WHAT
Press Preview for Making Room: Housing for a Changing America
WHO
Chrysanthe Broikos, Curator, National Building Museum
Sarah Watson, Deputy Director, Citizens Housing & Planning Council
Lisa Blecker, Director of Marketing, Resource Furniture
Pierluigi Colombo, Designer/Art Director, Clei
Lisa Marsh Ryerson, President, AARP Foundation
WHEN
November 16, 2017
10 am–Noon
RSVP to Emma Filar, efilar@nbm.org
WHERE
National Building Museum
401 F Street NW
Washington, DC 2001
Metro: Red Line, Judiciary Square
The National Building Museum presents Making Room: Housing for a Changing America, opening November 18. Organized with the Citizens Housing & Planning Council and presented in partnership with Resource Furniture and Clei, Making Room showcases innovative design solutions for meeting the evolving 21st-century needs of America’s diverse households. The exhibition runs through September 16, 2018.
The exhibition’s centerpiece is The Open House. Designed by Italian architect Pierluigi Colombo/Clei, this fully rendered 1,000-square-foot house will be installed directly in the exhibition’s galleries for visitors to experience and explore. Featuring a hyper-efficient layout, smart technologies, movable walls, and multifunctional furniture, the Open House demonstrates how a flexible space can meet the needs of a variety of today’s fastest-growing and underserved households.
Unprecedented shifts in both demographics and lifestyle have fundamentally transformed the idea of the American household. While only 20% of American households are a nuclear family, our housing markets remain fixated on their needs. The disparity between the perceived and actual housing needs of our population is exacerbating the modern housing crisis—a factor few are talking about on the national level. Making Room is a rallying cry for a wider menu of housing options. It showcases how design can be an integral tool to meet housing needs and will highlight cutting-edge projects that housing entrepreneurs (architects, designers, and allied housing advocates and policymakers) are taking to expand our housing options, including: micro apartments in New York City; shared housing experiments in the D.C. area; backyard accessory cottages in Portland; tiny houses that are helping the formerly homeless in Austin; and the boom in cohousing communities nationwide.
The exhibition is generously supported by AARP Foundation; Andersen Corporation; Hufcor; National Association of REALTORS®; the American Society of Interior Designers Foundation; AJ Madison, Electrolux, Elica, and Miele; Ceramics of Italy; Ditto Residential; Nixon Peabody LLP; Wells Fargo Housing Foundation; Arris Apartments; Casaplex; Ernest Rust- European Kitchens; LISC; Protek; Wiencek + Associates Architects + Planners DC, LLP; and CHPC partners: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects, Dattner Architects, FXFOWLE Architects, SLCE Architects, GF55 Partners, and RKTB Architects.
In-kind support is provided by Resource Furniture and Clei; AJ Madison, Electrolux, Elica, and Miele; Andersen Corporation; Benjamin Moore & Co.; Capitol Closet Design; Casaplex; Ceramics of Italy, Caesar Ceramiche, Ceramica Vogue, Ergon, Gruppo Romani, MAPEI, and Tagina; Cerno; Duravit USA, Inc.; EastBanc, Inc.; Ernest Rust- European Kitchens; FLOR; Geberit; GINGER; Häfele America Co.; Hansgrohe; Hufcor; In2Green; Neoscape; Newfloor; Novità Communications; Opticos Design, Inc.; Precision Door and Hardware; Protek; The Joyce Agency; and Vaghi.
About the National Building Museum
The National Building Museum is America’s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions, educational programs, web content, and publications, the Museum has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the world we build for ourselves. Public inquiries: (202) 272-2448 or visit www.nbm.org. Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.
About the Citizens Housing & Planning Council
Citizens Housing & Planning Council is a nonprofit research and education organization focused on housing in New York City. CHPC’s mission, since 1937, is to develop and advance practical public policies to support the housing stock of the city by better understanding the most pressing housing and neighborhood needs.
About Resource Furniture
Resource Furniture is the original – and largest – source for cutting-edge, multi-functional living systems, offering the most inspired and innovative furniture solutions available in the world for more than 15 years. With showrooms in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Mexico City, Resource Furniture continues to define and revolutionize the industry by offering the most technologically innovative, space-saving and sustainable products in the world, all of which transform any space with both beauty and functionality. For more information visit resourcefurniture.com.
About Clei
Based in Brianza, Italy, Clei, s.r.l. has been the global leader in the design and manufacturing of smart, transformable furniture since 1963. With a focus on research and innovation, the second generation of the Colombo family continues to maintain the standards set by their founding fathers, producing the most innovative and highest quality products available. Clei’s unique, patented furniture is distributed worldwide to an ever growing and increasingly appreciative audience. Clei.it