Closer look at Gluckman Tang Architects' sleek design of the Walter De Maria Pavilion

The pavilion's design inverts the typical formal garden by reintroducing various indigenous plants like red cedars, bayberry, swamp white oaks, and meadow grasses.

Its brick facade alludes to the 1920s walled “kitchen garden”, while its dark color was inspired by a 32-ton, dark granite outdoor sculpture called “Large Grey Sphere”, which is located on the estate.

Featuring a large skylight and window-wall, the board-formed, concrete interior complements the works of Walter De Maria. Light levels are modulated by light-diffusing glazing and motorized shades that are mounted above Alaskan Yellow Cedar rafters. 

The 24-inch bricks of the east and west faces are set “in a random bond pattern with alternating courses corbeled to create emphatic horizontal shadow lines,” the architects describe. “At the north and south, the brick is split and set in a header-only bond”, thus creating a coarse texture that contrasts with the building's more polished interior. “This strategy is a reference to the earlier pavilion where every wood structural member was oriented in the same direction.”