This summer, the National Building Museum invites visitors of all ages to move, climb, leap, and experience architecture like never before with MOMENTUM PARK(OUR), a bold new installation that transforms the Museum’s West Court into an immersive Parkour training course. Created in collaboration with Parkour pioneer Mark Toorock and American Parkour (APK), MOMENTUM PARK(OUR), opens to the public on Thursday, July 3 and runs through Sunday, July 20, 2025. This limited-time experience offers a thrilling physical and educational journey through the intersections of movement through the urban landscape, design, and spatial awareness. To participate in MOMENTUM PARK(OUR), guests will need to purchase a Parkour ticket (link to go live soon) which includes admission to the Museum. The Parkour ticket will be $5 in addition to the cost of regular museum admission. Participants are recommended to wear rubber-soled athletic shoes. 

Rooted in the discipline of Parkour, an athletic practice developed in France in the 1980s, MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) celebrates the power of the human body to engage with the built environment. Through a custom-designed architectural landscape featuring four obstacle courses designed for different age groups and with varying degrees of challenge, the experience invites participants to move fluidly and creatively through space.

The concept draws design inspiration from landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, whose work emphasized interactive public spaces and dynamic, exploratory movement. Halprin’s iconic creations, including Freeway Park in Seattle, Washington and Skyline Park in Denver, Colorado, have long served as the ideal built environment for Parkour athletes around the world. Halprin also designed the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C. 

Designed for both novices and experienced athletes, children and adults, MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) encourages exploration and movement in one of D.C.’s most breathtakingly beautiful architectural settings.

MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) will span more than 7,000 square feet and will feature four obstacle areas as well as interactive stations exploring the forces of motion.

For kids ages 2-5 - the youngest obstacle area will feature a loose play area that includes foam versions of the basic elements of Parkour training like balance beams, vault boxes and stepping stones. 

For kids ages 6-10, there will be two areas- a loose play area for self-exploration as well as a basic Parkour training course that includes precision sticks, vault boxes, low balance bars, stepping stones and a teeter totter to walk across and a custom Plexi-glass 3D maze taking kids over and under obstacles.

For teens through adults ( ages 11+)  a custom Parkour course will include all of the basic training elements mentioned above as well as a custom, urban landscape which includes components like a loading dock with over and under traversing elements and structures as well as construction scaffolding with built-in monkey bars.

The items in each obstacle course will be made primarily from wood. Some elements will be made from plastic, metal, and rubber mimicking elements of the built environment like tires, railings, scaffolding, and tubes. All four obstacle areas will be built on top of 2” thick carpet bonded foam.

“MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) invites visitors to move through the built environment in unexpected ways with purpose and creativity,” said Aileen Fuchs, president and executive director of the National Building Museum. “This program merges architecture, physicality, and education to spark curiosity, joy, and confidence in everyone who participates. By partnering with American Parkour, a company integrated into the physical education of public-school students here in the nation’s capital, we will provide a summer outlet to enhance physical and mental awareness and agility.”

The installation was developed in collaboration with Mark Toorock, a pioneering figure in the global Parkour movement and founder and CEO of American Parkour (APK). Known for advancing Parkour through accessible training programs, instructor certification, and equipment design, Toorock has spent more than two decades shaping how Parkour is practiced, taught, and understood across the U.S.

Through his partnership with D.C. Public Schools, Toorock helped implement a groundbreaking Parkour curriculum that is redefining physical education across the District. Focused on building confidence, creativity, and body awareness through movement, the program offers students a joyful, empowering alternative to traditional athletics, earning national recognition as a model for movement-based learning.

“The National Building Museum’s commitment to exploring the relationship between people and the built environment aligns perfectly with Parkour’s core philosophy: adapting to and interacting with architecture through movement,” said Toorock. “It’s hard to think of a more inspiring space to experience Parkour, as both a physical discipline and a creative response to urban space.”

In addition to the obstacle courses, the installation features:

• Interactive stations exploring the science of motion, momentum, kinetic energy, acceleration, designed to engage visitors with hands-on learning.
• Live Parkour performances and demos by professional athletes, who will also be onsite offering coaching and informal talks.
• Immersive media projections and photography that highlight the global culture of Parkour and its deep connections to urban design.

Ticketed programs and events throughout MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) include:

DAILY PROGRAMMING

The National Building Museum's education team will run a ten-minute demonstration on the Forces of Motion Interactive stations each hour Thursday-Monday. These demos will run at 10:30 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM. Visitors can expect to hear how momentum, energy and the forces of motion are at play in the interactive station on display as well as the Parkour obstacle courses.

YOUTH PROGRAMS

MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) Kid’s Workshops 

July 7, 14, 17, $17

Each workshop will be broken down into age brackets: 3:00pm-3:30pm workshop for children ages 7-9 and the 3:30pm-4:00pm workshop for children ages 9-11. 

Child-friendly workshops with Parkour coaches will take place on three different dates. In these workshops, kids will learn to move safely and creatively over obstacles. Through activities like silent landings, vaults, and a high-energy game of “Follow the Leader,” participants will build confidence, control, and a lasting love of movement. They'll also explore how the skills they develop connect to real-world architecture found in everyday neighborhoods. 

*This workshop will cost $17 per child and will require pre-registration 

** NOTE: July 17th is an NBM member-only opportunity. 

FAMILY PROGRAMS 

Saturdays and Sundays from July 5-20

There will be a fifteen minute Parkour Athlete Performance at 11 AM and 2 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.  

NOTE: this program can be viewed from outside the  Museum’s West Court without a Parkour ticket or from inside the installation with a Parkour ticket 

ADULT PROGRAM 

MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) Sip & Flip Happy Hour 

Thursday, July 17 from 5-8 PM, $25

Sip & Flip is a fun social event designed just for adults that includes obstacle courses, the Forces of Motion zone, and a choreographed stunt performance by professional parkour athletes. Athletes will also share the history, techniques, and training behind the art and sport of Parkour. Participants can enjoy drinks & bites.

“Amazon is thrilled to be the Presenting+ Sponsor for the National Building Museum’s MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) fostering innovation, inclusivity and community vibrancy in downtown D.C.,” said Patrick Phillippi, Head of Community Engagement for Greater Washington, Amazon. “This unique Parkour experience will help build community among D.C. residents and Museum visitors as they move through the built environment in unexpected ways with purpose and creativity.”

The National Building Museum is open Thursday-Monday from 10 am- 4 pm.

For more information and to register for events, visit the Momentum Parkour page on the Museum’s website.

MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) is sponsored by Amazon.

“Amazon is thrilled to be the Presenting+ Sponsor for the National Building Museum’s MOMENTUM PARK(OUR) fostering innovation, inclusivity and community vibrancy in downtown D.C.,” said Patrick Phillippi, Head of Community Engagement for Greater Washington, Amazon. “This unique Parkour experience will help build community among D.C. residents and Museum visitors as they move through the built environment in unexpected ways with purpose and creativity.”