Fields of ironwork, piles of brick, and rows of stone slabs and ornaments, along with a research library stacked with books, patents, blueprints, and sketches make up the collection of the National Building Arts Center (NBAC), the largest collection of building arts in the United States. On a recent tour of the Center, director Michael Allen described it as “one part memory palace and one part curio cabinet.” Supplemented by thousands of artifacts donated by the Brooklyn Museum in New York City and other collectors, the majority of the collection is…
