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    Buildings, museums, and designers share April Fools’ Day jokes

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    In case you missed it, Saturday April 1 was April Fools’ Day.

    Across the globe, buildings, museums, and government bodies partook in the fun by sharing jokes on social media to prank the public. From a loud car on Amtrak, to slides wrapping around iconic buildings, to a Guggenheim turned red, check out these fresh gags. Did you fall for any of these stunts?

    MoMA PS1

    MoMA PS1 unveiled a new mural for the brick wall on its Long Island City building, a depiction of the new (and controversial) We Heart New York campaign.

    HGTV

    HGTV announced a new reality TV series similar to Big Brother. The show would star several hosts of its popular programs and feature them living in and renovating a house together, among the participants are the Property Brothers and Ben and Erin Napier of Hometown.

    Amtrak

    Amtrak poked fun at the concept of its Quiet Car, with an announcement of a new Loud Car, in which passengers can play speakers out loud, talk loudly on their cellphones, or chat with others.

    Mayor of Miami

    Francis Suarez, mayor of Miami, shared via a Tweet that Twitter would be moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Miami.

    Rijksmuseum

    At the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, a new exhibition featuring a colorful ball pit and curving slide will take up space in front of the famed Rembrandt painting The Night Watch.

    National Mall NPS

    In Washington D.C. where the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom, the National Park Service and National Mall announced that the fabled cherry tree cut down by George Washington in his youth has “regenerated.” Instead of shades of pastel pink and white it blooms red, white, and blue.

    Eiffel Tower

    Starting July 1 the Eiffel Tower will have a new installation: A spiraling slide will hug the metal tower. According to the announcement it will be “tallest slide in the world.”

    The Edge

    On the topic of slides… in New York City, The Edge building in Hudson Yards also revealed plans to install a curving slide on its vertical structure.

    Hyperallergic/British Museum

    The arts media outlet Hyperallergic posted an article sharing that the British Museum will offer Greece NFTs of the Parthenon Marbles in lieu of returning the objects themselves, a piece that further inflames debates about repatriation.

    MASS MoCA

    MASS MoCA, the contemporary art museum in Massachusetts, announced a name change and rebrand as MATH MoCA (The MATHachusetts Museum of Calculus and Algebra). The news release, shared on Instagram, cited “funding” as the reason for the change and said the public could weigh in during a 24-hour comment period.

    Guggenheim

    Guggenheim in New York revealed a major change for the white exterior of the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building, changing it to a bold shade of red. The joke is based on historical evidence that Wright had originally proposed the building as red, but the idea was tabled by then–museum director Hilla Rebay.

    Ryan Scavnicky

    AN contributor Ryan Scavnicky mocked Instagram and other social media platforms with a jest that drawing and 3D modeling software platform Rhino 7 would implement a stories feature in which you can see what friends and colleagues are working (or not) on.

    Dezeen

    Dezeen announced that “minimalist British designer John Pawson has ditched his pared-back aesthetic in favour of full-blown maximalism.” With a set of altered images of his home in the Cotswolds, it appears Pawson has embraced color, perhaps due to the influence of social media like TikTok. “Asked if he could explain his reversal in tastes, he replied: ‘No.’,” according to Dezeen.

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