Architectural Accolades:
A look at metal and the 2011 AIA Institute Honor Award winners
Marcy Marro,
Posted
03/07/2011
Every year, the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute
of Architects selects the recipients of its Institute Honor Awards,
the profession's highest recognition of works that exemplify
excellence in architecture, interior architecture and urban design.
This year's winners, chosen from more than 700 total submissions,
will be honored at the AIA 2011 National Convention and Design
Exposition in New Orleans on May 12-14.
Metal Architecture spoke with some of this year's winners
to examine the role that metal played in the award-winning
designs.
AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles
Wyly Theatre, Dallas
Architect: REX | OMA, New
York
Photo: Iwan Baan
The 80,300-square-foot AT&T Performing Arts Center is
the new home for the Dallas Theater Center, an innovative theater
group known for its constant experimentation and flexibility of its
previous home, a makeshift metal shed that gave the group none of
the limitations of a fixed-stage configuration. The 575-set
"multi-form" theater has the ability to transform between
proscenium, thrust, traverse and flat-floor configurations in a
matter of a few hours with a small crew.
In creating a new venue for the group, Joshua Prince-Ramus
with REX explained that the client wanted the building to engender
the same flexibility as the previous one, without requiring a lot
of capital costs. To do that, the back-of-house and front-of-house
facilities were placed above and beneath the auditorium. "The
stacked design allowed us to take the technology that is normally
associated with the fly tower and actually extend it out over the
auditorium," Prince-Ramus explained. It also allowed for all of the
balconies, proscenium and other elements to be lifted out of the
space, leaving items that could be easily transformed.
This arrangement also opened up the perimeter of the
building, and an operable glass enclosure allows for the entire
stage and auditorium to open up completely to the
outside.
Dubbed the "theater machine," Prince-Ramus explained that
the ambition was to provide a tool, or machine, that gave the
greatest possible control to the artistic director.
The exterior of the building is an extruded aluminum
rainscreen built by Argentina-based Tisi. Designed with the
assistance of façade consultant, Brooklyn, N.Y-based Front, the
façade is composed of six different extruded aluminum tube shapes
that are pre-fabricated in six different combinations, Prince-Ramus
explained. The combinations were put on the side of the building in
varying order, so that when you look at the building, it looks like
a custom façade when, in fact, it's actually made out of six
standard pieces.
Horizontal Skyscraper Vanke Center, Shenzhen,
China
Architect: Steven Holl
Architects, New York
Photo: Shu He
A new hybrid model that provides ample public space in a
unique way, the Horizontal Skyscraper also combines the most
forward-thinking sustainable technologies with innovative
construction techniques.
According to Julia van den Hout, press manager at Steven
Holl Architects, the Horizontal Skyscraper has a
façade of perforated aluminum louvers made by YUANDA Aluminum
Industry Engineering Co. Ltd., Shenyang, China. Over the course of
a year, the solar heat gain was calculated for each one of the
building's 26 faces and the louvers are fine-tuned to the sun's
orientation. While some louvers are fixed horizontally, some have
apertures of differing size, and others are dynamically controlled
by sensors, opening and closing according to the sun.
The louvers are hung from the glass to create a
double-skinned façade and the interstitial cavity created by the
layers create a convective stack-effect that draws cool air in
through the underside of the building and hot air out at the top of
the structure near the roof. In their closed position, the
perforated louvers provide extensive primary sun protection,
reducing up to 70 percent of solar heat gain at its peak load while
still providing 15 percent of light transmittance through the
perforations.
Taking into account the intensity of the tropical
sunlight, field measurements have calculated that the 15 percent
transmittance in closed mode is sufficient natural lighting to
perform routine office functions without the need for secondary
artificial lighting in most-75 percent-of the spaces, van den Hout
said.
New Acropolis Museum, Athens,
Greece
Architect: Bernard Tschumi
Architects, New York
Photo: Christian Richters
Located at the foot of the Acropolis, the New Acropolis
Museum houses the most dramatic sculptures of Greek antiquity.
According to Bernard Tschumi, sensitive archeological excavations,
the presence of the contemporary city and its street grid and with
the Parthenon, combined with a hot climate in an earthquake region,
moved the architects to design a simple and precise museum with the
mathematical and conceptual clarity of ancient Greece.
The building was designed in three layers-a base, middle
and top-two of which follow the city grid, and existing and ancient
pathways. Designed to display the Parthenon sculptures, the
glass-enclosed top floor Parthenon Gallery is rotated 23 degrees
and dimensioned to approximate the size, orientation and viewing
conditions of the historic Parthenon.
Glass, concrete, marble and steel materials were chosen
for their simplicity and sobriety. Stainless steel was used
sparingly, but is most visible as a shading device on the east and
west facades and for steel columns in the Parthenon Gallery. Steyr,
Austria-based ECKELT provided all of the metal work for the
project.
The shading devices are comprised of 17 fins made of
corrugated stainless-steel sandwich panels that are slightly curved
on the outside. "The corrugation catches the light in a very
particular manner like the grooves of the columns of ancient
Greece, and the brushed finish reflects the colors of the sky in
the morning and evening," Tschumi explained. "On the inside, the
stainless-steel panels are flat and perforated for sound
absorption. Showcases are imbedded in the thickness of the fins.
The art exhibited in them needs a high control of temperature and
hygrometry, the showcases are air conditioned and the panels need
to be well insulated."
The Parthenon Gallery columns are stainless steel with a
brushed finish that take the same rhythm as the Parthenon itself,
but are extremely slender, establishing the large difference
between eras in technology. The columns support steel roof beams
that cantilever more than 30 feet in some places to free the
periphery of the gallery from any columns. A ventilated,
double-glazed façade with glass fins is suspended from the roof,
providing unobstructed views of the Acropolis and the
city.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rooftop Garden,
San Francisco
Architect: Jensen
Architects/Jensen & Macy Architects, San Francisco
Photo: Bernard Andre
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion called
for a new sculpture garden to be located on top of the five-story
building's adjacent parking structure with provisions for a
physical link between the two structures. According to
architect Steven Huegli at Jensen
Architects, the project consisted of four major elements: an
outdoor sculpture garden, an all-glass enclosed garden pavilion, a
glazed bridge and an expansion to the existing fifth floor
galleries. A support wing was also designed to serve the new
spaces, including a café located within the Pavilion. The project
provided a 30 percent increase to the overall museum exhibition
space, with 8,800 square feet dedicated to the display of outdoor
sculpture.
Conceived as a gallery without a ceiling, the Rooftop
Garden is defined by the intersection of sculpture, space and light
that serves as a quiet, contemplative space for viewing art and
hosting the museum's special events.
With sweeping views of downtown and the city's skyline, a
glass-enclosed bridge provides access to the garden spaces. The
bridge also provides circulation down its sloping floor towards the
awaiting Pavilion, simultaneously adding an additional 1,500 square
feet for art display.
To further integrate the Rooftop Garden within the
existing galleries, a 3,000-square-foot extension of the fifth
floor gallery, named the Overlook, was designed between the rear of
the museum and the new garden. The entire back wall of the Overlook
is glazed with a large panoramic window, allowing visual connection
between the gallery and the garden. Cantilevered over the garden,
the Overlook suspends the visitor above and inside the Sculpture
Garden while remaining within the museum.
According to Huegli,
the project's structural frame is steel, including the
110-foot spanning Bridge, which is hung by slender steel tension
rods from custom fabricated girders measuring 6 feet deep. During
seismic activity the Overlook and Bridge move independently of the
concrete frame parking garage, sliding on Teflon plates. The steel
is fabricated and erected by Olson Steel, San Leandro, Calif. Keith
Panel Systems, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, provided
the aluminum exterior cladding panels, while the 1/2-inch-thick
stainless-steel seismic joint cover connecting the Bridge and
Pavilion by Watson-Bowman Acme Corp., Amherst, N.Y., and
stainless-steel floor grating is by Pedisystems, Muncy, Pa. The
Pavilion roof is supported by unique hybrid columns composed of
steel and concrete by Lally Column Corp., Raynham, Mass., to
maintain fire-rating; the small café has the ability to be closed
off by sliding a wood-clad 10- by 8-foot steel door fabricated by
Brisbane, Calif.-based Interstate Door Sales; to maintain fire
separation between open adjacent spaces concealed horizontal
sliding doors made by McKeon Door Co., Bellport, N.Y., were
utilized; rooftop mechanical screens from The Airolite Co. LLC,
Schofield, Wis., conceal the AHU's; and both the Bridge and
Pavilion are glazed with low-iron glass supported by aluminum
curtainwall systems by Oldcastle Glass Vistawall, Santa Monica,
Calif. Polished stainless handrails by Los Angeles-based C.R.
Laurence Co. Inc., were used as well.
U.S. Land Port of Entry, Warroad,
Minn.
Architect: Julie Snow
Architects Inc., Minneapolis
Photo: Paul Crosby
The 40,108-square-foot Warroad Land Port of Entry supports
the mission-driven demands of the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection. Expected to receive LEED Silver Certification, the
facility is composed of three separate enclosed areas linked
together with a continuous canopy.
"Conceived as a specific response to the vast open
landscape along the Minnesota-Canadian border, its form reiterates
the dominant horizon of the landscape while making reference to the
East-West border," said Matthew Kreilich, AIA, LEED AP, design
principal at Julie Snow Architects Inc.
Embracing the "north-woods" identity of the region, the
entire facility is clad in sustainably harvested cedar siding.
Expanses of glass and warm, stained cedar siding create a
transparent, welcoming presence for the vehicle inspection areas
and the public spaces. Finished in a black stain, the exterior
cedar siding anchors the building to its site, and its strong
contrast reinforces the threshold, creating a material warmth and
richness in the cold winter months for officers and visitors
through the port, Kreilich explained.
According to Kreilich, metals were used primarily for the
building's structure and trim. Metal joists were used for the long
spans of the column-free inspection areas, while the cantilevered
canopy at the outbound inspection area is supported by steel wide
flange members that would give the architects a slender profile
even after the wood cladding was applied. At screenwall locations,
steel post and kicker structures were used so that the structure
behind the slatted wood cladding would not be visible. Trim
materials were custom folded to ensure minimal profiles at all
material transitions. Additionally, Kreilich said that aluminum
framed curtainwall, windows and interior glazing frames were used
at all public spaces to provide continuity from interior to
exterior, thermal performance and durability. There are more than
4,000 lineal feet of metal trim on the building, provided by Duluth
Steel, Duluth, Minn.; Vulcraft, Alpharetta, Ga.; and
Northwest Cabinets Inc., Bemidji, Minn.
"Thin profiles for finish materials were very important to
reinforce the concept of a visible threshold as an entry into the
United States," Kreilich explained. "Folded metal trim provided the
durability required by the program, while allowed us to design a
crisp detail that would be easy to maintain, but would not
overshadow the imagery of a wood building for the Border Station's
Northwoods setting."
Additional 2011 AIA Honor Award
Recipients
The Barnard College Diana Center, New
York
Architect: WEISS/MANFREDI
Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism, New York
Photo: Albert Vecerka
Set within the intimate Barnard College campus in
Manhattan, the 98,000-square-foot Diana Center presents a window
onto the college and community by uniting landscape and
architecture with interior and exterior spaces. The multiuse
facility creates a modern connection for the campus' artistic,
social and intellectual life by bringing together spaces for
architecture, theatre, art and art history with a dining room, café
and faculty offices. The building's wedge-shaped design frames a
clear sightline that links the central campus at Lehman Lawn to the
lower level historic core of the campus, while an ascending
double-height atria brings natural light and views into the
seven-story structure.
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh,
N.C.
Architect: Thomas Phifer and
Partners, New York
Photo: Scott Frances
Unlike most museums, the North Carolina Museum of Art is a
single 65,000-square-foot room that uses a succession of wall
plans-many of which are freestanding without reaching the
ceiling-to create separate galleries. An open corner or two of each
gallery creates an inviting flow from one area to the next. The
museum's interior is naturally illuminated, providing color
rendering and light levels that are ideal for viewing art. The
exterior building skin is a rainscreen of pale, matte
anodized-aluminum panels that are arranged like vertical pleats or
shingles, softly picking up the surrounding colors and movement of
the landscape.
One Jackson Square, New York
Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox
Associates PC, New York
Photo: Raimund Koch
Located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, One Jackson
Square is a 35-unit luxury residential development on what used to
be a surface parking lot. The six-sided split-zone site above two
subway tunnels posed a number of design challenges. From north to
south, the building volume starts at 11 stories and steps down to
seven, to accommodate zoning laws while mediating the varied scales
of the historic neighborhood. Individual floors are identified by
undulating bands of glass that creates a ribbon-like series of
convexities and concavities along the street wall.
Restoration of the Ford Assembly
Building, Richmond, Calif.
Architect: Marcy Wong Donn
Logan Architects, Berkeley, Calif.
Photo: Billy Hustace
Situated on the San Francisco Bay waterfront, the Ford
Assembly Building's restoration and preservation saved an historic
architectural icon from the wrecking ball, and converted a
long-vacant auto plant into a current-day model of urban
revitalization and sustainability. Designed by Albert Kahn for
Henry Ford, the 525,000-square-foot building was built in 1931, but
following the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, the building was
rendered unusable. The current owner acquired the property in 2004,
and his architect successfully completed the renovation in
2009.
University of Michigan Museum of
Art,
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Architect: Allied Works
Architecture, Portland
Photo: Jeremy Bittermann
The University of Michigan Museum of Art completely
renovated and modernized the existing 40,362-square-foot Alumni
Hall while adding on a dramatic 53,452-square-foot wing. The
historic restoration and expansion project more than doubled the
Museum's overall size, while realizing a long-held dream of
bringing the Museum's spaces up to par with its collection,
exhibitions and programs. Compared to the existing building that
provides an atmosphere of seclusion, the new architecture achieves
an immediacy with the surrounding campus by inviting and provoking
engagement with the building and its programs.