I have to say I respect Thom Mayne because he was able to pull this off in a city like New York. I am not a big fan of Morphosis, but I think I like this building...
From the outside, it looks kind of bulky. But the metal skin gives it a nice texture. I am still not sure if the ground floor provides a good urban interface but the split of the screen is certainly successful in implying special (communal) happenings inside.
Entering the lobby... a grand stair leads the way directly up to the fourth floor, where a double height student lounge is located. I stared at the mesh/lattice in the atrium for quite a while and still couldn't figure out what it's there for. Certainly not structural. Maybe it's just there to hold the figure of the void together, and imply a dynamic gesture. Or maybe, it's just LA...
The stairs are my favorite part. The spiraling, overlapping geometry; the glowing guardrail; the offset handrail... 
The stairs connect informal gathering spaces on different levels. At the top, the lattice seems to contract with a centripetal force and terminates at a skylight. This skylight is disappointingly small... After all the journey up the stairs, I expected a more interesting ending.
The perforated metal skin is another element I like in the building. The patches of "non-perforated" areas give subtle variations to an otherwise monotonous sun screen.
The sensibility of materiality is also exemplified in the auditorium, where the wrinkled metal mesh acts as acoustic panels.
2 comments:
honestly human, really? this is a grossly over-designed mess, in my opinion..
jack, i think you are too much attuned to the sanaa aesthetics! :)
Post a Comment