Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection

The Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation announces its move to a newly design space by Selldorf Architects, a 100,000 square foot museum in Miami’s Allapattah District that will open in December 2018. With 40 exhibition galleries, a research library, lecture hall, event space, sculpture garden, and restaurant, the Rubell Family will be able to expand their programming and showcase a large proportion of their collection. 

Principal of Selldorf Architects, Annabelle Selldorf, stated, our collective goal in the design was to define a space in which proportion and circulation are paramount to the essence of viewing and experiencing art. We strived to create rooms where our collective memory allowed us to say that these are great rooms to view art.

Established in 1964 in New York City, the Rubell Family Collection (RFC) was founded by Donald and Mera Rubell. Their possessions are now one of the largest, privately owned contemporary art collections, which includes the likes of works by Basquiat, Koons, and Kusama. Using a 40,000 square foot repurposed Drug Enforcement Agency to currently exhibit their work in Miami, the owners are making a huge leap to a larger space.

Courtesy of Rubell Family Collection

Their current location has transformed the surrounding neighborhood into a culturally vibrant area — one which was previously factories and warehouses. Plans to move to a new district maintain the Rubell Family’s same intention. Mera Rubell poses that the museum will serve as a beacon for cultural, fashion, and culinary arts in the neighborhood. 

Mera Rubell stated, it is time for us to reimagine our Foundation in a very exciting emerging neighborhood. We’ve purchased the new property, completed plans, and will begin construction shortly, with the goal of opening in time for Art Basel in Miami Beach 2018.

From Wednesday, November 30th through Sunday, December 4th, 2016, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., a scale model of the new museum will be on display in the RFC.

News via: Rubell Family Collection

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Celebrates 75th Anniversary with $55 Million Expansion
//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js

Frick Collection Taps Selldorf Architects to Design Major Museum Expansion
//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js

http://ift.tt/2h25tEj

© Bruno Klomfar

• Architects: Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architekten
• Location: Johann-Schertler-Straße, 6923 Lauterach, Austria
• Architect In Charge: H. Walker
• Area: 3960.0 m2
• Project Year: 2012
• Photographs: Bruno Klomfar

• Structural Engineer: Mader Flatz, Bregenz
• Building Services: gmi, Dornbirn
• Electrical Engineer: Lingg, Schoppernau
• Building Physics: Künz, Hard
• Landscaping: Rotzler Krebs, Winterthur

© Bruno Klomfar

i+R Group Corporate Headquarters was designed to unify the company under one roof, placing focus on work environment, construction methodology, and integration into the urban context. 

© Bruno Klomfar

Serving as an example of both the company philosophy (“We build the future”) and construction know-how of the 110-year-old family-owned construction firm, the headquarters strove to achieve innovative energy solutions, high building standards, and an attention to architectural detail and personal comfort.  It was the first office complex in Vorarlberg to receive the internationally accredited LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, thus meeting the highest standards for green and sustainable building.  Its modular design allows for the four stories of the building to be arranged in a variety of layouts to maximize its 3300 square meters of space for the approximately 130 staff members.  The building is connected vertically by two atriums which serve as the cores of the building, and allow for daylight as well as egress.

Floor Plan 01

© Bruno Klomfar

Section

The building′s climate is regulated using geothermal energy, with the heat pump′s power provided by a photovoltaic array which also meets seventy percent of the building′s energy needs.  The southern side of the building is covered in a unique solar shade to avoid harsh summer sunlight, while still contributing to natural daylight throughout the building, reducing energy needs related to lighting by seventy percent.  The construction methodology exemplifies the i+R Group′s building skill, using mostly renewable, regionally sourced material, recyclable resources (e.g. old fishing nets used as flooring), and products manufactured by the company – concrete (structural parts), wood (infill) and wooden windows.

© Bruno Klomfar

http://ift.tt/2gjpiZc

Courtesy of Wikimedia user Rattlhed (Public Domain)

The opening of the Century 21 Exposition on April 21, 1962 transformed the image of Seattle and the American Northwest in the eyes of the world. The region, which had been known until that point more for its natural resources than as a cultural capital, established a new reputation as a center of emergent technologies and aerospace design. This new identity was embodied by the centerpiece of the exposition: the Space Needle, a slender assemblage of steel and reinforced concrete which became—and remains—Seattle’s most iconic landmark.[1]

Courtesy of Wikimedia user Cacophony (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Seattle was particularly fragile as the Space Age dawned. At the time, the city depended on two primary sources of employment: maritime trade and that of aircraft manufacture (the Boeing Corporation). Shipping between the western United States and other countries along the Pacific Rim frequently passed through Seattle, but the growing popularity of the jet airplane allowed for shipments to cross the ocean without ever passing through the region. Boeing, which had made its headquarters in the city in 1910, was also one of the largest employers the area, but the threat of economic downturns—and the layoffs that followed—drove both local business owners and city officials to begin brainstorming a way to entice other companies to settle in the city.[2]

Impetus for the 1962 World’s Fair, as it was colloquially known, did not come only from Seattle itself. The launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in October of 1957 was an undeniable challenge to a United States in the midst of the Cold War, necessitating a timely and emphatic response. It was under this mandate that the federal government selected Seattle as the host for the country’s next World’s Fair; one which, it was hoped, would demonstrate American technological superiority – both on Earth and beyond.[3]

This sketched rendering of the Space Needle dates to April 1961 – one year before its opening. ImageCourtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives (Public Domain)

The idea for the Space Needle itself came not from the Soviet Union, but from Germany. When Seattle World’s Fair Commission chairman Eddie Carlson dined in a restaurant in Stuttgart’s Fernsehturm in 1959, he quickly decided that the Century 21 Exposition required a similar landmark attraction. He wasted no time in sketching out his vision of this tower on a number of postcards sent to other fair officials; while rather crudely detailed, the slender form of his concept drawing was clearly inspired by the Fernsehturm. In response, one of the officials suggested that Carlson enlist architect John Graham, Jr. to turn his sketch into a reality.[4]

The collaboration between Carlson and Graham resulted in substantial revisions to the initial concept. Early versions of the Space Needle resembled an enormous balloon, either tethered to the ground or sitting atop a column; it was Graham who turned the sphere into a saucer, a form perhaps more fitting in light of the tower’s Space Age inspiration. Approximately a dozen designers contributed to the project, each recruited into a team by Graham for the task. One member in particular, Victor Steinbrueck, was responsible for the tripod support shaft; its double-decked crown was concocted by member John Ridley. The final design was decided upon only a year and a half before the fair’s intended opening in 1962.[5,6]

A 1962 cutaway drawing of the Space Needle's tophouse. ImageCourtesy of Flickr user James Vaughan (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The next six months were spent securing a lot upon which to build the tower. Although the Space Needle was to be the exposition’s greatest attraction, its construction was not financed by the city; the investors, therefore, had to purchase a lot within the fairgrounds. Eventually, a 14,400 square foot (1337.8 square meter) site was found, and construction could finally begin with only a year left before the beginning of the Exposition.[7]

With the deadline looming, construction proceeded rapidly. The first step was to dig a hole 30 feet (9 meters) deep and 120 feet (36.6 meters) across into which the building’s foundation could be poured. This concrete pour would be the largest attempted in the West to that date: over the course of an entire day, a total of 467 cement trucks worked to fill the gaping hole. The resulting foundation was so heavy that it weighed as much as the tower that sprouted from it. In spite of the Space Needle’s slightly top-heavy appearance, its center of gravity is only 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the ground.[8]

The Space Needle under construction before its opening in April 1962. ImageCourtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives (Public Domain)

From this massive foundation arose a slender tower whose skyward growth did not end until it had reached 605 feet (184.4 meters) tall. The structure comprises a steel tripod, with each of the three legs pinched just above the middle of their height and topped by a multi-level tophouse reminiscent of a flying saucer. This tophouse consists of five stacked layers: a revolving restaurant, a mezzanine level, an observation deck, a mechanical equipment level, and at the tower’s pinnacle, an elevator penthouse. The structure was also originally crowned by a 50 foot (15 meter) natural gas torch.[9] Suiting the futurist leanings of the fair, the Space Needle was also painted in the colors Astronaut White, Orbital Olive, Re-entry Red, and Galaxy Red.[10]

Despite the tight schedule under which it was organized, the Century 21 Exposition opened as scheduled on April 21, 1962. The fair was one of the most successful in history, exceeding projected attendance and even turning a profit; exit polls of attendees indicated a stunning 98.4% approval rating. The Space Needle itself, the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River at the time of its opening, was a smash hit with guests and almost immediately adopted as an icon of Seattle. It remains a popular tourist destination, with over a million visitors paying to access its observation deck every year.[11]

A view from the observation deck; at the time of its construction, the Space Needle was the tallest building in Seattle. ImageCourtesy of Flickr user Chris Yunker (CC BY-SA 2.0)

In the late 1990s, the Space Needle was declared a historic landmark by the Seattle City Council – the first structure to qualify in each of the six potential criteria for the title. Once built as a heady vision of a spacefaring future, it is ironically now recognized as a relic from decades past.[12] The city around the Space Needle has changed since 1962. It now enjoys the commercial diversity so intently sought by the fair’s organizers, apparently validating their efforts. The Space Needle now stands as a symbol of the bright 21st Century Seattle hoped for in 1962 – albeit not quite the way they envisioned it.[13]

References

[1] Chatelin, Raymond. The Seattle & Vancouver Book: A Complete Guide. Woodstock, VT.: Countryman Press, 2005. p89.
[2] Cotter, Bill. Seattle’s 1962 World's Fair. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2015. p7.
[3] Cotter, p7-8.
[4] Crowley, Walt. “Space Needle (Seattle).” History Link. June 27, 1999. [access].
[5] “About the Needle.” Space Needle. Accessed November 5, 2016. [access].
[6] Crowley.
[7] “Space Needle.” United States History. Accessed November 8, 2016. [access].
[8] “About the Needle.”
[9] LeBlanc, Sydney. The Architecture Traveler: A Guide to 250 Key Twentieth-Century American Buildings. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000. p113.
[10] “About the Needle.”
[11] Cotter, p8-13.
[12] Crowley.
[13] Chatelin, p89.

• Architects: John Graham & Company
• Location: Space Needle, Seattle, WA 98109, United States of America
• Architect In Charge: John Graham
• World's Fair Commission Chairman: Eddie Carlson
• Project Year: 1962
• Photographs: Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives, Courtesy of Wikimedia user Cacophony, Courtesy of Flickr user James Vaughan, Courtesy of Wikimedia user Rattlhed, Courtesy of Flickr user Chris Yunker

http://ift.tt/2h5nDI0

© Dieter Leistner

• Architects: Peter Böhm Architekten
• Location: Gabelsbergerstraße 35, 80333 München, Germany
• Architect In Charge: Peter Böhm
• Area: 20000.0 m2
• Project Year: 2011
• Photographs: Dieter Leistner

© Dieter Leistner

The extraordinary urban development with the large free square in front of the Old Pinakothek made it possible to close this square with a generous, quiet building in the south, which takes up approximately the proportion of the Old Pinakothek, vis-à-vis in the north, where the new building lies. In accordance with the lateral emphasis of the Old Pinakothek with its space-limiting risalits and avenue, is the entrance to the University of Film and Television located in the east of the new building and in the west the entrance to the State Museum of Egyptian Art, which is buried like an archaeological excavation underneath the green forecourt.

© Dieter Leistner

The public is invited to use the numerous facilities and events like the library, movie screenings, lectures and festivals by the Foyer of the University- a large opening in the stone pedestal of the building. The public space continues inside the building, where it is surrounded by cinemas, seminar rooms, the cafeteria and a library. In contrast to the extroverted foyer, the studios are located in the protected concrete base to ensure a concentrated and protected work. In the glass upper floors, smaller offices and office-like uses are accommodated.

Section

“In the museum, my aim was to create a place for the precious exhibits, in which the atmosphere of ancient temple complexes, from which they are largely derived, is translated into a modern architectural language.” Peter Böhm

© Dieter Leistner

Ground Floor Plan

© Dieter Leistner

The large walls of the pedestal are executed in a light, slightly ocher-colored concrete, while the wall of the Egyptian Museum is kept in a darker, red granite-like shade – a coloring game which is found in the Old Pinakothek (with the addition of Döllgast) . The double skin of the glass body of the upper floors is a chirping, flickering band with the light play of rotatable glass discs and sun protection lamellae in varying positions. The entrance to the Egyptian Museum, which is marked by a large wall slab, is reached via a separate forecourt, which is designed as a flat inclined ramp. The museum is based in the underground and its rooms are grouped around atrium, which is cut into the lawn area and is also used for exhibition purposes.

© Dieter Leistner

http://ift.tt/2hfPHsB