Canton Cultural Center for the Arts

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Canton Cultural Center for the Arts

Firm

Type

Educational › Elementary School University Other

YEAR

2009

The project consisted of renovations to the Cultural Center for the Arts located in Canton, Ohio. The existing building, which opened in 1970, houses a number of prominent cultural institutions all under one roof including the Canton Museum of Art, Players Guild (theatre), Canton Symphony Orchestra, Canton Ballet, and VOCI (opera). Each of the these institutions is organized around a central grand public space, known as the Great Court, which is also used as an ad hoc performance and gathering space. The entire structure is capped by a concrete roof which contains a parking garage and upper entrance which serves the facility. Architecturally, the existing structure has a Brutalist sensibility, with an exposed, coffered concrete structure, and an envelope of masonry and concrete surfaces which wrap seamlessly from exterior to interior.

The program called for renovations to diverse series of spaces and amenities within the Cultural Center including galleries, ticket booths, art museum gift shop, restrooms, entries and lobbies. Despite the seemingly broad scope of spaces incorporated in the project, the scale of the areas highlighted for renovation was diminutive in comparison to the Cultural Center building at large. This fact led all of the projects to be considered as a series of installations which not only enhance the existing architecture, but provide distinguishing moments of intensity within the field of the existing space.

To maximize the effect of these moments a complementary palette of purples and whites are utilized to enliven and brighten the warm hued atmosphere of the existing materials. Patterns or gradients are deployed within each installation, utilizing a variety of techniques. The effect of the gradients creates a sense of movement within each space that they are deployed, transforming the existing architecture with a new sense of dynamic layering. Both opaque and translucent materials are articulated as screens through whose transparencies the old and new can be registered.