Come Visit!

Get Ready

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. 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!

Join us on Wednesday, July 6th as we open the doors to FUTURES one last time for an epic bash worthy of the next millennia!

FUTURES Forward>> Closing Celebration

RSVP>

Living Longer Festival

Join us on Saturday, June 25th for hands-on activations, a drawing for relaxation workshop, meet-and-greet conversations with innovators and inventors featured in FUTURES, and an exciting expert-led session of We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Panel to explore health on the horizon.

RSVP

Meet Your Future Guide

What do you see when you imagine the year 2050? Introducing Your Future Guide—a first-of-its-kind digital museum interactive combining technology with Smithsonian storytelling to invite you on a tour of the year 2050. Read more about it on Mashable!

Meet Your Future Guide