“The Beach,” a giant ball pit by New York firm Snarkitecture that took up residence this summer at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., closed on Monday. But that’s not the last we’ll see of the more than 650,000 translucent plastic balls that filled the installation. This week, volunteers are moving boxes of the balls and roughly 6,000 square feet of mesh netting across town to the Dupont Underground, a planned arts venue in abandoned trolley tunnels underneath the city’s Dupont Circle. The below-grade arts space has said it will use the balls as a medium for a yet-to-be announced design competition. In the meantime, volunteers and staff from both organizations are taking all forms of transit to bring the balls to their new home.
On Monday, with a GoPro strapped to one of our reporter’s heads, ARCHITECT joined the first of many treks across the city, which included a crowded ride on the city’s Metrorail subway system. Watch the time-lapse of our journey below.
Boxes of balls from @snarkitecture's “The Beach” ride @wmata from @BuildingMuseum to @DupontUndergrnd … pic.twitter.com/ukvEJUaXYt
— ARCHITECT Magazine (@architectmag) September 7, 2015The balls from @snarkitecture's “The Beach” are on the move from @BuildingMuseum to @DupontUndergrnd … pic.twitter.com/fUyceypBLP
— ARCHITECT Magazine (@architectmag) September 7, 2015Made it to Dupont Circle. Now a short walk to @DupontUndergrnd w/ boxes of @snarkitecture's “Beach” install. balls pic.twitter.com/WyHy7i8Ik6
— ARCHITECT Magazine (@architectmag) September 7, 2015The first batch of @snarkitecture's “The Beach” balls have been dumped into @DupontUndergrnd … pic.twitter.com/y3YmnbJekJ
— ARCHITECT Magazine (@architectmag) September 7, 2015And that's a wrap. @DupontUndergrnd will be bringing over more boxes of balls from @BuildingMuseum this week. pic.twitter.com/XYVTCJ6k7L
— ARCHITECT Magazine (@architectmag) September 7, 2015
