National Building Museum

Adopt an Artifact: 1932 Federal Plan Model

The National Building Museum is home to the nation’s foremost archive of American architectural and design heritage. The Adopt an Artifact program allows you to directly support the proper care and preservation of objects with critical conservation needs, helping the Museum continue its mission to inspire curiosity about the world we design and build. To support this initiative, click here.

Please choose your donation amount below.

Donation Selection

$25.00

$50.00

$100.00

$250.00

$500.00

$1,000.00

$2,500.00

Program Details

Every year approximately 36 million people visit the National Mall. Have you ever wondered how the design came to be? This Federal Plan model, developed in 1932 by William T. Partridge, depicts a time before we knew exactly what the National Mall would look like. The model is a successor to the McMillian Commission plan from 1902, and was created to illustrate current and upcoming plans for the city, at a time when urban planners and civil engineers had yet to come to a consensus about how to develop the city into the one we know today.

This model was displayed at the Corcoran, Department of Interior, and other institutions nation-wide, but was damaged in a flooding event before it was donated to the Museum in 2011. Consisting of 15 panels that interlock like a giant puzzle, this object requires the Museum’s specialist attention to conserve its unique materials and construction.