Nearly a million recyclable plastic balls fill the National Building Museum

Experimental New York-based studio Snarkitecture have brought the seaside to the city with a 10,000 square foot ball pit within the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, open until 7th September. Named The Beach, the installation features a simulated ocean of nearly a million translucent recyclable plastic balls, and a shoreline with deck chairs and umbrellas for those who don’t want to get wet.

In their typically monochrome style the cavernous Great Hall of the museum has been enclosed in white panelling before being filled with the white balls. The floor is covered in a spongiform material that is meant to feel like sand, while the rear wall has been mirrored to approximate the distant horizon of the ocean.

Snarkitecture’s Alex Mustonen has said that their goal was to create a space that “reimagines the qualities and possibilities of material, encourages exploration and interaction with one’s surroundings, and offers an unexpected and memorable landscape for visitors to relax and socialize within". It may lack any of the colour and water that would be found at your typical beach, but the installation succeeds in making visitors contemplate their relationship with the architecture around them, as well as providing a quick getaway for those in need.

Museums worldwide are in the process of rethinking everything from the technology they use to the way they engage with audiences. In our Museum 2.0 Observation, we speak to some of the world's most exciting curators about what tomorrow's museums will look like.