A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books

American Folk Art Museum in New York, NY by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Associates, 2001 On December 11, 2001 the long-awaited American Folk Art Museum , designed by New York City's Tod Williams Billie Tsien Associates , opened its doors to the public. The following text and design sketches are by the architect; the following dose will feature a critique and images of the built museum. Located on 53rd Street, this new eight-level building devotes the four upper floors to gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions. The Museum will be capped by a skylight above a grand interior stair with openings at each floor allowing natural light to filter into the galleries and through to the lower levels. Art will be integrated into public spaces, utilizing a series of niches throughout the building that offer inform...

Eyebeam Atelier in New York, NY, 2001 Featured here are the three finalists to build the new home of Eyebeam Atelier , a non-profit organization "established to provide access, education, and support for students, artists, and the general public in the field of art and technology." The finalists include New York's Diller and Scofidio, Leeser Architecture, and Dutch firm MVRDV (left). The following text and images are courtesy Eyebeam Atelier. Diller + Scofidio (now Diller Scofidio + Renfro ) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary studio involved in architecture, the visual arts and the performing arts. The team is primarily involved in thematically-driven experimental work that take the form of temporary and permanent site-specific installations, multi-media theater, electronic media, and print, as well as a...

Museum of Archaeology and History in Montreal, Quebec, Canada by Dan S. Hanganu Architects, 1992 The following text and images are by Dan S. Hanganu Architects for their award-winning Museum of Archaeology and History (aka Pointe-à-Callière) in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, completed in 1992. "Memory and inventory" constitute the major themes employed in the elaboration of this project. Given the significance of the site, the architecture of the museum's components is influenced by the events which have taken place here since the founding of Montreal, and where more than six centuries of history are superimposed. The museum is comprised of three elements: a new building called the "Eperon", a crypt, and the former Customs House. The "Eperon" constitutes the focal point of the project. A work of mason...

Barn Studio in Orient, New York by Studio a/b Located on the North Fork of Long Island in Orient, New York, two structures sit in close proximity, a barn and a garage. Prematurely weathered by flooding, both buildings were renovated by New York's Studio a/b into a studio for the present owner. The subtle design preserves the rustic character of the existing buildings' exteriors, while opening the interiors to create simple, contemporary spaces. Studio a/b's design comprises four subtle gestures: raising the existing structures two feet, adding a patio between the two buildings, partitioning the barn into two spaces, and creating a large opening to the patio from the newly created studio space in the barn. Each gesture works with the existing so neither old nor new takes precedence; the design attempts to create a seaml...

Agosta House in San Juan Island, Washington by Patkau Architects, 2000 Recipient of a 2001 Honor Award from the Seattle Chapter of the AIA, the Agosta House is located on San Juan Island in Washington state. The following words and text are by the house's architect, Patkau Architects . DESIGN STATEMENT A private residence for a couple relocating from Manhattan to San Juan Island in Washington State. In addition to conventional domestic requirements the program of the house included an office, in which the couple intend to continue their professional work, and also a garden enclosed within a 12 foot tall fence to protect it from the numerous deer which run wild throughout the island. SITE The property on which the house is located consists of 43 acres largely covered by second-growth Douglas Fir forest. The ...

Pratt Institute Stabile Hall in Brooklyn, New York by Pasanella+Klein, Stolzman+Berg Architects (PKSB), 1999 Open since late 1999, Pratt Institute's Stabile Hall in Brooklyn, New York, designed by Pasanella+Klein, Stolzman+Berg Architects of New York City, is an atypical university dormitory. Accommodating approximately 220 freshman art and architecture students, the hall contains studio and gallery spaces, in addition to the typical dorm rooms and common areas. Utilizing brick and translucent panels to differentiate functions and volumes, the building's scale is thereby reduced and is less severe than a monolithic shell might have been. The irregular openings and regular rhythm of the brick volumes (at left) is reminiscent of Louis I. Kahn's work, while the light volume sheathed in translucent panel...

Sauna Pavilion in Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts by Artifact Design, 1999 The following text and images are by Artifact Design (now ck-a ) for their design of a sauna pavilion in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. The sauna's site was a small knoll at the end of a large open meadow overlooking a pond and its feeder stream. The program required the building to be present at the meeting of earth and water. To mediate between the two site characteristics, we created a spatial zone defined by a grade change, a plankway for the cold plunge, and a screen wall. We pulled the sauna itself back from this edge and made it a copper-sheathed cube sitting in the landscape. One revolves around it while proceeding through the ritual of the bath: entering, undressing, baking in sauna cha...