The project is the second addition made by Tod Williams & Billie Tsien to the Phoenix Art Museum, in Arizona.
This second addition, completed in 2006, ten years after their first addition, provides a new wing with over 20,000 square feet of column-free gallery space and a new 10,000 square feet entry pavilion oriented towards a landscaped court and visitor parking.
A sandblasted concrete wall shields the serene, Palo Verde tree-shaded entry court from the surrounding traffic. A curtain of water drops from a large fountain into a granite pool, giving the sound and sense of coolness. Visitors pass the fountain as they approach the forty-foot cantilever of the new entrance canopy that creates a great shaded outdoor room.
Fifteen-foot tall glass panels create a seamless transition between outdoor and indoor spaces. At night, a constellation of ceiling fixtures in the lobby creates a festive atmosphere for museum parties.
In the new gallery wing, a sculptural concrete and stone stair and a vertical mast of sandblasted concrete enclosing the elevator, rise through the space to connect four levels of galleries. On the top floor, a small cantilevered room extending from the corner of the museum provides a respite with a view toward the mountains of Phoenix.
The gallery wing uses locally fabricated pre-cast concrete panels both as structure and for exposed architectural surfaces. Green glacier quartz, used as an aggregate in the first renovation, was used in smaller aggregate size in a dark concrete mix. A tectonic relationship with the earlier structure is maintained while the building still declares a new identity. The new Phoenix Art Museum is a series of interior experiences with art, enlivened by occasional visual connections to the landscape.
Images courtesy of Tod Williams Billie Tsien
Discover: twbta.com
