Project Type
Architainment/Immersive Experiences.
A large-scale public art experience that transformed the Smithsonian Castle into an immersive, AI-driven visual experience on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. from July 17–18, 2026.
Project Name
Smithsonian Dreams. The two-night activation was created by media artist Refik Anadol and presented by the Smithsonian as part of the 250th Anniversary of the United States.
Design Criteria
Panasonic Projector & Display Americas worked with the Smithsonian, Show Imaging, and artist Refik Anadol to reimagine the cultural landmark for its re-opening following a recent renovation. The goal: showcase the combined power of history, technology, and human creativity. Anadol trained a custom AI system on nearly two centuries of Smithsonian collections (157 million objects) to create engaging visuals that would celebrate all of the history housed within the Smithsonian. The next step was to showcase that artwork by projecting it across the historic Smithsonian Castle. The goal for Panasonic Projector & Display Americas was to power the installation with projector technology that provided the brightness, image quality, and color accuracy necessary to transform the Castle’s 145-foot structure into an immersive digital canvas.
Project Description
Panasonic Projector & Display Americas powered Smithsonian Dreams, a landmark public art experience that transformed the Smithsonian Castle into a living, AI-driven canvas on the National Mall. Created by internationally acclaimed media artist Refik Anadol and presented by the Smithsonian, the two-night installation drew on nearly two centuries of Smithsonian collections, using a custom AI system to transform millions of digitized artifacts, artworks, photographs, manuscripts, specimens, and scientific records into an evolving visual experience projected across the Castle's historic façade.
Bringing this vision to life required projection technology on an extraordinary scale. Panasonic worked with the team to deploy a total of 44 PT-RQ45K Series 4K projectors that were positioned in front of the Castle as well as on the rooftop of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, a throw distance of more than 700 feet from the Castle. The Castle itself also made this a unique projection environment. The darker red sandstone and intricate façade meant the team needed to be very intentional about projector placement and brightness. Collaborating closely over the course of the project, they were able to identify the right approach to cover all of those details and deliver a consistent image across the entire building.
The Panasonic projectors gave the team the flexibility they needed to work across the different projector locations while delivering the brightness, color accuracy, image quality, and precision needed to map the landmark's 145-foot façade as a seamless digital canvas.
What set Smithsonian Dreams apart was its ability to transform a vast cultural archive into a living, immersive experience. Rather than presenting collections as static objects, the installation revealed unexpected connections across art, science, history, and culture, inviting audiences to experience Smithsonian knowledge in a dynamic and emotionally engaging way.
Free and open to the public, the project expanded access to cultural content beyond museum walls, creating a shared experience that blended technology, storytelling, and public art on an unprecedented scale. Presented as part of the Smithsonian's America 250 programming and coinciding with the reopening of the renovated Smithsonian Castle, Smithsonian Dreams demonstrated how AI and advanced projection technology can help cultural institutions reimagine public engagement while remaining rooted in education, discovery, and human creativity.
Challenges and Solutions
One of the key challenges was selecting the right projector technology to accurately display the museum's artifacts on to the massive 145-foot Castle wall, without sacrificing image quality, brightness, and color reproduction. The ability to project from large distances would require high-output, high-resolution projection technology to accurately showcase the detailed imagery and fully immerse audiences. Additionally, the darker red sandstone and intricate façade of the Castle meant the team needed to be very intentional about projector placement and brightness.
The production team chose to work with Panasonic Projector & Display Americas. Together, they selected the PT-RQ45K Series 4K Projectors, designed for large venues, live events, and projection mapping installations. For the exhibition, Panasonic deployed 44 PT-RQ45K Series 4K projectors across the National Mall, with 20 plus projectors positioned on the rooftop of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, a throw distance of more than 700 feet from the Castle.
Equipment
44 Panasonic MEVIX PT-RQ45K Projectors were deployed across the National Mall for the installation. The PT-RQ45K Projector is the world’s smallest and lightest 42,000-lumen 4K projector, offering streamlined logistics, enhanced durability, and stunning visual performance for large-venue installations. Its compact and lightweight design allows for easy transport across venues and simple on-site installation for production teams. The PT-RQ45K is also the first Panasonic projector to equip a 12G-SDI input as standard, enabling stable transmission of high-bandwidth, high-resolution video content over long distances. For live projection mapping installations, the PT-RQ45K delivers breathtaking 4K resolution with vibrant colors and seamless blending. The PT-RQ45K projector was ideal for this installation, selected to power the highest quality image reproduction, brightness, and color accuracy on a massive scale. The compact and lightweight design eased operational and installation complexity for the production team, especially for those deployed at a 700-foot distance from the Castle.
Team
List the key members of the creative team, technicians, vendors, manufacturers and other significant staff.