Spotlight on Design: Ronald Rael, Hosted by the National Building Museum

"Architecture is a turbulent form of practice, and we battle the forces that shape it as well as those that allow it to exist." Rael San Fratello

Featured in the National Building Museum's exhibition The Wall/El Muro: What is a Border Wall? Ronald Rael, Principal Rael San Fratello, is a design activist, author, and thought leader of additive manufacturing, borderwall studies, and earthen architecture. His research connects indigenous and traditional material practices to contemporary technologies and issues. Along with partner Virginia San Fratello, Rael's audacious and imaginative practice explores the frontiers of technology, material, and tradition. 

Ronald Rael's lecture will be followed by a conversation around innovations at the intersection of natural construction and new technologies with Tonya Ohnstad, Assistant Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at Catholic University's School of Architecture and Planning.

The exhibition will be on view before and after the lecture.


Program Schedule:

Doors Open — 5:30pm

Program Starts — 6:00pm

Lecture — 6:00-7:00pm

Conversation + Q&A — 7:00-7:30pm

Complimentary Wine & Charcuterie — 7:30-8:00pm


Spotlight on Design is generously supported by the Anthony and Keiko Greenberg Foundation.