The entry from Studios Architecture and Olin, with a color-chang…
The entry from Studios Architecture and Olin, with a color-changing lightbox that conceals a shortcut to the hole.
Teeing off inside the forced perspective of 'Mulligans on the Ma…
Teeing off inside the forced perspective of 'Mulligans on the Mall' by Wiencek + Associates Architects + Planners.
The entry from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill consists of like-s…
The entry from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill consists of like-shaped square pegs of varying heights in an exaggerated topographic map of the Potomac basin.
Grooves on this entry, entitled 'Ball on the Mall,' offer varyin…
Grooves on this entry, entitled 'Ball on the Mall,' offer varying degrees of difficulty.
A look through the exhibit hall during the opening weekend.
You’ve finally secured a tee time at the East Potomac Golf Course only to be hit with a heat wave. Should you risk having a Raiders of the Lost Ark–style hand imprint from a scalding putter head, or just take your short game indoors? Just in time to answer that question comes an exhibit at the National Building Museum for which local designers have created custom mini-golf holes. Challenges include trying to escape a hole in the form of an ovoid labyrinth dubbed Daedalus’ Journey (Virginia Tech with Atelier U:W), putting through a scale model (Studios Architecture with Olin), and navigating a forest of oversized helium balloons (JBG Companies with Landscape Architecture Bureau). Rest assured that in the air-conditioned gallery, the only scarring you’ll endure will be the deep-searing shame of being bested by a five-year-old. Open during museum hours, through September 3. • nbm.org
Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA, LEED Green Associate, is the former associate design editor for ARCHITECT, and still covers architecture and design in Washington, D.C. He earned his M.Arch. at UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design. Follow Deane on Twitter at @deane_madsen.
