An expansive new show devoted to children’s literature, Building Stories, is the most ambitious exhibition ever mounted by the National Building Museum, said Aileen Fuchs, the museum's president and executive director. The 4,000 square-foot show, which opened on January 21, explores the architecture, engineering, construction, and design within children’s books and will anchor the ground floor of the museum for the next decade. The museum partnered with children’s literature historian and visiting curator Leonard S. Marcus; the experiential design studio Plus and Greater Than; and with two award-winning children’s authors and illustrators, David Macaulay and Oliver Jeffers.
In describing the importance of the show, Fuchs said, “Books have magic. They transport us to other worlds. They show us how other people live in the world and they give us the ability to dream. Building Stories brings children’s books to life through a series of linked and immersive landscapes, guided by principles that the built world is exploratory, personal, surprising, inspiring, and transformative.”
The exhibition targets a broad, intergenerational audience, and features both classic and newer titles. “There is something for everyone,” Marcus told PW. In remarks he made at the opening, Marcus stated, “This show has so many of the attributes of what makes illustrated children’s books dramatic, engaging, and almost performative. And as W.H. Auden said, there are no good books which are only for children.”
The show includes 150 books from 28 countries produced over two centuries and will include hundreds more books for browsing in the many reading nooks throughout the galleries. The gallery rooms explore the themes of building readers, home, scale play, and the wider world, and include gems such as an early dummy of Goodnight Moon, a round theater that highlights Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold and The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, and a tunnel that acts as a “magic portal” to create the illusion of changing size. Marcus said that after years of planning, “to see it come to life is staggering.”
The development of the exhibition took six years, and over that time the team deepened their understanding of built spaces and construction within stories. Deputy director for interpretive content Cathy Frankel observed, “We came to realize that many of the buildings and cities in children’s books are not just backdrops, but are another character in the book, sometimes grounding, sometimes challenging, and usually inspiring the protagonist. In this exhibition and through the books that we feature, we hope that our visitors will better understand the impact of the built world on our lives.”
Macaulay’s creative process occupies an entire side gallery. From the project’s inception, the themes of architecture and engineering in Macaulay’s work made him an ideal collaborator. When given the space, he decided to choose one of his books and visually describe how it was constructed. “I chose Rome Antics because it was the most inefficient, insane undertaking I think I have ever done after 50 years of doing this.” Macaulay told PW in a gallery walk-through.
The gallery shows the transition from the chaos of Macaulay’s ideas, sketches, and creativity to the order of a finished book about Rome. Thought bubbles that offer playful insight into his internal dialogue along the way hang from the ceiling, such as “who is this book for anyway,” “shouldn’t this be easier by now,” and “must be time to walk the dog again.” By illustrating the circuitous creative evolution of this book, Macaulay hopes visitors will come away with a deeper understanding of how children’s books are made. “The whole point was to take one very inefficient process apart, and suggest its connection to all the other books out there. It makes you think about it because it looks so simple, right? How hard could this be? Well, just try it.”
The final gallery devoted to the wider world. includes a mural and interactive blocks inspired by Oliver Jeffers’s work as well as other books that focus outward. Frankel highlighted this “calming and inspirational space that is also part of a call to action for all of us to work together to create a better world.”
For more information on the exhibit, click here.
