America on the Move
National Museum of American History, Washington, DC
This permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution explores the impact of transportation on the social and physical landscapes of America from 1876 to 2000. Organized chronologically, the exhibition has 19 sections incorporating multimedia technologies within richly detailed historic settings.
Visitors move through a series of immersive environments that recreate locations around the country as new transportation networks brought change, opportunity and sometimes, adverse effects. Beginning with the hopes for the railroad and its impact on agricultural markets, visitors also experience the streetcar that defined city and suburb, ships that maintained New York Harbor and later, the advent of containerization, southern railroads during Jim Crow, and the impact of internal combustion—from the first cross-country auto trip, to Route 66, tourist cabin parks, sale showrooms, post-war expressways and the modern interstate system.
Acting as prime contractor and supervising architectural and engineering services, MDA’s design renovated several 30-year-old galleries for increased visitor accessibility and a unified exhibit experience. This work required our engineering for rigging of vehicles and heavy machinery, including automobiles, locomotives and streetcars.
MDA provided concept through final design and bid documentation for all aspects of this project, collaborated with the Smithsonian to design of all media and interactives, and supervised exhibit fabrication and installation.
> Download PDF about this project.