“Art” is a small word with a large, multifaceted definition far exceeding its character length. While many people may define art as that which is on display at a local gallery, art can actually be found, in one way or another, across just about any discipline imaginable. It makes sense, then, that Rice University’s new Moody Center for the Arts is conceived as a multi-disciplinary lab that will contain “an experimental platform for creating and presenting works in all disciplines,” ArchDaily reports.
The 50,000-sf building will be located in the new arts district of the campus along with the Shepherd School of Music and James Turrell’s Twilight Epiphany Skyspace. The structure will be composed of an art gallery space, a 150-seat black box theater, an experimental performance space, and a café. A natural-light-filled atrium, which contains a maker lab and immediate access to a wood shop, metal shop, paint booth, rapid prototyping areas, classrooms, a technology library, and AV editing booths, is envisioned as an interior campus quad.
The building’s exterior will feature a brick-clad upper story with cantilevers that create covered walkways below. The floor-to-ceiling glass-encased entry level will provide a strong juxtaposition to the second level’s brick exterior.
A new artist-in-residence program will also be housed in the Moody, with Mona Hatoum set to be the first resident beginning in spring 2017, just a few months after the building is scheduled to open to the public on February 24, 2017.
Currently under construction, the Moody is funded by a $20 million grant from the Moody Foundation, a charitable organization with an emphasis on education, social services, children’s needs and community development. Among others, the Brown Foundation is also providing funding.
Rendering courtesy of Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. via ArchDaily
Rendering courtesy of Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. via ArchDaily
Photo courtesy of Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. via ArchDaily
Rendering courtesy of Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. via ArchDaily
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
University building gets revamped, reused
KSS Architects of Philadelphia is designing the addition and renovation to SUNY Cortland's Studio West, a 43,000-sf metal panel and brick building dating to 1948. The 20,000-sf, two-story addition will become the Professional Studies Building, housing the consolidated departments of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies; Communications Disorders and Sciences; and Kinesiology and Sports Managem...
| Aug 11, 2010
Project is music to school's ears
Florida Gulf Coast University is building a $7.55 million Fine Arts Building on its campus near Ft. Myers, Fla. The 25,000-sf building—the first project in the school's plan for an entire music complex—will house the music program of the College of Arts and Sciences. The facility includes a 200-seat recital hall, rehearsal hall, music labs, studio rooms, and administration offices.
| Aug 11, 2010
BU students move into high-rise dorm
Boston University’s newest residential building rises 26 stories above the Charles River. Part of the school’s 10-acre John Hancock Student Village, the 396,000-sf tower houses 962 students and has three apartments for faculty use. The tower also has a large multipurpose room on the top floor.
| Aug 11, 2010
Expansion of chemistry facility no experiment
A September ground breaking at Wayne State University in Detroit puts the school’s A. Paul Schaap Chemistry Building and Lecture Hall on track for a December 2010 completion. The $37 million, 96,000-sf facility is the second phase of a two-phase project to expand and renovate the existing chemistry building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Polshek unveils design for University of North Texas business building
New York City-based architect Polshek Partnership unveiled its design scheme for the $70 million Business Leadership Building at the University of North Texas in Denton. Designed to provide UNT’s 5,600-plus business majors with a state-of-the-art learning environment, the 180,000-sf facility will include an open atrium, an internet café, and numerous study and tutoring rooms—al...
| Aug 11, 2010
Cooper Union academic building designed to reach LEED Platinum
Morphosis Architects and Gruzen Samton are collaborating on an ultra-green academic building for New York’s Cooper Union that is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification. The program for the nine-story facility mixes state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, a multipurpose auditorium, and a range of public and social spaces.
| Aug 11, 2010
Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture
A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center—is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck & Sargent, in association with Salt-Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction begins on Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame
Heavy construction and foundation work has started on the new Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame and Regional History Museum in Natchitoches, La. Designed by Trahan Architects, Baton Rouge, the $12 million, 28,000-sf museum will be clad in sinker cypress planks as a nod to the region’s rich timber legacy and to help control light, views, and ventilation throughout the facility.
| Aug 11, 2010
Modest recession for education construction
Construction spending for education expanded modestly but steadily through March, while at the same time growth for other institutional construction had stalled earlier in 2009. Education spending is now at or near the peak for this building cycle. The value of education starts is off 9% year-to-date compared to 2008.
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins Eastman awarded Indian School of Business campus
The New York office of Perkins Eastman has been commissioned by the Indian School of Business for a 70-acre, 1.5 million-sf new business school campus as part of a 300-acre “Knowledge City” in Chandigarh, Mohali, India. The sustainable campus will accommodate four centers of excellence: healthcare management, public policy, manufacturing/operations, and physical infrastructure manag...
