Art Storage & Museum wins AIA design award

Development projects in Manhattan and Brooklyn have long favored mid to high rise residential buildings that sell units in the mid to high price range. The reasons are understandable. Estimated dollar value per square foot of such condominiums easily exceed cost of development, reducing risk.

Only a few other building programs can pencil out, ie, be profitable. Storage of art is one of those. The proliferation of high-value private art collections, and the need for their storage make art storage a competitive program in today's market.

In our proposal for such a building in Chelsea, we offer an additional benefit. By providing gallery spaces for private art to be displayed publicly, we open vast opportunities to engage the public, the neighborhood and enhance cultural activity in the area. Further by annexing such viewing spaces with a recognized museum, we can offer benefits to collectors, the museum and the public.

We are happy that the AIA Peconic recognized our research and design of such a project with a design award. Thank you to our team, the AIA and members of the jury.

Museum of Stored Art

Four adjacent buildings are reconfigured and restored to house facilities for the storage of private and none-private art, with adjacent public and private spaces for the display and sale of art. [Click here to see project.]

The overlap of particular socio-economic tides —the rise of a shared economy that harnesses unattended markets, the proliferation of private art collections, the lack of sufficient spaces of public and communal activity, and the democratization of art viewing— has fostered an environment in which our proposal for a Museum of Stored Art is both timely and important.

Working with four contiguous under-developed buildings adjacent to the ‘Highline’ in Chelsea, we have explored the multiple design facets of a building that straddles the boundary between private art collection and public art viewing.

We have studied the nuanced and often challenging needs of storage of significant works of art and the delicate but rewarding benefit of publicly displaying both the ‘art of storage’ and the stored art.

In one scoop, by providing a space for private art collections to be viewed publicly, we connect the philanthropic intents of individuals with a public need, benefitting a community and its individuals.

The need for this type of building became evident to me as I began to design spaces for the collections of my clients. At the same time, our Chelsea office is next to one of the premiere art-storage facilities in the USA. I began to wonder what is contained in this storage building? And how wonderful it would be for the public to be able to see curated shows cross-referencing various collections.

The following images are the result of our initial foray into understanding the needs of such a building, its complex security concerns, and its incredible art-viewing opportunities.

Baha'i Temple for PNG selected to be shown at the Outsider Art Fair in NYC 2016

Proposal for a Baha'i Temple in Papua New Guinea, 3D printed for the Curated Space at Outsider Art Fair, NYC 2016

We are delighted that our proposal for a Baha'i Temple in Papua New Guinea was selected to be shown in the Curated Space in this year's Outsider Art Fair.

The Outsider Art Fair takes place Jan 21–24, 2016 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th St, New York, NY 10011.

From the 'program' page of the Outsider Art Fair website:

Curated Space: Babel

Wide Open Arts will host a curated booth of imaginary towers in the upcoming Outsider Art Fair | NYC (Jan 21-24 2016). The project and space will be curated by independent artist and curator, Leah Gordon and the winning tower will be judged by Leah Gordon and award-winning architect Vivian Chan, Studio Verve Architects.

Imaginary cities and surreal structures have long been the domain of many outsider artists. This exhibition aims to create a collective multi-authorial installation that descends from the Fluxus mail art movement. “Babel” is the 21st century mail art for the digital world. The final result will recall many renowned outsider environments such as Simon Rodia’s Watts Towers, Nek Chand’s Rock Garden and Le Facteur Cheval’s Palais Idéal.

Selected artists will receive accreditation in a dedicated (printed) brochure on the curated booth, as well as listed on a dedicated page (permalink) on the Outsider Art Fair website. The first prize will be accompanied by a $1000 honorarium.

Architectural Session VII: Haunting Houses

A few weeks ago, we had our 7th Architectural Session at the Parrish Museum. For this one, we put out a 'call for entries' to architects asking them to submit an image of an idea, or an influence, that has haunted their practice and that eventually was expressed or exorcised in a project -- Halloween was around the corner.

We received the most interesting entries, from pictures of McGyver (yes from the TV series) to Black Maria (Thomas Edison's film studio). Eventually four architects were selected to talk with me about their initial 'haunting' influence and their resulting projects. They were, in order of their appearance, John Zissovici, James Merrell, Viola Rouhani and Jee Won Kim.

It was a fascinating journey into personal stories that have given shape to some very public and notable works. All together, we resurrected the ghosts of Edison, Palladio, McGyver, Raimund Abraham and discussed the very alive architect Peter Eisenman (who apparently has haunted many of us).

Prior to the event, I was asked what has haunted me. My answer was evasive, but I mentioned that every single architect who was on that podium has haunted me. For example, John was my professor and thesis adviser at Cornell, and every house that I have designed has been a way to, once again, prove my thesis to him --after all the subject of my thesis was about making a 'home' that you could carry and deploy anywhere. James and I both share the Institute of Architecture & Urban Studies as one of our academic milestones; and his comments and comparison of Palladian houses and Eisenmann's cartesian dissections had a huge impact on my training as well. I have always admired the work that is produced at Stelle, Lomont, Rouhani's office and Viola's presence on the stage brought home memories of the days, not long ago, when there were less than a handful of modernist architects practicing and actually building out in East Hampton. Finally, Jee Won and I share many influences; he talked about Raimund Abraham. Raimund taught at Cooper Union along with John Hedjuk, Eisenman and one of my professors, Diana Agrest. We still talk about the work of these architects. And Jee Won showed how they still affect us today.

Many people helped bring this program to life including Andrea Grover, Frank Guittard and Viola Rouhani; and we were lucky to get the sponsorship of the AIA Peconic and the Parrish Art Museum.

FIX THIS TOWN!

Last Friday, July 17th, we had our sixth Architectural Session at the Parrish Museum. In these sessions, modeled after jazz improvisations, I speak with architects (and sometimes artists whose work overlaps architecture) about their work.

But last Friday's sessions was about the future of the towns on the East End of Long Island. With my guests, Felipe Correa (Harvard GSD), and Jay Schneiderman (Suffolk County Legislator), and David Rattray (editor of East Hampton Start), we discussed the issues that face the towns on the East End of Long Island as they grow in population every year; and we talked about the urban future that we want to envision for ourselves and others.

The conversation was informative and animated and allowed the audience to raise their concerns, voice their wishes, and have a public conversation about an issue that so far has been kept out of the public realm.

The program was broadcast live. And an edited video of it will be available soon.

Thanks to the AIA Peconic and its membership for the support of the program.