a dialogue with the Everson Artwork Museum in-built 1968 by IM Pei
Los Angeles structure studio MILLIØNS has accomplished a metamorphosis renovation from the East Wing of the Everson Museum of Artwork in Syracuse, big apple. unique museumaccomplished in 1968, it was designed by the beloved architect IM Pei and is well known for its vital assortment of American ceramics. MILLIØNS' redesign of the east wing was pushed by a dedication to increase public entry and combine the museum's purposeful ceramics assortment into on a regular basis use.
MILLIØNS received a two-stage worldwide competitors in 2019, which was organized in collaboration with the Syracuse College Faculty of Structure. The competitors initially targeted on designing a restaurant to accommodate a purposeful assortment of ceramics donated by Dallas collector Louise Rosenfield. Nevertheless, architect duo Zeina Koreitem and John Could of MILLIØNS expanded the undertaking past its unique function, proposing an entire redesign of your complete east wing of the museum. This broader imaginative and prescient satisfied each Rosenfield and Everson Museum director Elizabeth Dunbar, ultimately resulting in a bigger renovation undertaking.
MILLIØNS is renovating the east wing of the Everson Artwork Museum | picture © Iwan Baan
milliøns integrates artwork and structure in Syracuse
Drawing inspiration from the brutalist structure of IM Pei, the design seeks to have interaction with the play of sunshine and shadow that defines the East Wing of the Everson Museum of Artwork in Syracuse. The place largely beneath the extent of the wing creates robust contrasts of darkish and lightweight, which architects at MILLIØNS approached by introducing reflective and refractive supplies. A central component of the design is a collection of two-story glass towers that carry gentle into the area whereas housing the ceramic assortment. These open-shelved towers enable guests to make use of ceramics, breaking the standard divide between artwork and public interplay.
A key conceptual goal of the redesign was to dissolve the inflexible division between the museum's public gallery areas (Entrance of Home) and its personal, operational areas (Again of Home). MILLIØNS launched the concept of a “third area, a hybrid space the place storage, show and upkeep actions coexist. This method improves transparency and invitations guests right into a extra immersive expertise, permitting them to witness components of the museum's operation which might be normally hidden.
the successful design introduces a restaurant for the museum's ceramics assortment | picture © Iwan Baan
Balancing innovation and conservation
Beforehand, the higher ground of the east wing was accessible to the general public, whereas the decrease ground was restricted to workers use. MILLIØNS reworked the decrease degree right into a semi-public space for occasions and exhibitions. As well as, the redesign features a new analysis library and renovated workers workplaces, making a purposeful and welcoming surroundings for museum guests and staff alike.
The redesign contains a number of new show components for the Rosenfield ceramics assortment, together with a furnishings collaboration with designer Jonathan Olivares. The communal tables function curatorial surfaces for the show of ceramics, combining the sensible with the inventive. Outdoors, vital restoration efforts have been undertaken on Pei's unique concrete facade, together with cleansing and preserving the constructing's distinctive pink-hued concrete and changing pavers to match the unique design. MILLIØNS additionally designed new planters for the out of doors terrace, making a welcoming area for cafes.
drawing on IM Pei's Brutalism, the redesign focuses on gentle and shadow | picture © Iwan Baan
MILLIØNS' method to adaptive reuse delicately balances innovation with respect for IM Pei's unique design. By introducing up to date components with out overwhelming the constructing's historic structure, the studio aimed to boost pure gentle and remodel the east wing, whereas sustaining respect for Pei's imaginative and prescient. Their renovation fastidiously integrates the brand new with the outdated, making certain that the East Wing features as a contemporary area whereas preserving its Brutalist heritage.
From the start, MILLIØNS sought to distinguish the brand new design components from the unique construction. The architects launched reflective, vibrant supplies to distinction with Pei's harsh, desaturated textures, making a stress between heavy and lightweight supplies. The design embraces a heliocentric method, enhancing pure gentle by means of a fastidiously chosen palette of colours and surfaces.
The renovation revealed surprising particulars from Pei's unique supplies, such because the pink-tinged concrete combination used within the museum. This discovery knowledgeable a extra nuanced method to paint, which MILLIØNS complemented with gradient curtains designed in collaboration with Paris-based artist Justin Morin. These curtains, digitally printed in Zurich, draw inspiration from the ceramics assortment itself, integrating the colours of the art work into the material of the museum.
a “third area” merges public galleries with normally personal museum operations | picture © Iwan Baan
the decrease ground is now a semi-public area for occasions and exhibitions | picture © Iwan Baan