2020 Interdisciplinary Collaborative Studio
Manhattan Art & Cultural Museum
This section will focus on a downtown parcel, two blocks south of Poyntz Avenue, to develop proposals for a proposed Manhattan Art and Cultural Museum. Based on a current proposal, spearheaded by Robert and Tracey DeBruyn with feasibility and technological analysis completed by MBA candidates within the University’s College of Business Administration, this project presents the opportunity to envision a future hybridized institution incorporating both physical and digital or virtual art. The incorporation of technologies such as projection and hologram systems as well as Virtual and Augmented Reality into museums is in its relative infancy though sufficient applications have been pursued to better understand the range of possibilities—ever-increasing—and the current logics, limitations, and potentials for interactive engagements through these technologies. Experts state that we are currently in a second wave of these efforts, armed with significantly more technological capabilities and promise with a growing body of exhibition precedents. The Museum’s mission for Manhattan and the region is to bring to life the artistic and cultural humanities of our world, which immerse the visitor and create tangible connections that activate peoples’ interests, knowledge, and involvement in the arts in new and engaging ways. To accomplish this, the DeBruyn’s envision a teaching and learning art and cultural institution, This is the basis of the project and additional and specific programming will be defined by the collaborative student groups; this unique project type will be geared towards both the Manhattan community as well as anticipated tourism. Additionally the site includes a number of existing buildings that may be adaptively reused. Building reuse is an increasingly important segment of architectural practice and this studio section—as well as the Town Center section described below—offers the opportunity to develop adaptation strategies in conjunction with the larger design objectives.
Art + Culture Museum (Alex Harris, Bry Simmons, and Morgan Garrett)
Located in downtown Manhattan, Kansas, the Manhattan Art and Culture Museum is designed to be a welcoming experience for the local community as well as town visitors. The site location establishes an opportunity for the Museum to act as a main attraction on 3rd Street, bridging Poyntz Avenue and the Blue Earth Plaza and Discovery Center. To differentiate from the surrounding context, the Museum is placed on a 2.5’ plinth, with an all glass facade, welcoming visitors into the building as well as the exterior landscape that lies behind the building. The upper levels also consist of a glass facade but are cladded with colorful terracotta baguettes. These were chosen to help filter natural light, relate to the horizontality of the existing buildings, and create a playfulness with its visitors. Looking at the interior program, one space played a vital role as to how the building would function: the Sistine Chapel. From the exterior, its importance is evident due to its large dimensions and change in cladding. Overall, our Museum is designed to emphasize the importance of art and culture through the experience of exterior and interior spaces.
Art + Culture Museum (Caity Barry, Carson Sheer, and Guoyou Zhu)
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Atrem in Horto (Eliza Seagrist and Erica Jackson)
“Artem in Horto” or “art in a garden” integrates technologically-driven art installations into the beauty of a dynamic landscape. The city of Manhattan celebrates both public art and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The Museum builds upon these two ideas and provides courtyards and gardens that are accessible to the public and immerses them into the realm of public art that changes with the weather and seasons.
Located in downtown Manhattan, the existing Sears and Brewer Buildings are adaptively reused and integrated into the contemporary architecture of the Museum. There are three galleries that are naturally lit and feature terracing transitions that allow a fluid circulation that is accessible to all. Glazed lanterns thrust through the roof and shine artistic light to provide nodes which may be seen cross galleries and from the immediate site context. The 4th street 7-bay commercial building is also adaptively reused as an education building that houses art studios, artist residences, a library, and children’s classrooms for collaboration. This building extends along the southern edge and defines the central courtyard with the main building of the Museum.
The design for the Museum is sensitive to sustainability. Existing trees are saved and incorporated into the site design. The city of Manhattan is susceptible to frequent flooding. Therefore, green stormwater infrastructure is used rigorously with bioswales taking over on-street parking, roof gardens intercepting stormwater on impact, and cisterns collecting water that percolate through permeable paving in the museum’s courtyards.
Art + Culture Museum (Elizabeth Franks, Emme Goodin, and Morgan Thomas)
The Manhattan Art and Culture Museum, located in downtown Manhattan, will become a cultural center that brings tourism and provides a space for locals to explore and learn. The block is ideally located at the intersection of incoming traffic to the city and the center of the expanding downtown, between the established Poyntz Avenue commercial district and the more recent developments south, around the Convention and Discovery Center. This location forms a ‘gateway’ that implies movement diagonally through the site. The diagonal creates an axis that influences the form of the building and moves users throughout the site. The site’s exterior spaces permeate the building via courtyards and amphitheater. The variety of activities that the site design may host include food trucks, sculpture gardens, and yard games. Throughout the building, porous and non-prescribed movement through the galleries is enabled by the main circulation path along the perimeter. This circulation connects buildings and gallery zones to one another through a series of bridges offering views to the exterior and to the courtyards. The building is organized in a rhythm of galleries, services, and courtyards. Within some interior galleries, cubes house artwork, sculptures, and holographic projections. These cubes act as aediculae and focuses views of the user to continue lines of sight into adjacent galleries or courtyards.