January 17 – June 22, 2003

Big it was. The Museum’s exhibition Big & Green was the blockbuster of 2003, with thousands of visitors entering the first-floor galleries to learn how sustainable design — architecture that minimizes the negative environmental impacts of building, promotes the efficient use of natural resources, and protects the health and well-being of its occupants — could revolutionize our world. The exhibition showcased approximately 50 contemporary, large-scale green projects from across the globe, including skyscrapers, factories, apartment complexes, convention centers, stadia, and other “megastructures.” Projects, both realized and imagined, were organized into five categories — Energy; Light and Air; Greenery, Water and Waste; Construction; and Urbanism — and demonstrated that large-scale sustainable buildings are a feasible and beneficial component of our built environment.

One of the featured projects was a New York City skyscraper at Times Square that generates a portion of its electricity from the sun and other renewable sources. Another project was the proposed Jets Stadium, also in New York, which would not only generate enough power for the stadium complex itself, but also provide additional power to the surrounding city. A recyclable, portable skyscraper that could be erected in two weeks stretched the imagination further. Trucks at its base could provide not only transportation to different locations, but also fuel and water for the people who work inside.

Drawings, photographs, illustrations, and models of the “green” megastructures were set in a small “green” environment — the exhibition itself — proving further that sustainable design is not just a theoretical enterprise. Using recyclable cardboard tubes as a structural element in the exhibition design and a wind turbine on the front lawn of the Museum to provide energy for the show, the exhibition itself was an example of sustainable design.

An exhibition catalog, edited by Curator David Gissen, includes illustrated descriptions of the 50 projects in the exhibition and essays by leading authorities.