Folklife Festival
Washington DC, 2022
Curators: Michele Bambling, Rebecca Fenton
Client: Smithsonian Institute
Organization: Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Director: Sabrina Lynn Motley
Site-Supervision: Tyler Nelson
Program Coordinator: Pablo Molinero
Surface: 450sm
The Spine is a temporary installation designed to support the activities of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Located within the National Mall, adjacent to one of its monumental gardens, the installation measures 80 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width.
Conceived as a shading system, the structure provides shelter for visitors and participants during the summer season. It was designed as a sequence of temporary spaces, built entirely from natural, reversible materials. None of its components were treated, ensuring that all materials could be fully reused at the conclusion of the event.
The roof, together with the wooden slats that filter sunlight, conceals the modularity of the design. Subtle changes in the roof’s slope emphasize the transition between distinct activity zones. The entire 80-meter structure was pre-assembled in the factory and transported to the site using only two trailers.
