SWEDISH INSTITUTE’S NELSON CULTURAL CENTER BY HGA

 

The American Swedish Institute, a museum and cultural center with an international reputation on historic Park Avenue in the heart of South Minneapolis, today unveiled designs for the Nelson Cultural Center, a building to be constructed adjacent to the iconic Turnblad Mansion to accommodate growing programs and audiences. 

Inspired by the distinct beauty of the historic residence and the unique history of Swedish architecture, this addition and renovation includes a new Nelson Education and Cultural Center and improvements to the historic 1908 Turnblad mansion. The design considers contemporary and traditional Swedish aesthetics while prioritizing the use of sustainable technologies. 

Architectural elements emphasize natural wood, glass, stone and textiles; an open and welcoming layout; and handcrafted detailing. The Education and Cultural Center includes facilities for contemporary exhibitions, administrative offices, collections care, and expanded programs.

Landscape architecture

At the center of the expansion, an open lawn serves two purposes: It creates a field for 90 geothermal wells that will be used to cool and heat the expansion while doubling as a gathering space for outdoor events.

Additional gardens recall Sweden's rich design history through traditional planted forms and species native to both Sweden and Minnesota.

Collectively, these gardens unify a city block to create a cohesive urban place shared by the institution and the community.

Architectural project

The architectural details relate stories of Swedish culture and local history, from the addition’s slate façade that parallels the same slate on the mansion’s roof to the Swedish art-glass inspired entry.

But also custom tile by local craftsmen, large-format trompe-l’oeil textile commissioned for the lobby, handrails wrapped in leather by a local saddle maker, and nautical-themed wood ceiling in the event space inspired by the Stockholm City Hall’s timber roof.

Sustainability

Collaboration with Swedish artists and architects informed the design of the Nelson Cultural Center and grounds, which incorporate contemporary and traditional Swedish aesthetics while prioritizing community sensitivity and sustainable initiatives.

These initiatives, influenced by Sweden’s broad commitment to sustainability and recognized by the King and Queen at the recent Royal Dedication Ceremony, include the use of natural landscapes, vegetated roofs, low potable and irrigation water usage, a holistic approach to energy reduction including ground source geothermal heating and cooling, and an exceptional occupant experience.

To ensure achievement of verifiable results, the project is pursuing LEED Gold certification, and would be the first museum in the Minnesota to achieve this status.

Location: Minneapolis, USA 
Architects: HGA 
Design Team: Nancy Blankfard, Andy Weyenberg 
Structural Engineer: Sarah Jorczk, Gina Boogren 
Mechanical Engineer: Craig Lemma, Scott Lichty 
Electrical Engineer: Helen Peterson 
Civil Engineer: Erik Hansen 
Interior Designer: Rich Bonnin, Laurie Rother 
Landscape Architect: Ross Altheimer ASLA, LEED AP, Erica Christenson 
Lighting Designer: Tao Ham, Chrysanthi Stockwell 
Area: 47,038 sq ft 
Year: 2012 
Photographs: Paul Crosby

EMPAC BY GRIMSHAW ARCHITECTS

The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre (EMPAC) is a nexus of technological and artistic innovation and optimised performance space, where the intersection of science and the arts is explored through sound, movement and light.

Grimshaw’s appointment to the project was the result of an international design competition. Sited on a steep hillside overlooking the Hudson River, the 200,000 sq f building extends the existing RPI campus westward.

It provides five different performance environments: an elegant 1,200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theatre, two adaptive performance studios, and a dance studio. It also houses audio and video editing suites, artist-in-residence studios, and the campus radio station.

A rectangular south wing of the building, containing the more digitally oriented facilities, shields the atrium and public spaces from summer solar heat gain. The concert hall, clad entirely in western red cedar, dominates the north wing of the building and is visible to the outside through a dramatic 100-foot high glass curtain wall.

EMPAC's mission is not only to provide an environment conducive to the generation of innovative digital work, but also to actively change perceptions about the nature of sound, vision and the human experiential condition.

Its unique program, combining the highest quality venues suitable for the performance of both traditional and contemporary music, dance, theatre and visualization, will be unmatched by academic institutions elsewhere in the world.

EMPAC’s 220,000 square-foot center is a signature work of architecture that brings together four main venues as well as many smaller studios and lab spaces under one roof.

All can be used independently and simultaneously, allowing EMPAC to present events, host student gatherings, and dedicate space to research and residencies – all at one time. EMPAC includes many firsts and exceptional attributes in the fields of acoustics, structural integrity, theatrical presentation, and digital media.

High-bandwidth computer, audio and video networks create a technical infrastructure unlike any other performing arts centers. And, when linked to Rensselaer’s CCNI supercomputer, EMPAC’s superb venues provide opportunities for research that surpass those of most other media research centers.

Grimshaw has designed a multi-functional building in which performances and other activities can take place concurrently without absolute segregation of building users. Key to the design is the atrium space, which acts a hub for informal social interaction and as the lobby to the major spaces. 

 

 

Location: Troy, USA 
Architects: Grimshaw Architects 
Principals: Vincent Chang, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, Mark Husser, Andrew Whalley 
Project Team: Simon Beames, Shane Burger, David Burke, Demetrios Comodromos, Chris Crombie, Chris Duisberg, Matt Eastwood, Paulo Faria, Nikolas Dando-Haenisch, William Horgan, Barbara Kurdiovsky, Kirsten Lees, Melissa Lim, Theo Lorenz, Mariam Mojdehi, Junko Nakagawa, Michael Pawlyn, Juan Porral 
Structural & Service Engineer: Buro Happold 
Acoustics: Kirkegaard Associates
Theatre Consultant: Fisher Dachs Associates 
Area: 221,200 sqf 
Year: 2008 
Client: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Photographs: Paul Rivera/Archphoto, Peter Aaron

BLAFFER ART MUSEUM BY WORKAC

 

Founded in 1973, Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston is a contemporary art museum without a permanent collection, dedicated to emerging or under-represented artists.

 

The museum is located in the Fine Arts Building on the University of Houston's central campus and as such has currently very little visual presence.

 

 

The museum renovation project will offer a unique opportunity to connect the UH campus and the city of Houston through the medium of the Arts.

 

 

WORKac’s design opens up the currently blank north side with a new entrance pavilion; a translucent three-story volume that pivots forward from the existing façade, enhancing the museum’s presence to the city.

 

A new café/lounge will become a creative and intellectual social hub, and we have redesigned an existing courtyard, together with SCAPE landscape architects, as a dynamic setting, where music, film screenings and other events take place regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Location: Houston, USA

Architect: WORKac

Landscape: SCAPE

Year: 2011

HOUSTON CENTRAL STATION PROPOSAL BY SNOHETTA

Snohetta were awarded the winning title for their Houston Central Station in Texas by an enthustiastic jury. The fact that Houston has a large amount of annual rainfall was the backbone of Snohetta’s proposal.

Snohettas concept involves an ingenious canopy at the exiting station which harnesses Houston’s heavy rainfall and turns it into a positive attribute; sheltering passengers from the wind and rain whilst supplying them with an aesthetically pleasing water feature.

The design sought to incorporate the concept of water by channeling rain down concrete spouts, thereby allowing users to interact with and experience water.

The elegant arching structure contains within columns slices that direct the water to the drain pipes below. The cut-outs also provide visual and lighting interest for those awaiting the next train.

Though visually engaging the interaction between users and water might present some practical problems: the areas of the platform where water is directed would have to be avoided, causing congestion and removing valuable open space on an already narrow platform.

DESERT HOUSE BY JIM JENNINGS ARCHITECTURE

On a desert site of undisturbed native vegetation, the modest retreat is defined by an 8-foot-high concrete wall that supports a steel roof structure and encloses two courtyards.

Everything inside the containment wall functions as living space, making it a 2,900-square-foot, rather than a 730-square-foot (of climate-controlled area), house.

In the traditional post-and-beam model, glass expanses blur the boundary between landscape and building. 

In contrast, this retreat is about the walled enclosure marking the building as volume and mass.

What is adapted from mid-century design is the logic and clarity of an unconventional residential structural system — and the virtue of supreme indoor-outdoor living on a small scale.

 

 

Location: Palm Springs,USA

Archiect: Jim Jennings Architecture

Year: 2003