History
The Arts and Industries Building (AIB) is looking forward with the new FUTURES exhibition to celebrate the Smithsonian Institution's 175th anniversary. FUTURES is your guide to a vast array of interactives, artworks, technologies, and ideas that are glimpses into humanity's next chapter. AIB is the Smithsonian's second oldest building and a national hub for creative exchange between ideas and objects from our past and our future. AIB opened in 1881 as the country's first U.S. National Museum, an architectural icon in the heart of the National Mall. Its soaring halls introduced millions of Americans to wonders about to change the world like Edison's lightbulb, the first telephone, Apollo rockets, and more.