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For its 175th anniversary, the Smithsonian is looking forward.

What do you think of when you think of the future? FUTURES is the first building-wide exploration of the future on the National Mall. Designed by the award-winning Rockwell Group, FUTURES spans 32,000 square feet inside the Arts + Industries Building. Now on view until July 6, 2022, FUTURES is your guide to a vast array of interactives, artworks, technologies, and ideas that are glimpses into humanity’s next chapter. You are, after all, only the latest in a long line of future makers.

Smell a molecule. Clean your clothes in a wetland. Meditate with an AI robot. Travel through space and time. Watch water being harvested from air. Become an emoji. The FUTURES is yours to decide, debate, delight. We invite you to dream big, and imagine not just one future, but many possible futures on the horizon—playful, sustainable, inclusive. In moments of great change, we dare to be hopeful. How will you create the future you want to live in?

Explore

Futures that Unite

Tap into our collective humanity >

Futures that Inspire

Encounter giant leaps of imagination >

Futures that Work

See strategies for solving problems >

Futures Past

Discover innovative ideas of previous generations >

Exterior Installation

Cross the threshold to the future at AIB’s entrance as you step through contemporary artist Soo Sunny Park’s Expanded Present, an ethereal portal of iridescent material designed to inspire and delight.

A Shimmering New Gateway from Soo Sunny Park

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Online Residency

Our monthly online Futurist in Residence program invites innovators to think creatively about the future and develop new content to spark delight and conversation.

Futurist In Residence

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New + Cool

New!

Celebrated artists Suchi Reddy, Stephanie Dinkins, and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, along with curator Isolde Brielmaier, each bring their multinational backgrounds and careers spent blending art, science, design, and technology to forge a more inclusive world. 

WIYRSP: Art and Tech Powering Community

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AI New Year’s Resolutions

What if instead of relying on our own resolutions we asked an AI what it thinks we should do? Read more about our new resolutions generator from acclaimed AI humorist and researcher Janelle Shane at The Washington Post.

January Programming

Start 2022 off with a dash of dreaming! We’ve got an exciting array of new free public programs and pop-ups planned for you this January that help set hopeful intentions for the year ahead .

Time Travel to 2071

What might a Smithsonian exhibit look like in 2071? In collaboration with Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination, Smithsonian researchers paired with futurists and sci-fi creators to envision our world 50 years in the future. Transformed into short stories and exhibition posters, explore these future visions.