1 & 5. - Kimbell Art Museum by Louis Kahn
Natural light enters through narrow plexiglass skylights along the top of cycloid barrel vaults and is diffused by wing-shaped pierced-aluminum reflectors that hang below, giving a silvery gleam to the smooth, concrete-vault surfaces and providing a perfect, subtly fluctuating illumination for the works of art.
2. - Design by Louis Kahn
Works much like the Kimbell Art Museum, but also includes smaller louvers on the barrel vaults.
3. - Parrish Art Museum by Herzog de Meuron
Consists of a long corrugated metal roof structure running at steep angles with scattered skylights. These openings bring natural light into the gallery spaces in a much simpler way to the other inspirational galleries, yet is it still greatly successful.
4. - Rome Museum by Zaha Hadid
This gallery uses louvered ceiling panels that open and close automatically with the daily movement of the sun.
6. - Fondation Beyeler Gallery, Riehen Switzerland by Renzo Piano
This gridded ceiling is glazed throughout the building, providing indirect natural light in all the galleries. The simple elegance and detailing of the lit ceilings hides a five-foot space above, in which electrically controlled louvers, artificial lighting and the roof of brise-soleil are used to control the light in the galleries. At the building ends the glass roof extends generously beyond the glass walls and a further row of pillars, over the reflecting pool and the real-life water-lilies outside.
In one of our tutorials we were shown the Centre Of Contemporary Art in Rome by Zaha Hadid. I had never seen this piece of architecture before, but I was instantly drawn to it. Especially the way in which it overlapped itself and gave the sense of flowing spaces. The main aspect of the architecture that appealed to me was the large overhang at the front of the building with a glass facade. It seemed like a simple yet prominent feature of the design and something that I would like to incorporate in my own gallery.
The centre is made up of spaces that flow freely and unexpectedly between interior and exterior,
where walls twist to become floors or ceilings. The building absorbs the landscape structures, dynamizes them and gives them back to the urban environment. Hadid's architecture can thus be understood as an intensification of the surrounding space.
'a scene for thought, with art as a player on the scene' is Hadid's narrative for the centre.
Another piece of work by Zaha Hadid which I came across when studying the Centre in Rome is the Centre Of Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio. It does not flow like her architecture in Rome, but it does utilise the idea of intertwining sections/blocks that appeals to me. I also like the way it stands out from its neighbouring buildings, like it is a piece of art in itself, on display for motorists and pedestrians as they travel past.
"The concrete, steel and glass building features undulating levels and ramps to accommodate the varied shapes, scales and media of contemporary art. The galleries, that appear to float over the main lobby, connect and interlock like a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle, allowing for unobstructed viewing from all sides." This quote from the inauguration of the building identifies the elements that I would like to capture in my gallery design.
This gallery was another form of inspiration for me, once again due to the large overhang you can see in the bottom left of the image. I really hope that I can capture this element in my own gallery design. As well as providing seamless connections between the elements of the museum, the atrium can accommodate 1800 guests for receptions. Because art galleries are no longer just about art, they have to engage with the city, and according to some they are part of the entertainment industry. The internal cladding is coated aluminium that folds with the crispness of origami. For all the geometry there is a sense of calm throughout, especially in the understated form-follows-function galleries. In the new building the architects have designed big flexible spaces for big modern works. Backstage there is none of the usual diminution in quality one comes to expect in arts buildings. In fact the storage area was designed so it could easily be converted into gallery space. Architecture by no means has to be iconic, but if it is to work as an icon then it has to go for it, as this does. The architects have responded to the client's desire for a building that announces itself to and embraces the city in which it is situated.
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