NADIA LLOYD-LISTER
Contemporary
art museum
Allison and Peter Smithson hypothesized that a building can “harness all the senses: it can operate at night; it can offer, especially, pleasures beyond the eyes : they are perhaps the pleasures of territory that the other animals feel so strongly.” (Author: Mirko Zardini, Chapter: 1, Page 22, 2005)
The concept of the building is to contrast the stigma of dominance of the eye (visual noise) associated with art and art museums by clearing the sensory pallet. This will be done by equipping the building with sensorial triggers such as: luminosity and darkness, seasons and climate, the smell of the air, the material surfaces and sounds. (Author: Mirko Zardini, Chapter: preface, Page 14, 2005)
Much of contemporary architecture shares this renewed interest in a sensorial experience extending beyond the purely visual realm. “Yes, sound, material not just vision. What I’m Trying to do is to question the dominance of vision and this is a difficult thing to do because most people are judged by the visual image. There is too much visual noise in our environment for me,” remarked Peter Eisenman. As far back as the 1970’s Kevin Lynch and Christian Norberg-Shulz reintroduced this theme into their reflections on the urban environment. (Author: Mirko Zardini, Chapter: 1, Page 23, 2005)
This theme delves into the phenomenological aspect of the site and design needs. Norberg-Shulz describes place as a “total” qualitative phenomenon. Perception opposes judgement in this design where visual stimulants will not overwhelm the other senses. (Author: Mirko Zardini, Chapter: 1, Page 23, 2005) In the case of the Pompidou museum I would apply this by keeping the building monochromatic ie. Either all black or all white where it reads more like a texture to the urban surrounding than a object in a place. This aims to allow the experience to be drawn more to the art within the building.
References
Zardini M. 2005, SENSE OF THE CITY: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO URBANISM. Canada: Lars Müller Publishers.
Hara K. 2007, DESIGNING DESIGN. Japan: Lars Müller Publishers.