New Grand Rapids Art Museum

[civitas]

[postscript]

There is first level glass on Monroe Center. It will be set back under the concrete. There isn't any glass on Ottawa, except at the extreme corners(See Edit Below). Ottawa is not, however, all concrete. The big opening on Ottawa will be filled with louvered panels (maybe they have glass behind them) and the fire stairs on each side will be clad with metal panel. The louvers, metal panel and concrete will all be the same height as the three concrete "boxes". The three skylights are. of course, the tallest elements.

Behind the opening with the louvered panels will be a sculptural stair. Watch for a really heavy-duty crane on the site to place the stair. It is being fabricated off-site and will be set as one huge piece of steel.

The west side will be very nice. There is a huge water wall as you enter the building. The renderings don't show it well, but the "box" at the SW corner is actually lower than the wing on the NW corner.

EDIT: Sorry! I was wrong. There is a band of glass on the first floor below the louvers. I still don't fully understand the Monroe Street elevation, but I think these views are somewhat accurate. I'm liking it better all the time.

Brighter blue is glass and steel-blue is metal panel.

Thanks for the additional renderings. This gives me a somewhat better idea what it will be like. It doesn't look as bad as my untrained eyes led me to believe.

I haven't been out on my lunch hour for a while, I will have to go check it out.

Thanks

[civitas]

[DwntwnGeo]

Attached are some pictures of the Art Museum that I took on Saturday.

Here is one of the Eastern side

A view of the Southeastern corner of the site

The souther side, where GRDad mentioned the Utilities were going to be placed

Here is a view of the Northeastern corner over looking Rosa Park in the foreground

The western view or entrance area with Rosa Park Circle in the front

[GRDadof3]

Very nice renderings civitas! Did you make those?

[civitas]

Very nice renderings civitas! Did you make those?

Thanks. Fun with SketchUp.

I have an elevation of the Ottawa elevation. I need to get one for Monroe. I know there are louvered panels on the Monroe side and I assume there is more glass. I'm still guessing about some of the shapes on the west side too.

I'd love to see a site plan to understand the paving/landscaping details.

[mpchicago]

Great job Civitas, a big help! I do hope they have more glass on the Monroe side.

[Mark Miller]

Successful urban areas are first and foremost all about the public realm. The streetscape is where we develop our sense of the city. You can measure the success of an individual building by how well it serves its stated purpose, but those measurements are of no concern when you judge how well a building serves its neighborhood and the greater community. As I walk down Monroe Center I have never wondered how well the Steketees Building serves the needs of Blue Cross. I have noticed, however, that it respects the street and the block and the neighborhood. It is contextually appropriate.

Having said that I will add that great cities are made up of mostly "background" buildings - those that do not scream for individual attention. Scattered in prime locations among the background buildings are "foreground" buildings - those that are architecturally more prominent than the others. Foregrounds buildings have historically included civic buildings, schools, churches, museums, etc. The Art Museum is a foreground building. In that regard the bold architecture may be be appropriate. Even in this context, however, I still don't care if the building serves its internal program well or not. It will still be judged by how well it fits and what it contributes to the greater image of our city.

I think that any concerns about the building in this forum are related to how well it fits in the city. I have toured the building with the contractor, drank beer with the architect and work in one of the windows across the street. I know the internal details of the building reasonably well. From the standpoint of the building's internal purpose, I think it has been brilliantly designed. I'm still wondering about the impact on the street. I do not believe that harsh architectural styles are historically enduring (IE Perkins and Will's Community College buildings).

That is an excellent take, Civitas.

This museum can and should certainly be an object building, instead of being a background or fabric building. But as an object building it still needs to respect the public realm. I am beginning to have my doubts that this building will accomplish that. It is beginning to look brutal, harsh and anti-pedestrian on almost all sides. It has every appearance of being designed in a vacuum.

"All buildings, large or small, public or private, have a public face, a facade; they therefore, without exception, have a positive or negative effect on the quality of the public realm, enriching or impoverishing it in a lasting and radical manner. The architecture of the city and public space is a matter of common concern to the same degree as laws and language - they are the foundation of civility and civilisation."

-- Leon Krier Architecture Choice or Fate

[numstead]

That is an excellent take, Civitas.

This museum can and should certainly be an object building, instead of being a background or fabric building. But as an object building it still needs to respect the public realm. I am beginning to have my doubts that this building will accomplish that. It is beginning to look brutal, harsh and anti-pedestrian on almost all sides. It has every appearance of being designed in a vacuum.

It was a good take, but I think I already rebutted your concerns and civitas even supported them with his renderings.

[Mark Miller]

While the renderings MAY indicate that the building is respectful, the proof will be in the built form. I honestly hope that it proves to be a good building from a civic perspective. I however have my doubts, windows alone will not make this work. The color of the concrete will not alone make this work.

The lack of architectural articulation and pedestrian scaled detail may prove problematic, large swatches of concrete with nothing more than an Ando-esque attempt at detail along with what has been described as metal panel leave me feeling like this will be a poor urban civic building.

While Gehry's works, like Bilbao, have an incredible presence, we are not dealing with Gehry's (or most likely his team's) ability to detail. This will not be as convincing as anything Gehry as done.

From an earlier post, many other works were highlighted, including Herzog and deMeuron's Walker Art Center, which I hardly feel is a good example of appropriate civic architecture. In fact, all four of the referenced projects leave much to be desired from an urban context. While they may have been critically acclaimed and graced all of the architectural establishment's glossy magazines, they fall far short of creating the kind of fabric that make cities great.

[jbr12]

jbr12, good to see you on here!

Figured if I'm gonna live in Grand Rapids, might as well find out whats being built around me

[civitas]

While the renderings MAY indicate that the building is respectful, the proof will be in the built form. I honestly hope that it proves to be a good building from a civic perspective. I however have my doubts, windows alone will not make this work. The color of the concrete will not alone make this work.

The lack of architectural articulation and pedestrian scaled detail may prove problematic, large swatches of concrete with nothing more than an Ando-esque attempt at detail along with what has been described as metal panel leave me feeling like this will be a poor urban civic building.

Nice material, rotten urbanism.

Below you are hardly aware of the building materials or design, but there is positive sense of place.

I have asked for a copy of the site plan for the Art Museum. I am hoping that the site details will make a significant difference.

[civitas]

I guess blank walls are OK if you park something really nice in front of them.

[twoshort]

I guess SOMEONE gets preferred parking...

[civitas]

I guess SOMEONE gets preferred parking...

If your name's on the wall...

[torgo]

Someone's last name is Institute? Weird...

[Sunlover38]

Sorry if this is redundant, but what is going to happen to the current art museum location? That is a pretty cool building . . .

[GRDadof3]

Sorry if this is redundant, but what is going to happen to the current art museum location? That is a pretty cool building . . .

That's like the question that keeps coming up about the current Towers Medical Building.

[gvsusean]

Sorry if this is redundant, but what is going to happen to the current art museum location? That is a pretty cool building . . .

its going to be part of Ferris dt campus, they were going to close the street connecting the two campus' and make a plaza, it looked kinda cool

[woz]

Nice material, rotten urbanism.

The blank wall in your example faces a surface lot. I don't have a problem with buidlings that take shortcuts on one side or another where no one is really supposed to see them. Hopefully, one day that surface lot will be home to a building, adding needed density to the urban core and hiding that oppressive solid wall of brick.

The new GRAM is a different story. It occupies an entire city block. This discussion has gotten me a little nervous about the way the design addresses street level from the back side. I think it will be very inviting along Monroe Center, where the museum gift shop and cafe will be located. I think it will be very active along Louis where the educational wing will be located. And, although I wonder what Maya Lin would think of the side facing the park she designed, I think it certainly invites folks to interact with the structure on the Rosa Parks Circle side. I'm going to look into this Ottawa Avenue issue further.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure this is fairly common knowledge ... Kendall College of Art & Design will be taking over the Federal Building which currently houses the GRAM after the GRAM vacates for their new building on July 1, 2007. The city isn't too keen on Kendall's plan to close off Pearl Street, however. If you want any more info on that topic from me, you'll have to read about it elsewhere ...

[gvsusean]

The blank wall in your example faces a surface lot. Hopefully, one day that surface lot will be home to a building, adding needed density to the urban core and hiding that oppressive solid wall of brick.

The new GRAM holds an entire city block. This discussion has gotten me a little nervous about the way the design addresses street level from the back side. I think it will be very inviting along Monroe Center, where the museum gift shop and cafe will be located. I think it will be very active along Louis where the educational wing will be located. And, although I wonder what Maya Lin would think of the side facing the park she designed, I think it certainly invites folks to interact with the structure on the Rosa Parks Circle side. I'm going to look into this Ottawa Avenue issue further.

Oh, and I'm pretty sure this is fairly common knowledge ... Kendall College of Art & Design will be taking over the Federal Building which currently houses the GRAM after the GRAM vacates for their new building on July 1, 2007. I know a bit more, but you'll have to read about it elsewhere ...

I may be mistaken but, I believe Maya was contacted and gave her approval for the museum plans????

[twoshort]

If your name's on the wall...

I suppose...

[civitas]

I may be mistaken but, I believe Maya was contacted and gave her approval for the museum plans????

Was she asked and did she approve? I hadn't heard that.

I had an opportunity to sit next to her at a lunch when she was first commissioned to do The Big "O". At the time she was excited at the possibility of the new courthouse being built on this property. It too would have been an "object" building that would have oriented its front door towards the park. I suspect that she would be pleased with the western side of the Art Museum.

[civitas]

The blank wall in your example faces a surface lot. I don't have a problem with buidlings that take shortcuts on one side or another where no one is really supposed to see them. Hopefully, one day that surface lot will be home to a building, adding needed density to the urban core and hiding that oppressive solid wall of brick.

The image was just an example of a big blank wall with nice material. It actually is a blank wall because that parking deck was designed to go higher.

Here's a better example of blank walls. This is very harsh design for one of the greatest concentration of pedestrians in the city. Compare the GRCC campus to GVSU's Business School.

How does UPGR feel about the library addition?

[Rizzo]

The image was just an example of a big blank wall with nice material. It actually is a blank wall because that parking deck was designed to go higher.

Here's a better example of blank walls. This is very harsh design for one of the greatest concentration of pedestrians in the city. Compare the GRCC campus to GVSU's Business School.

How does UPGR feel about the library addition?

On the architecture or the public space interaction?

For the architecture I think the idea is a great one. I would wonder if the layout warrants for the protruding cylinder from the otherwise flat facade. If the layout inside the building deserved a cylindrical form I would have changed the facade at least. If it's just to break up the crispness of the facade and create something interesting I would say it looks wrong and compromising. The building is clearly highlighted by its vertical lines and lends itself to be noticed by this feature as it is in the public square. This building diserves to be noticed, it is one of publicity. It obviously stands out as it detracts itself with the heavy horizontal lines created by its surrounding built environment. Sometimes when I see this building I wonder why it should have a heavy base and detach itself from the walking user. In this design I am disappointed by the protruding cylinder, it detracts very much from a simple idea.

I think the best way to get a hold of architecture would be to start within. After all building should be built on an idea and that starts from the form or the inside needs.