Despite receiving a substantial drubbing from architectural critics, the Petersen Museum has managed to garner a 2017 American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athanaeum Museum of Architecture and Design (among 78 other finalists).
The award, which has been given out since 1994, recognized the new design of the museum for transforming "the Petersen building into one of the most significant and unforgettable structures in Los Angeles." The award panel went on to note that:
Unlike most museum renovations, which involve complete building teardown, this is a repositioning project. To use the metaphor of a car, if the existing building is a car’s chassis, the design is the body. The bones of the structure remain, and the existing concrete portico on Wilshire is removed. The rooftop becomes converted into a party space which can be rented out. A corrugated aluminum rain screen outboard wraps around the building on each of the three street frontages, giving the museum an entirely new look and feel.
“Ribbons” made out of angel hair stainless steel on the front and top, and red painted aluminum on the back and bottom, flow and wrap the building, maneuvering the existing entry vestibule and other apertures. Sitting atop the existing structural system like the body of a car mounted to its frame, the steel “ribbons” evoke a sense of speed and movement and are brushed to avoid creation of glare.
At night, the color and forms will be lit from within to accentuate the steel sculpture and act as a beacon on The Miracle Mile.
3 Comments
The decline of western civilization is nearly complete.
Just drove (!) by it again last night. Not an award-winner by any stretch in my mind, but it's serviceable.
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