Bloch Wins Awards

Not surprisingly, Steven Holl's Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri wins an 2008 AIA Honor Award for Architecture [PDF link].

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[Image from kultureflash]

Of course, not everybody's thinks that award is what the addition should receive...

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[Cartoon by Lee Judge]

(Thanks to Jeff S. for the head's up on the Judge Award.)

Comments

  1. I remember much animosity towards the project, specifically its relationship to the old museum's edifice. Now that it's done, there seems to be a near unanimous like of the new design. Only when the addition can be boiled down to metaphors via cartoons, as here, do critiques like this resurface, and the argument against the design weakens.

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  2. I like a lot about the building : the concept, the conversation/contrast with the old building, the interior, etc...
    But -- overall I'm disappointed! Especially for the price tag and the time involved.

    The lighting at night is truly sad (who would have guessed there was a lighting designer involved).
    The giant retaining wall on the east side (toward the neighbors) is brutal.
    And the channel glass itself. Not only are the proportions crap - but the glass looks dull and cheap (granted it looks nice at certain angles or when the sun has a certain hue… but too much of time it looks like cheap, sheet metal, soffit panels).

    Oh well - it's still better than what the competition offered...

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