Photography © Nikolas Koenig
Housing sculpture and drawings by Walter De Maria, the gallery is the firm’s second single-artist exhibition structure on the site. The first, an outdoor pavilion, was dedicated to Isamu Noguchi, and was constructed from Alaskan Yellow Cedar and concrete. This second, enclosed gallery "pavilion" is set within a 1920s walled cutting garden, part of an informal art walk that links several contemporary sculptures set on a unique, 11-acre estate. Within the walls, the landscape inverts the typical formal garden design by reintroducing indigenous plantings: red cedars, bayberry, swamp white oaks and meadow grasses.
The brick facades of the pavilion reference the garden wall, but their color is related to the dark granite of “Large Sphere,” a 32-ton sculpture set in the landscape. Composed of twenty-four inch long, dark grey bricks, the east and west faces are set in a random bond pattern with alternating courses corbeled to create shadow lines, emphasizing the bricks’ horizontality. The brick at the north and south ends were split and set in a header-only random bond, resulting in a coarse, seemingly random texture. This strategy refers to the earlier pavilion where every wood structural member was oriented in the same direction.
A board-formed, concrete interior frames the art, and is day-lit by a large skylight and window-wall. Light levels are modulated by motorized translucent and blackout shades mounted above a fixed linen scrim. The skylight is supported by Alaskan Yellow Cedar rafters which, like the terrazzo-ground concrete with exposed local aggregates, relate to the materials used in the earlier pavilion.
Lighting for evening use is concealed above the scrim, with the exception of two down-lights that highlight the floor-mounted sculpture, “Equal Areas.” The polished steel surfaces reflect this light back on to the concrete ceiling, creating an unexpected double-image of the work at night.
Credits:
- Reginald Hough Associates - Concrete Consultant - Richard Gorman
- Arup - MEP Engineer - David Dubrow
- Wright & Co Construction - Site Supervisor - Paul Pianpiano
- Arup - Structural Engineer - Guy Hollingum
- Arup - Principal - Markus Schulte
- Wright & Co Construction - Project Supervisor - George Velmachos
- Arup - Lighting Consultant - Star Davis
- Wright & Co Construction - Owner - Ken Wright
- Wright & Co Construction - Project Engineer - Timothy Botta
- Reginald Hough Associates - Concrete Consultant - Kenneth Miller
View Original