Norman Foster Designs a Time Capsule for America’s 250th Birthday News Art World Art & Exhibitions Artists Archaeology & History Art & Tech Art Collectors Art History Law & Politics Opinion Pop Culture People Museums & Institutions Collectibles Marketplace Artnet Auctions Gallery Network See All Art World Market Columns The Art Detective Wet Paint The Hammer Kenny Schachter The Gray Market Auctions Galleries Art Fairs Special Reports The Intelligence Report The Innovators List See All Market Podcast Artnet PRO About Art World Norman Foster Designs a Time Capsule for America’s 250th Birthday The titanium box will be installed under the Washington Monument Plaza. Time capsule designed by Norman Foster. Photo: Aaron Hargreaves / Foster + Partners. by Min Chen January 16, 2026 ShareShare This Article A time capsule is going into the ground in Washington D.C. to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. It’s no ordinary vessel though—but one designed by British architecture giant Norman Foster with the nation’s heritage in mind. The capsule is intended to commemorate the milestone in American history, while serving as a gesture of friendship from the U.K. to the U.S. The titanium box is designed with 13 facets, its base etched with 13 stars, in a nod to the 13 original colonies. Its lid holds the seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which depicts the Roman goddess Virtus standing over a fallen man, representing Tyranny. The image echoes the state’s motto “Sic Semper Tyrannis” (“Thus always to tyrants”), adopted in 1776 upon Virginia’s independence. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Please enter a valid email address Signup failed. Please try again later. You have successfully subscribed to Artnet News. Time capsule designed by Norman Foster. Photo: Aaron Hargreaves / Foster + Partners. Inside, the capsule will hold letters from U.S. and U.K. officials, including King Charles III and President Donald Trump, and soil from Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington in the town of Banbury. The bottom of the vessel instructs: “Not to be reopened until July 4, 2276,” the nation’s 500th birthday. Earlier this month, the object was presented by Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin and U.K. leadership to the U.S. Department of Interior. Accompanying the gift was a Portland limestone capstone, salvaged during the restoration of the George Washington statue in London, overseen by Foster’s firm, Foster + Partners. The statue, which stands in Trafalgar Square, was gifted to the U.K. by Virginia in 1921. “This tribute connects our past to our future and reaffirms that the ideals that began in Virginia continue to unite free peoples on both sides of the Atlantic,” Governor Youngkin noted in a statement. Time capsule designed by Norman Foster. Photo: Aaron Hargreaves / Foster + Partners. In design, Foster’s time capsule has a twin: one that was placed under London’s restored Washington statue, during its rededication by the Friends of the Washington Statue on June 18, 2025. The nonprofit organization has also funded this recent time capsule, which will be buried under the Washington Monument Plaza, beneath a black granite flagstone located on a direct line between the monument and Trafalgar Square. “Time capsules are about speaking to the future,” the U.K’s deputy prime minister David Lammy said in a statement. “I am confident that when this treasure is opened up by our descendants, they will find Britain and America still the closest of friends and the surest of allies.” Time capsule designed by Norman Foster. Photo: Aaron Hargreaves / Foster + Partners. Foster, of course, has long kept an eye ahead—architects, he’s said, should design “for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.” The Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s creations can be seen from New York to Berlin, from the Great Court of the British Museum to the Millau Viaduct in France. His recent projects include the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, which opened in December 2025. Min Chen Culture Editor Article topics Design The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Please enter a valid email address Signup failed. Please try again later. You have successfully subscribed to Artnet News. More Trending Stories Artists Inside ‘Gossip,’ New York’s Under-the-Radar Crit Group Auctions More Bob Ross Paintings Hit the Block to Bolster Public Media Art World This Church Became a Storied Gallery. 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