Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Koning Eizenberg Architecture
Housed in the Old Post Office Building at the time, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh held an invited competition in 2000 for its expansion into the adjacent Buhl Planetarium, a long vacant structure fronting Alleghany Square. California's Koning Eizenberg Architecture won the competition, with a three-story glass and steel "contemporary structure encased in a shade of fluttering translucent panels that move with the wind."
Both the Post Office and Planetarium are classical structures, heavy stone buildings with ornamented surfaces; each building also features a copper dome. The architects responded to his context by opting for something light and dynamic, rather than heavy and solid. By bending and canting the exterior walls -- created with environmental artist Ned Kahn -- the new structure takes on a sculptural appearance that holds its own next to its neighbors, particularly when the wind blows.
Wisely the architects responded to each neighbor differently. They linked to the Post Office via a raised, portal-like footbridge wrapped in metal on the outside. The Planetarium connection is more direct, via a larger, shallower opening that highlights the impressive space beyond (image on next page). Given the disparity of the various exteriors, its surprising how well the interior flows; while not completely seamless, the design creates a highly active and dynamic sequence fitting for its function.
If one fully experiences the Children's Museum, it's apparent that's it's all (or almost all) about the exterior glass wall sculpture. Climbing up the new addition, the kids eventually play within the box that it encloses, an a wonderfully-illuminated space (PDF link, see page 7 for image) unlike any other in the city. Likewise at night, the glass box becomes a beacon for the neighborhood, one equally old and up-and-coming, housed between the Mattress Factory and the Andy Warhol Museum.
Housed in the Old Post Office Building at the time, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh held an invited competition in 2000 for its expansion into the adjacent Buhl Planetarium, a long vacant structure fronting Alleghany Square. California's Koning Eizenberg Architecture won the competition, with a three-story glass and steel "contemporary structure encased in a shade of fluttering translucent panels that move with the wind."
Both the Post Office and Planetarium are classical structures, heavy stone buildings with ornamented surfaces; each building also features a copper dome. The architects responded to his context by opting for something light and dynamic, rather than heavy and solid. By bending and canting the exterior walls -- created with environmental artist Ned Kahn -- the new structure takes on a sculptural appearance that holds its own next to its neighbors, particularly when the wind blows.
Wisely the architects responded to each neighbor differently. They linked to the Post Office via a raised, portal-like footbridge wrapped in metal on the outside. The Planetarium connection is more direct, via a larger, shallower opening that highlights the impressive space beyond (image on next page). Given the disparity of the various exteriors, its surprising how well the interior flows; while not completely seamless, the design creates a highly active and dynamic sequence fitting for its function.
If one fully experiences the Children's Museum, it's apparent that's it's all (or almost all) about the exterior glass wall sculpture. Climbing up the new addition, the kids eventually play within the box that it encloses, an a wonderfully-illuminated space (PDF link, see page 7 for image) unlike any other in the city. Likewise at night, the glass box becomes a beacon for the neighborhood, one equally old and up-and-coming, housed between the Mattress Factory and the Andy Warhol Museum.
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