The Philadelphia Art Commission has weighed in somewhat unfavorably on Robert A.M. Stern's design for the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.
According to The Inquirer, the commission didn't offically reject the $150 million proposal, but on Feb 5 it did communicate concerns about the building's design. Specifically, the commission asked Stern to eliminate a cupola, add eye-level windows on the ground floor, and rethink the building's composition.
The museum, supported by H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, the Oneida Indian Nation, and the state of Pennsylvania, will exist in a space currently dominated by a red brick visitor center built for Philadelphia's Bicentennial in 1976. The commission has approved the demolition of the visitor center so that museum construction can start in the summer of 2014.
"This building really has a big-box-store mentality with a little bit of ornament attached," David B. Brownlee, a Penn art historian and vice chair of the Design Advocacy Group, told Inga Saffron of The Inquirer. Read the full report from The Inquirer.
Here is the firm's essay on the current design scheme for the museum (via www.ramsa.com):
The Museum of the American Revolution, anchoring the eastern end of Independence National Historical Park, is designed to introduce visitors to the American Revolution with its extraordinary collection of historical artifacts and contemporary interpretations demonstrating the continued worldwide importance of the Revolution.
Set amidst buildings of national and architectural significance—facing the First Bank of the United States (Samuel Blodgett, 1795), near William Strickland's Merchant's Exchange (1834) and the U.S. Custom House (Ritter & Shay, 1934)—the Museum will carry forward the restrained Classicism that heralded the birth of the Republic.
The Museum will address the corner of Chestnut and Third Streets with a broad plaza and an inviting entry facade that offers a glimpse at the treasures within through a two-story glazed portico. The museum shop and a café that opens to the sidewalk will enliven the Third Street facade; above, the wall that conceals the galleries will be articulated with brick quoining and recessed blind brick arches, accented with stone at the spring points and keystones and housing stone apsidal niches.
Our design organizes the Museum around a skylit central interior court. The ground floor will accommodate a multi-use theater and a changing exhibition gallery. Within the court a grand elliptical stair will take visitors up to 18,000 square feet of galleries and a theater dedicated to the exhibition of George Washington's marquee tent, one of the Museum's most dramatic holdings.
The Museum's third floor will offer rooms for conferences, symposia, and social events; two broad terraces overlooking the First Bank will command views to Independence Hall and the modern-day Philadelphia skyline.
The Museum will provide state-of-the-art storage and conservation spaces, following best practices for sustainable museum design to target LEED Silver certification.
The Museum will announce itself with a distinctive tower set directly above the lobby: atop a rectangular lantern with scalloped corners, sized to house a full-scale replica of the Liberty bell, will rise a cylindrical cupola with a bell-shaped roof that celebrates in a contemporary way the importance of our nation's founding.
Related Stories
| Oct 30, 2013
15 stellar historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation projects
The winners of the 2013 Reconstruction Awards showcase the best work of distinguished Building Teams, encompassing historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovations and additions.
| Oct 30, 2013
Steven Holl selected for Culture and Art Center in Qingdao, besting Zaha Hadid, OMA
Steven Holl Architects has been selected by near unanimous jury decision as the winner of the new Culture and Art Center of Qingdao City competition, besting OMA and Zaha Hadid Architects. The 2 million-sf project for four museums is the heart of the new extension of Qingdao, China, planned for a population of 700,000.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 29, 2013
BIG opens subterranean Danish National Maritime Museum [slideshow]
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has completed the Danish National Maritime Museum in Helsingør. By marrying the crucial historic elements with an innovative concept of galleries and way-finding, BIG’s renovation scheme reflects Denmark's historical and contemporary role as one of the world's leading maritime nations.
| Oct 28, 2013
Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it
Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
| Oct 1, 2013
13 structural steel buildings that dazzle
The Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., are among projects named 2013 IDEAS2 winners by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
| Sep 19, 2013
What we can learn from the world’s greenest buildings
Renowned green building author, Jerry Yudelson, offers five valuable lessons for designers, contractors, and building owners, based on a study of 55 high-performance projects from around the world.
| Sep 19, 2013
6 emerging energy-management glazing technologies
Phase-change materials, electrochromic glass, and building-integrated PVs are among the breakthrough glazing technologies that are taking energy performance to a new level.
| Sep 19, 2013
Roof renovation tips: Making the choice between overlayment and tear-off
When embarking upon a roofing renovation project, one of the first decisions for the Building Team is whether to tear off and replace the existing roof or to overlay the new roof right on top of the old one. Roofing experts offer guidance on making this assessment.