_American Folk Art Museum
45 West 53rd Street New York
www.folkartmuseum.org
Hours: Tue-Sun: 10:30am-5:30pm/ Fri: 11:am-7:30pm/ Mon: closed / Fri after 5.30pm free
Architect: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects LLP 2001
The American Folk Art Museum
A40 foot wide, 100 foot long site on 53rd street American Folk Art Museum New York
Four upper floors are devoted to gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions. A small café overlooks53rd street
A skylight above a grand stair between the second and third floors fills the adjacent galleries with natural light. Openings at each level allows light to filter down to the lowest level. Interior spaces are animated by changing light.
Art is built into the structure and circulation paths of the building. In addition to the gallery space, a series of niches display a more permanent selection of art objects. Visitors choose from different routes to move through the building and to walk from floor to floor.
TheFolk Art Museum is surrounded on three sides by the Museum of Modern Art Folk Art Museum
Sculptural in form, the façade recalls an abstracted open hand. The panels fold inward to create a faceted plane. The façade catches the glow of the rising and setting sun, subtly shifting with the weather and the seasons.
A
Four upper floors are devoted to gallery space for permanent and temporary exhibitions. A small café overlooks
A skylight above a grand stair between the second and third floors fills the adjacent galleries with natural light. Openings at each level allows light to filter down to the lowest level. Interior spaces are animated by changing light.
Art is built into the structure and circulation paths of the building. In addition to the gallery space, a series of niches display a more permanent selection of art objects. Visitors choose from different routes to move through the building and to walk from floor to floor.
The
Sculptural in form, the façade recalls an abstracted open hand. The panels fold inward to create a faceted plane. The façade catches the glow of the rising and setting sun, subtly shifting with the weather and the seasons.
The architects Discuss the Building materials.
_Facade Panels
When first asked what the facade of the museum might be, our rather facetious response was that it might be made of old bubble gum. The second impulse was to consider tilt-up concrete panels cast on the vacant lot next door to the site. One could imagine the layers of urban archaeology that could be uncovered and incorporated into the facade of the building. Obviously, both these ideas were not realistic, but they revealed our desire to clad the building in a material that was both common and amazing, and that would show a connection with the handmade quality of folk art. We wanted the building to reflect the direct connection between heart and hand.
_Tombasil
We decided to look for a material that had a warmer colour. Tombasil is a commercially produced white bronze alloy used for boat propellers, fire hose nozzles, and grave markers (hence its name). It has a warm yet silvery quality that we liked. We were interested in the direct fabrication technique; one that revealed how the panels were made. Samples were made at first by pouring the material directly onto the concrete floor of the foundry. We also tried pouring tombasil onto steel plates for a smoother finish. Although the results were interesting, they were also uncontrollable. The intense heat of the molten metal caused water entrapped in the concrete to explode; the results were interesting pockmarks but dangerous working conditions. The heat also caused the steel plates to warp and buckle. Working with the Tallix foundry in Beacon,New York
_Resin Fibreglass
We previously used fibreglass in an installation of screens that we had designed. We very much liked the translucency and its “low tech” quality. Originally, we wanted to use a screen wall of fibreglass to shield the primary staircase. The screen would create silhouettes of people walking up and down the stairs. We wanted the screen to be blue. However, since it was a permanent part of the building, the fibreglass needed to be fireproofed, a process that would have produced a murky brown tone. The samples show how the colour changed as we worked with the fabricator to produce what eventually became the blue-green panels.
When first asked what the facade of the museum might be, our rather facetious response was that it might be made of old bubble gum. The second impulse was to consider tilt-up concrete panels cast on the vacant lot next door to the site. One could imagine the layers of urban archaeology that could be uncovered and incorporated into the facade of the building. Obviously, both these ideas were not realistic, but they revealed our desire to clad the building in a material that was both common and amazing, and that would show a connection with the handmade quality of folk art. We wanted the building to reflect the direct connection between heart and hand.
_Tombasil
We decided to look for a material that had a warmer colour. Tombasil is a commercially produced white bronze alloy used for boat propellers, fire hose nozzles, and grave markers (hence its name). It has a warm yet silvery quality that we liked. We were interested in the direct fabrication technique; one that revealed how the panels were made. Samples were made at first by pouring the material directly onto the concrete floor of the foundry. We also tried pouring tombasil onto steel plates for a smoother finish. Although the results were interesting, they were also uncontrollable. The intense heat of the molten metal caused water entrapped in the concrete to explode; the results were interesting pockmarks but dangerous working conditions. The heat also caused the steel plates to warp and buckle. Working with the Tallix foundry in Beacon,
_Resin Fibreglass
We previously used fibreglass in an installation of screens that we had designed. We very much liked the translucency and its “low tech” quality. Originally, we wanted to use a screen wall of fibreglass to shield the primary staircase. The screen would create silhouettes of people walking up and down the stairs. We wanted the screen to be blue. However, since it was a permanent part of the building, the fibreglass needed to be fireproofed, a process that would have produced a murky brown tone. The samples show how the colour changed as we worked with the fabricator to produce what eventually became the blue-green panels.
_Pietra Piesentina
This stone comes from a small quarry north ofVenice Italy
_Douglas Fir
The materials of the museum are a balance of warm and cool. To counter the coolness of the concrete and glass, many elements throughout the museum are made of Douglas fir, which has a warm reddish hue. Solid, full-length fir planks are set into terrazzo ground concrete in the gallery spaces. Solid wood rails run along the glass handrails. This same wood is also used in a woven manner as a balustrade wall separating the café (on the mezzanine level) from the ground level of the museum. It also appears as a series of fins along the wall of the auditorium.
_Laminated Insulated Glass
An extremely clear glass, Starfire, manufactured by Pittsburgh Plate Glass, was chosen for the windows. Glass usually has a green tint to it, which causes both light entering the building and views out of the building to have a greenish quality. To keep views of the city true to their colour, this special transparent glass was used.
_Concrete
The concrete throughout the museum has been finished using different techniques; although the material stays the same, it varies in colour and finish. The slabs throughout the building are terrazzo ground to produce a smooth finish that reveals the stone aggregate. The poured-in-place concrete walls are bush hammered: this technique involves using a jackhammer over the surface, which creates a rough but controlled texture.
_Cold-Rolled Steel
The handrails along the main stair, which runs from the top to the bottom of the gallery spaces, are fabricated from blued cold-rolled steel. We chose the steel because it is both humble and elegant.
_Terne-Coated Stainless Steel
The exterior of the north facade of the building is finished with thin sheets of steel. They are used in an overlapping manner, rather like enlarged shingles, to create both depth and texture.
_Heath Company Terra Cotta Hand-Glazed Tile
The Heath Company started as an art ceramics studio inSausalito , California
_Cherry
Benches in the galleries and tables in the library are custom made by cabinetmaker Steven Lino from cherry wood. Cherry is similar in color to Douglas fir, but it is a deeper red and a harder wood.
This stone comes from a small quarry north of
_Douglas Fir
The materials of the museum are a balance of warm and cool. To counter the coolness of the concrete and glass, many elements throughout the museum are made of Douglas fir, which has a warm reddish hue. Solid, full-length fir planks are set into terrazzo ground concrete in the gallery spaces. Solid wood rails run along the glass handrails. This same wood is also used in a woven manner as a balustrade wall separating the café (on the mezzanine level) from the ground level of the museum. It also appears as a series of fins along the wall of the auditorium.
_Laminated Insulated Glass
An extremely clear glass, Starfire, manufactured by Pittsburgh Plate Glass, was chosen for the windows. Glass usually has a green tint to it, which causes both light entering the building and views out of the building to have a greenish quality. To keep views of the city true to their colour, this special transparent glass was used.
_Concrete
The concrete throughout the museum has been finished using different techniques; although the material stays the same, it varies in colour and finish. The slabs throughout the building are terrazzo ground to produce a smooth finish that reveals the stone aggregate. The poured-in-place concrete walls are bush hammered: this technique involves using a jackhammer over the surface, which creates a rough but controlled texture.
_Cold-Rolled Steel
The handrails along the main stair, which runs from the top to the bottom of the gallery spaces, are fabricated from blued cold-rolled steel. We chose the steel because it is both humble and elegant.
_Terne-Coated Stainless Steel
The exterior of the north facade of the building is finished with thin sheets of steel. They are used in an overlapping manner, rather like enlarged shingles, to create both depth and texture.
_Heath Company Terra Cotta Hand-Glazed Tile
The Heath Company started as an art ceramics studio in
_Cherry
Benches in the galleries and tables in the library are custom made by cabinetmaker Steven Lino from cherry wood. Cherry is similar in color to Douglas fir, but it is a deeper red and a harder wood.
Texto de folkartmuseum.org y twbta.com, imágenes de twbta.com, mimoa.com y otros.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario