© Paul Clemence

Photographer Paul Clemence of ARCHI-PHOTO has shared with us images of Adjaye Associates’ nearly-completed Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The building draws inspiration from the nearby Washington Monument, mirroring the 17-degree angle of its capstone in the museum’s tiered corona. Adjaye has described the building’s ornamental bronze lattice as “a historical reference to African American craftsmanship.” The skin can also be modulated to control the transparency and amount of sunlight reaching the interior spaces. The building will open to the public on September 24, 2016.

Continue on for Clemence’s full photoset.

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

© Paul Clemence

Find the rest of the images in the gallery below.

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© Rafael Gamo

• Architects: Escobedo Soliz Studio
• Location: 22-25 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101, United States
• Design Team: Lazbent Pavel Escobedo Amaral, Andres Soliz Paz, Stefanie Verhoeyen, Rodrigo Mazari Armida, Hiroshi Ando Ponce De Leon, Bryan Rosendo Casarrubias Zambrano
• Contractor: Fahey Design Build, Michael Kreha, Michael Fahey
• Project Year: 2016
• Photographs: Rafael Gamo, Andres Salinas Popp

• Structural Consultants: UNAM Laboratory of Structures, Juan Gerardo Oliva Salinas, Perla Santa Ana
• Construction Team: Jeevan Farias, Rodrigo Mazari, Stefanie Verhoeyen, Nicole Staake, Andy Sternad, Hiroshi Ando, Debbie Aphrodite Vapheas, Tania Tovar, Kara Biczykowsky, Miju Hong
• Renders: Cuervo Loco, Pedro Rafael Lechuga
• Special Thanks: UNAM Faculty of Architecture

© Rafael Gamo

Escobedo Soliz was selected to construct the temporary installation for the PS1 warm ups in summer 2016 through the YAP Program 2016 of MoMa Ps1. Weaving the courtyard is not an object nor a sculpture standing in the courtyard of the PS1, but a series of simple but powerful actions on the preexistence that generate new and different atmospheres in every space of the courtyard. 

© Rafael Gamo

Diagram

© Andres Salinas Popp

The intervention works together with the preexisting walls to generate embankments on the topography, platforms of soil and mirrors of water. Using the modulation of the holes on the concrete walls, left by the formwork ties, they make a weaving system to create an ethereal and colorful cloud of ropes that provides many different textures, colors and shadows below the courtyard. 

© Rafael Gamo

Plan

© Rafael Gamo

They use the materials as they are, without altering their original state, therefore in the end of the summer these materials can be reused, for their usual purposes. Since its foundation in 1971, the PS1 has been one of the first and most important venues for site-specific art In New York. The Proposal is in essence, a site-specific architectural intervention that can only belong in this courtyard.

Elevation

After installation, the ropes will be donated to Weavinghand, a community of weavers of Brookyn, with them they will make some rugs to be donated to various public institutions. The benches will be sold to the general public during uninstallation in the PS1. 

© Andres Salinas Popp

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Concert Hall. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

The Sydney Opera House has revealed designs for a $202 million renovation project, the largest upgrade program to the Jørn Utzon-designed building since it opened in 1973. Announced by New South Wales Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts, Troy Grant, the project’s main goal is to “improve access and ensure it meets the needs and expectations of audiences, artists and the 8.2 million people who visit each year.”

The Opera House is already one of Australia’s premier tourist destinations and performing arts centers, contributing $775 million annually to the NSW economy and a national-identity value of $4.6 billion. The renovation project is expected to preserve the icon and improve its functionality to meet its increasing popularity as a tourist attraction.

Northern Foyer. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

The $202 million dollars has been allocated from the Cultural Infrastructure Fund and will go towards upgrading and improving existing facilities, as well as transforming existing space for new functions. The NSW Government has outlined four main areas for renewal:

• Upgrade the acoustics, accessibility, efficiency and flexibility of the Opera House’s largest internal performance space, the Concert Hall, which hosts world-leading classical and contemporary musicians, speakers and other performers;

• Transform office space into a new Creative Learning Centre, a dedicated place for children, families and young people;

• Remove the existing intrusive marquee from the Northern Broadwalk, and build a premium Function Centre within the building envelope, with spectacular views of the harbour; and

• Create a welcoming, car-free entrance under the Monumental Steps, and improve access to a more comfortable and inviting main foyer.

Entry and Foyers. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

Entry and Foyers. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

“When my father was re-engaged to look into the Opera House, he realised it was necessary to look at the Opera House with new eyes,” said Jan Utzon, son of Jørn, himself an architect and member of the Opera House’s Eminent Architects Panel. “He realised times had changed and that a functioning arts centre will always need to adapt to the culture of the moment.”

Function Center. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

Perhaps the most important renovation will be to the main concert hall, which will be redesigned by Melbourne-based ARM Architecture. In its current form, the acoustics of the hall had been described as “hideous.”

“For the first time the Concert Hall will deliver the true ambitions of the original creators of this incredible building – and the real winners will be the audiences. People will be able to come and sit and enjoy the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and other great orchestras of the world right here at the Sydney Opera House in one of the greatest acoustics in the world,” said Sydney Symphony Orchestra Managing Director Rory Jeffes.

Concert Hall Lift. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

In addition to the four areas above, the plan will also include a $45 million project to replace the engine in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the Opera House’s second largest internal performance space.

The Concert Hall upgrade is expected to take 18 months to complete. Construction will begin in mid-2019 and is expected to be complete in time for the Opera House’s 2021 season. The Sutherland Theater will also be closed for 7 months in 2017, but all other facilities will remain open and fully operational during the renovation.

Creative Learning Center. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

Creative Learning Center. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

More information on the project can be found here.

News via Sydney Opera House.

Concert Hall. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

Function Center. Image Courtesy of Sydney Opera House

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