Industries Building as a National Historic Landmark. In 1976 the Arts and Industries Building with the exhibition 1876: A Year Dog design position with objects from around the world, which were shown in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The building later housed changing exhibitions and a children's theater, the Discovery Theater. In 2004 the museum was closed again for renovation work. The uncertain future and the deteriorating condition prompted the leadership of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in 2006 as one of America's Most Endangered Places list, an annual list of the most endangered historic sites in the United States.