Institute of Contemporary Art
The ICA in Boston is a 62,000 square foot building. It includes 18,000 square feet of galleries, along with performance theatres, a restaurant, a bookstore, education facilities and administrative offices.
The architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, identified two goals for the building: “to perform as a dynamic civic building filled with public and social activities, and as a controlled, contemplative atmosphere for individuals interacting with contemporary art”. These two ideals for the building are opposite in nature and needed to be resolved by the architects to exist together. Their solution was to denote the “public” portion of the building as that which moves from the ground up and the “intimate” building moving from the sky down.
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Building information
Designer: Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Program type: Contemporary Art Museum and Exhibit Space
Project budget: $661/sq.ft. (Total estimated cost of $41 million.)
Project Address:
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA
Building analysis
The ICA sits along Boston’s Harborwalk at its north and west edges. The surface material of the Harborwalk is carried up to the building as a wrapper that delineates the building’s public spaces. “It folds up from the walkway into a "grandstand" facing the water, it continues through the skin of the building to form a stage, then turns up to form the theater seating, then seamlessly envelopes the theater space, ultimately, slipping out through the skin to produce the ceiling of the exterior public "room." Above the wrapper sits the "gallery box": a large exhibition space on one level that dramatically cantilevers over the Harborwalk toward the water” (Diller Scofidio & Renfro).
Detail analysis
It is here that the focus of this particular project enters: the glass curtain wall that separates this cantilevered gallery space from the harbor beyond. As this space is considered to be a part of the intimate, contemplative portion of the building, its connection to the sky and outdoor elements is of great importance. The use of this transparent wall gives visitors the feeling of floating out over the harbor, away from the busy public spaces that exist below but are now masked through the cantilevered form. By blocking distractions beyond the dramatic setting, the visitor can concentrate on the artwork and when a break is needed, rest their eyes upon the ocean harbor and the sky above.
References
Student contributions
- Erin Dudley, Spring 2008
External links
