Related people
John McMorrough (was created by)Ove Arup and Partners (engineer)
Richard Fitzgerald and Associates (was created by)
Renzo Piano (architect)
Description
"This private museum in Houston contains important collections of modern and African art. It is located amid subtropical vegetation in a residential district. To fit neatly into its surroundings, the building has been designed like a long pavilion. A perimeter arcade surrounds the whole building. While the restoration workshops and photography darkrooms are located in the basement, the foundation's other facilities are housed in the existing nearby bungalows. To admit plenty of daylight without glare, special louvres were developed. These long, blade-like overhead louvres are used not only in the exhibition rooms but also over the garden courtyards, the workrooms and the internal and external circulation zones. The shape of the (adjustable) louvres was determined in numerous model tests and computer simulations. The outcome is a highly natural, organic louvre form-the dominant element in the museum's architecture. They consist of a combination of ferrocement panels beneath cast steel supporting members. - Kind-Barkauskas, p.266 Keywords: United States, Texas, Harris County, Houston, exhibition structures, precast concrete, structural steel, steelwork, art museum, views. Submitted by John McMorrough.Style/Period
1980s (1980 - 1989)High Tech
