National Building Museum Reopens, Looks to Future

The National Building Museum in D.C. reopens to the public this spring with new leader Fuchs.

*PHOTO COURTESY NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM/KEVIN ALLEN*

Aileen Fuchs

The National Building Museum turned 40 last year, but rather than slowing down, the Washington, D.C., institution has kicked into high gear as it reopens with a new executive director and a stronger emphasis on critical issues facing the construction industry today.

Aileen Fuchs has been named NBM’s president and executive director, replacing Brent Glass, director emeritus of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, who guided the NBM on an interim basis through the difficult pandemic times since last summer.

Scott Blair

Currently the president and CEO of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden on Staten Island, New York, Fuchs will start her new role at NBM in May. Prior work includes serving at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.

Both the daughter and granddaughter of civil engineers, Fuchs says from a young age she had a “level of awareness and attraction to how communities are built.”

She enters at a critical stage for the museum, which will reopen this spring after being shut down since December 2019—initially for construction and then remaining closed during the pandemic. “Relevance and engagement are going to be the tip-of-the-tongue words” in her leadership philosophy, Fuchs says, in addition to a focus on issues such as social justice, equity and public health. “In a post-COVID world, what could be [possible] when people literally want to design and build a better world? The NBM is poised to really uncover that in a lot of relevant ways.”

While the NBM “already acts as a real convener for cross conversations” across all the building professions, Fuchs says there’s room to grow its relevance as “the center of gravity for these types of conversations” and to connect the thought leadership of the construction industry to the general public.

ENR has also returned to a leadership role at the museum. In October, I was named to a two-year term on the Board of Trustees, where I will serve alongside a diverse group of people from across the industry.

The museum reopens with a new visitor’s center and exhibits including the Gun Violence Memorial Project, a showcase of the MASS Design Group, the works of architectural photographer Alan Karchmer and Great Hall installations.

Blair leads day-to-day operations of the ENR editorial team to ensure brand quality and further best practices. He spearheads ENR's various competitions, including Best Projects and the Award of Excellence, and organizes editorial content at events including the Top Young Professionals conference. A Jesse H. Neal, Construction Media Alliance and AZBEES-award-winning writer and videographer, Blair frequently contributes to ENR’s burgeoning video channel with project tour videos and interviews with industry leaders. He is also a frequent speaker and moderator on topics such as diversity and inclusion, design and jobsite technology, construction means and methods and marketing.

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