Patios, Pools, and the Invention of the American Backyard March 14- May 24, 2020 The suburban backyard is an American original—an invention so familiar it hardly seems invented at all. Patios, Pools, & the Invention of the American Backyard explores the mid-century backyard from the rise of the suburbs and tract houses, to the beauty of postwar garden design, and the birth of the environmental movement. Filled with vintage photographs, historic drawings, and fun period advertisements, the exhibition reveals how these spaces became such an integral part of American popular culture. Patios, Pools, & the Invention of the American Backyard is presented by the Smithsonian Institution