Crystal Bridges Visit Questionaire

1       1. Write a paragraph on your view of design interior and exterior of museum.  Name at least 3 elements of design solution you observed that makes the building a significant work of architecture and interior design.  What design features are successful and why.  What resonates with you personally?

 The interior exterior of the museum is very unique to the area.  It is designed to experience art with nature .  three elements of design solution that stood out the most include views, scale and proportion, movement and color.  The views to the outside included the exterior elements of the museum with tht nature backdrop or of the surrounding trees and ponds.  Throughout the museum the focus is on the artwork itself.  It is a beautiful transition as you move from the enclosed spaces into the open daylit spaces.  The scale/proportion of the design is directly related to the movement.  As your eye moves from one piece of work to the next you tend to forget about the size of the space you are in.  the piece are all placed at eye level and there is no reason for your eye to wander any higher.   The colors chosen for the design solution seem to be selected from the trees and rock of the surrounding area.  The red green and blue throughout the museum are placed on many walls with artwork on them.  This is the first time I’ve ever seen or noticed colored walls behind a piece of artwork.

2.  Select one criticism for the museum from the article above for which you disagree.  Why do you disagree?

In NY times article “Crystal Bridges, the Art Museum Wal-mart Money Built, Opens” by Roberta Smith.  The statement concerning the failure “to exploit the sights abundant natural light” is disagreeable.  As you move through the space, there doesn’t seem to be that much natural light.  The shades are all pulled down and it is too bright for the artwork.  It has to be protected so as not to been damaged by the harsh lighting.  I wish to have been able to walk through the space without the shades drawn to get the full effect.

         3. Select one criticism from the article above for which you agree, why do you agree?

 In the architectural record article, “Wal-mart heiress Alice Walton’s new institution, a series of pavilions in a forested ravine, links nature to a major collection of American works” by James Russell.  The statement concerning that art viewing is merely serviceable.  “it’s too bad that Safdie could not truly unite his collection of forms into an extraordinary deeply realized whole” is agreeable.  The architect had to create enclosed spaces for the art that are only for the art pieces.  There is nothing that exciting about these rooms, it is merely serviceable.  The spaces could be much more exciting with more of the nature intertwined with the artwork.  I do appreciate the space in between the galleries breaking up the monotony of art after art. 

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        4. What do you sense is the overarching concept for the museum? After what you read in the above articles do you think that the concept intended by the architect is conveyed in a subtle or obvious way?

 The overall concept of the museum is to combine American art and history and the immediate experience of nature in a compelling and accessible way, but keeps the art in the foreground.  The whole idea was to place art together with nature.   This was created in a very obvious way.  The structure is far off the main travel paths and completely surrounded by the trees as well as the spring flowing underneath.  All of the views are to nature or have some element of the surroundings incorporated into the multiple views to the outside.  Although the space where the artwork is located contains no windows, every other space has full glass window walls.  All of the materials used in the museum are naturally made.  There is wood, concrete and stone throughout.

      5.  What do you think is the driving concept for the museum store designed by Marlon Blackwell?

 The driving concept for the museum store by Marlon Blackwell was to be organic and natural.  It somewhat reflects the inside beams of the structures in the rest of the museum.  He allowed for all of the items in the gift shop to do most of the design work for him, kind of as small pieces of art high lighted by the small spot lights peeking through the wood slats of the organically waving ceiling that extends to the floor. The floor and ceiling are both created from local natural materials .  Lighting is the key element in the space and it is a nice reflection to the rest of the museum.

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   6. What surprised you about the museum?  What excited you? Why were you excited?

 I saw in the model that they were going to make all of the concrete roof sections grass or planted roofs.  This was an exciting way to blend the built structures in with the natural environment.  I thought that all of the roofing was going to be the copper material like that in the pavilions and that is used on the bridges and some of the other major elements.  Although this isn’t a new concept, it is very much a part of the image the museum is trying to send.  It will be interesting to see what the outside looks like from the trails after the roofs are entirely covered.  The colored walls were also very exciting and interesting to me.  Usually when you walk into a museum the lobby or giftshop are the the most colorful spaces, so this was a new image of a museum for me.  The appropriate paintings were selected to be placed on the appropriate wall colors.  It really seemed to work, especially as you transition throughout the spaces.