Salvador Dali Museum
by Jonathan McGaha | May 16, 2011 12:00 am
The architecture at the new Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla. pays homage to the abstract style of one of Spain’s most renowned surrealist artists, Salvador Dali. Minneapolisbased Radius Track Corp. worked closely with the architectural firm HOK, Tampa, Fla., to bring the essence of Dali’s surrealist form to life in the new building. Often coined “Enigma” after the title of one of Dali’s paintings, the building is a massive hurricane-resistant box that houses a geodesic glass structure. The glass façade seems to flow in and out of the concrete envelope, resembling the movement and body of a wave.
Yann Weymouth, director of design for HOK’s Florida practice, created a design that frames the Dali collection in an ethereal, elegant light. By surrounding it with clean, sophisticated curves, Weymouth envisioned an environment that participates with the work of the artist rather than competing for the attention of its audience. Upon entering the belly of the massive globe, the viewer can sense how Dali’s play with abstract shapes informs Weymouth’s geodesic design. A glass dome towers 75 feet over a helical threestory staircase, which is a nod to the Dali’s fascination with the double-helix structure of DNA. For the first-time visitor, the experience of walking under the curved wave of glass and steel is spiced with the drama of Dali.
But despite its clean and simple lines, this monumental addition to the cultural landscape of West Florida met some challenges along the way. Like many recession-era projects, the museum faced delays in funding, creating a “hurry up and wait” scenario for the architects and construction teams. “Because of the high profile nature of the project, we felt like we were under a global microscope to get everything done quickly when money was available,” says Paul Daniel, division manager of Orlando, Fla.-based Mader Southeast Inc., the drywall contractor.
The soaring foyer required a giant, curved steel skeleton. While the designers originally considered hand bending the framing members on-site, Daniel decided to hire Radius Track, who is well known in the industry for its design of geometrically precise steel framing members. “While the curvature of the steel framing members was relatively straightforward, we had to account for every detail in the wall façade from AC duct openings to windows and doors to light switches,” says Chuck Mears, AIA and CEO of Radius Track. “The steel studs had to curve together with absolute precision, but also anticipate structural interruptions.”
The result was an “erector set” package of steel studs, ready to ship to St. Petersburg. Each piece of material was marked, labeled and colorcoded to provide a simple assembly job for the construction manager at the museum site.
During construction, the master model changed slightly during the starts and stops of the project due to irregular funding. When it was finally time to put the pieces together, the construction team found incongruence between the model and the steel studs curved by Radius Track. Mears wasted no time to get to the bottom of the problem and took the next flight to St. Petersburg. It appeared that the model was accurate but that the main hole in the second floor concrete slab was not in the correct location. Working directly with HOK, Mears and the construction team put their heads together to work out a solution on-site. Construction resumed within a few days. “We never leave a job until our customer does,” says Mears.
Daniel was pleased with his decision to use Radius Track. “With the timelines we were facing, the on-site labor to do this job would have set us back for three to four weeks. Radius Track delivered everything right when we needed, and when we had challenges, having the CEO of the company walk in and work with us was outstanding. They saved us precious time and that meant everything on this project.”
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/salvador-dali-museum/