Museum of the Roman Theater of Cartagena, Spain

Raphael Moneo's Museum of Roman Theater in Cartegena, Spain looks like a place of wonder--an elegant intervention of contemporary design in order to preserve the memories of an ancient civilization.  At first glance, the solution appears overtly elementary, but upon closer inspection, the colors and textures and subtitles of the architecture intend to become a visceral and intensely haptic experience.  The new architecture is not overpowering though, choosing to recede into a a role of being a backdrop and allow the spirit of the place to shine through.  Enough words... just watch the pictures and enjoy!

plaza level plan

amphitheater level plan

upper gallery level plan

addition elevation

street level view

aerial view

  In Cartagena, Moneo seems to have been conscious of a city formed by memories, as well as a city shaped by the present. He opted to restore the 18th-century Riquelme Palace and allow it to form a dialogue with the town hall of Cartagena, a building begun in 1900. His new addition to it, which houses the first part of the Roman Theater Museum, while clearly modern in materials and form, is recessed to allow the palace a prominent place on the square. The museum’s exhibition galleries are located in a second building that respects the scale of the city, but its textured stone facade, punctuated by relatively few windows, is clearly a 21st-century building. The restoration of the Roman theater itself, the result of the difficult and delicate strategy of adding new to old, does not compromise the old—with additions that are capable of being reversed, if need be. Throughout, visitors can move easily and honestly between past and present.

portion of the new gallery

bridge over the protected ruins

light well

modernest

a stunningly beautiful and utterly simple home in toronto by twbt alum Kyra Clarkson:

house 1 [photo by kyra clarkson]

re-live the entire design and construction process on the blog here:
modernest: everything you want in a house

building on a hillside

an excellent "captain's log" by an architect [Padraic Cassidy] designing and constructing his own home in Mt. Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.  not just a dry account of construction details, progress and design intent, but some great musings on art, philosophy, modernist masterpieces, and touching pet fish memorial services. [all images by Padraic Cassidy]

building on a hillside by Padraic Cassidy

very exciting stuff...spring is in the air and construction projects await!

____________________________________________________

Peter Stutchbury lecture

In my inbox this morning:

We are extremely fortunate to have booked Peter Stutchbury for a lecture this year.

Peter is perhaps the best know Australian architect, outside of Glenn Murcutt, having received over 50 RAIA and AIA awards.

This is his first US speaking tour and we don't expect that he will be able to come back anytime soon.

I hope you'll also encourage your colleagues, friends and classmates to join us for this rare event.

Peter Stutchbury

Evolution or Adaptation? 

Peter Stutchbury Architecture, Australia

April 5th

6 pm Sharp Auditorium 

Denver Art Museum

thanks to Gabe for the heads up.

____________________________________________________________

Sketchup & Allied Works

we promise that there will be an end to all the posts on the Clyfford Still Museum, but this one was just too good not to share...

spatial figures; 3D model sections, SketchUp

over at the sketchup blog, Aidan Chopra goes deep into Allied Works' design process and their 3d studies of the Clyfford Still Museum.  highlights include physical models, sketchup models, digital lighting studies and Maxwell renderings.  plenty of great images and an interview with Brent Linden, director of the firm's NYC office.

ceiling design light study; SketchUp, Maxwell Render

interior spatial study; pencil on paper and 3D section model, SketchUp

visit to thorncrown chapel

we had meant to make this an earlier post, but other life issues held sway over our schedule...; ]

back over thanksgiving holiday, we took a drive to eureka springs, arkansas to clear our heads before the winter mayhem.  although initially sunny and crisp, it eventually became a dew touched and clammy trip, but not so much as to dampen the spirit of the thing.  the Ozarks through Missouri and Arkansas are actually quite warm [texturally] with their buttery limestone hills, topped with beds of wheaty red tall grass.  all at once the trees became dense forests-- tall & thick walls with soft leafy floors.

but why arkansas for a getaway, you ask?  one very good architectural reason--e. fay jones and his thorncrown chapel--completed in 1980.  constructed with modest means of 2x4s and field stone, the design is contrastingly rich in complexity and layers.  it has become a pilgrimage rest stop of sorts for many people to take in the nealry unobstructed connection to nature through Architecture of the highest order.  the magnificent play of light and structural lightness helps the place appear as if the trees themselves somehow intelligently grew to form the chapel.

chapel office on the approach path [also designed by jones]

south elevation & entry to thorncrown chapel

the 2x4 truss latticework above the entry

interior looking toward the alter

pew seating with view to the adjacent hillside

some backstory behind the structure:

thorncrown was conceived by private property owner Jim Reed, after foregoing his original plan to build a retirement dream home on the site.  so many visitors would stop at the site to take in a view of the surrounding ozarks that he sought to share it with everyone rather than lock them out.  with a very modest budget, he sought to provide travelers with a non-denominational space for contemplation and reflection.  e. fay jones kept the meager sum in mind and designed the structure based upon elements small enough for a few men to carry through the woods with two hands.  thus the major structural columns at both ends are built-up 2x12 posts, with the remaining 2x4 trusses fabricated on the cast in place concrete slab using a template truss frame repeated as many times as required.  the wood frames were then tilted up into place at approximately 30-inches on center and tied together with supplementary wood framing.  the materials may sound cheap and standard, but the care and craftsmanship is immediately apparent upon closer inspection.

plan, section & west elevation

a small space, measuring only 24ft x 60ft x 50ft H., the chapel feels infinitely larger due to the 6,000 sq ft of glass for walls & roof.  from the drawings, one can see a reference to some of the most inspirational structures of the same building type--gothic cathedrals--although with the structure now supportive from the inside.  jones often referred to his work as celebrating the "operative opposite", which emulated historical architecture by not copying it, but re-interpreting it with beautiful inversion.  it's as if the exoskeleton of flying buttresses of the cathedral have been transmogrified to an introverted, meditative experience of light, shadow & transparency.

reflection

window sill detail [portion of custom lamp above]

for plenty more detailed information on the construction of the chapel, visit the University of Arkansas Library Archives of the Fay Jones Collection.  Some great images that give some insight into the craftsmanship, building sequence and integration of the design/build process.

build llc: modern list denver

the globetrotting archi-web innovators over at BUILD blog have featured Denver in of their latest modern list post, featuring everything from modern furniture, restaurants, and most current architectural projects.  many thanks for the shout out to this blog's link.

image from buildblog LLC

as always, many of the best new places to check out right here in Denver made the list, and we couldn't have done it better ourselves.  time to go exploring...

on his own design

Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture in an interview regarding his experience on the recently completed Clyfford Still Museum, and a reflection on his past work.

Q: It sounds like you have a very specific idea of the kind of work you want Allied to accomplish. But what is that exactly? 

A: Clyfford Still Museum  is a kind of summary of the past decade to me. It has a lot of the ideas that we are now pursuing in other projects but not necessarily in the form or level of sophistication -- it's only a $15 million building. It's a modest building in many ways. It was an end piece and therefore the beginning piece for the next period for us...______________________________________________________

Q: What project you've done has offered the most satisfaction? A: As of right now, Clyfford Still Museum, no question. Q: Because it's a distillation of ideas you've been working on during the past decade? A: Yes, as a benchmark. For me, it's the most complete piece of architecture we've done. And again, it has modest aspirations. It's a simple building with a powerful presence. Our buildings are like that. Our buildings are quiet but the resonance you feel is bigger than a small building. 

still museum west elevation [photo by jeremy bitterman]

*UPDATE: here is a great video interview of Brad Cloepfil on the Archdaily Vimeo blog, speaking about his thoughts on good Architecture and the importance of experiencing place.

AD Interviews: Brad Cloepfil, Allied Works from ArchDaily on Vimeo.

If you haven't seen it go check out the absolutely brilliant paintings and new museum, open late on Fridays until 8pm--but we would highly recommend a visit during daylight hours.

Clyfford Still Museum: Public Opening

The new Clyfford Still Museum opened to members of the public for free until noon today [Friday 18th], and we were able to get inside over lunch to see the space and artworks.  Overall, a very impressive experience with large galleries flooded with natural light and a feeling like around every turn new discoveries were waiting to be made.  We will need multiple visits and take more time to study all the pieces, but they included everything from very large canvases to a showcase of Still's tools and interactive biography displays.

The large featured canvas paintings were incredibly vivid and dynamic explorations of form and color, accommodated in perfectly scaled galleries for either viewing one at a time or in context with other adjacent works.  The view corridors through the upper level lobbies seemed as if they were meant to entice the visitor with unique vantage points and glimpses of the art at great distances.  Definitely worth a visit!

Still Museum opening soon

Clyfford Still Museum North Elevation

Photo by Jeremy Bittermann/courtesy Clyfford Still Museum

UPDATED POST ARTICLE:
Museum opening may shed new light on Clyfford Still

To much anticipation, the Clyfford Still Museum is slated to open to the public next Friday November 18th.  This will be the first time that many of Still's works will be seen by more than just his family, friends and curators.  And the press has lit up with excitement...


TIME magazine has a wonderful summary of how the museum came to be, and a enticing description of the natural light in the gallery spaces.


Architectural Record has a short article on Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture giving his first impressions of the nearly complete Clyfford Still Museum construction.  Cloepfil won the commission in a 2006 shortlisted competition entry over DS + R and Ohlson DuBois Architects.

“Wow,” he says. “It’s like seeing it for the first time. It’s done. It’s real. This is probably the first time in my career that a building is more than I imagined. Everything is better than I hoped for...
“Denver, contrary to what some people think, is a prairie town,” Cloepfil says. Pointing to the west, he says, “The mountains are way over there. I wanted this building to be grounded, part of the earth. This is a neighborhood with very aspirational, very bombastic, very extroverted buildings, and this is a very introverted project.” Cloepfil has said that he conceived of the building “as a nearly geologic experience, one that firmly holds both visitor and art in spaces amplified by natural light.”

A recent development in how the museum will continue to live on is yet another impressive chapter in the legacy of Clyfford Still.  To help pay for the museum and establish an endowment for the new building's operations, 4 of Still's paintings were sold for  more than $114 Million at Sotheby's auction house.  Absolutely staggering.


See a video from the Denver Post with a preview glimpse of the new galleries:

See a photo gallery of the art installation preparations here.

 Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post

Exterior Concrete Texture, Courtesy Allied Works Architecture

a good reminder

" A meaningful architectural experience is not simply a series of retinal images.  The 'elements' of architecture are not visual units or gestalt; they are encounters, confrontations that interact with memory." - Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin

Door handle at Zumthor's Saint Benedict Chapel

Kent Dining Hall featured on Archdaily

On Tuesday, our friends at  Archdaily featured the recently completed LEED Platinum Kent Denver Dining Hall.  

Thanks for the shout out!

barn collectives: contextual invisibility

we ran across a couple intriguing projects that have strikingly similar ideas--exploring the limits of spatial proximity and formal interactions of the modern vernacular: "barn cluster".  one that has travelled its way throughout the blogosphere and was created for Living Architecture by NORD, called the shingle house, has popped up on more than a few of our favorite sites.  the distinguishing factor in the shingle house project is that it was technically a "re-furbishment" of a collection of fish shacks near the coast of Kent, England.  [renderings & plans by NORD; photos from Dezeen]

ground level plan

upper level plan

before

under construction

entry

elevation

interior

violet wood floor stain mimcs the native wildflower bloom in spring

the second is a relatively new project from brian mackay-lyons--a collection of 3 corrugated galvalume-clad barns dubbed "pugwash point".  one volume as main living, another devoted solely to a library, and couple others which could be guest spaces.  an article on the residents can be found here. [all photos courtesy macay-lyons sweetapple]

we can't help notice the design intent of these projects could possibly be to "disappear" into the context.  the single exterior material treatment for all walls & roofs would tend to lend itself to discreetness, if it weren't for the large window openings.  another factor is our familiarity with archetypes [ie-the gabled roof forms, shake shingles or corrugated panels].  Oddly enough it is the details that tell us something is strange...different than the typical, and only then do we sense the modernity of the approach.

but maybe that is what makes them intriguing places to want to be--they are the best of two [or more] of worlds that we desire?  one that is rooted in the past & place, and one that is of the present, and perhaps the future.  a modern interpretation of the vernacular can easily spawn channels of thinking which reach an extreme point of view--would it even be possible [in this era] to make a building so "contextual" that it becomes invisible?  is this approach to design immune to being irrelevant?

incredible to think that the success of this design approach strives for the best balance of two notions, rather than the pursuit of an extreme boundary of a single idea.  keep in mind this shouldn't be confused with mediocrity, since it seems the hardest things to do this profession [and life] is achieving balance in which all things are suspended rather than vacuous--in other words: levitating at the horizon of the ideal and the real.