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NCMA Unveils New Renderings

By on September 14, 2006

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The North Carolina Museum of Art formally unveiled new artist’s renderings for their new 90,000 square foot gallery building. The sprawling $75 million, one-story building will feature over 400 skylights, many glass walls, gardens and pools. WRAL has posted 14 images for a building that ought to be more water-tight then the current musem.

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Posted in | 8 Responses

  • http://www.markturner.net/ Mark Turner

    I had a sneak peek at this design a few years ago when I was on the NCMA Contemporaries board. It is a grand design with lots of light and space: exactly what’s missing in the current building.
    My only concern (one that I didn’t raise at the time because, frankly, nobody asked me!) is that the design looks vulnerable to
    tornado damage. That land is one of the highest spots in Wake County and collects more than its share of tornadoes. Glass walls and trees make uneasy neighbors, though I love them both. I figure someone’s already thought this out.
    It is a beautiful design, though!

  • http://www.markturner.net Mark Turner

    I had a sneak peek at this design a few years ago when I was on the NCMA Contemporaries board. It is a grand design with lots of light and space: exactly what’s missing in the current building.
    My only concern (one that I didn’t raise at the time because, frankly, nobody asked me!) is that the design looks vulnerable to
    tornado damage. That land is one of the highest spots in Wake County and collects more than its share of tornadoes. Glass walls and trees make uneasy neighbors, though I love them both. I figure someone’s already thought this out.
    It is a beautiful design, though!

  • Ron T

    I think the design looks fantastic. It is much MUCH more exciting than the current museum.
    I like how open it will be to light and greenery around the building.
    Mark raises an interesting point regarding tornados (how about hurricanes?), and I do hope that has been thought out.

  • Ron T

    I think the design looks fantastic. It is much MUCH more exciting than the current museum.
    I like how open it will be to light and greenery around the building.
    Mark raises an interesting point regarding tornados (how about hurricanes?), and I do hope that has been thought out.

  • Dana

    Great comments. I’m still stuck on this water thing, mainly because the current museum’s tragic flaw is its roof. From the 4th image in the series, it looks like the glass will be convex upward. Rain hitting the glass will flow to the perimeter interface of roof material and glass. From there is looks like the bowed contour of the glass edges will make water flow to the long ends of the glass. What is critical is that water be able to make that step from the long end of the glass to the roof material. If it doesn’t, then there will be 800 places that will likely leak. If they don’t leak, they will at least get scummy.
    I think it will be important for the museum to clean these fixtures at least twice a year so they don’t look as bad as those in North Hills eventually looked.
    We get tornadoes every 10 years or so, but we get about 40 inches of rain per year in about one event per week.
    I don’t really know that much about art, but I assume this glass will be polarized in a way that doesn’t fade the artwork???
    What’s really funny to me is that a friend of mine in LA just posted a photo on his blog of the Beverly Hills Wells Fargo parking deck. The new NCMA building amazingly similar in its concept.
    http://www.jeffersonburruss.com/blog/2006/09/beverly-hills.html

  • Dana

    Great comments. I’m still stuck on this water thing, mainly because the current museum’s tragic flaw is its roof. From the 4th image in the series, it looks like the glass will be convex upward. Rain hitting the glass will flow to the perimeter interface of roof material and glass. From there is looks like the bowed contour of the glass edges will make water flow to the long ends of the glass. What is critical is that water be able to make that step from the long end of the glass to the roof material. If it doesn’t, then there will be 800 places that will likely leak. If they don’t leak, they will at least get scummy.
    I think it will be important for the museum to clean these fixtures at least twice a year so they don’t look as bad as those in North Hills eventually looked.
    We get tornadoes every 10 years or so, but we get about 40 inches of rain per year in about one event per week.
    I don’t really know that much about art, but I assume this glass will be polarized in a way that doesn’t fade the artwork???
    What’s really funny to me is that a friend of mine in LA just posted a photo on his blog of the Beverly Hills Wells Fargo parking deck. The new NCMA building amazingly similar in its concept.
    http://www.jeffersonburruss.com/blog/2006/09/beverly-hills.html

  • Andy

    I looked at these renderings last time I was at the museum. Light and space, yes, perhaps, but at the expense of creating a structure that is effectively a postmodern warehouse, devoid of any classical (or even postmodern proper, a la Michael Graves) architectural flourish. Perhaps is a new trend of striking the sharpest possible contrast between beautiful, classical works of art and their environemnt. Or, perhaps it’s a false step, a way to obtain 90000 sq ft of space on a warehouse-construction budgets…
    In my humble and unsought opinion, North Carolina ought to do itself a good turn and create a world-class art museum to complement the booming urban area of Raleigh and the world-class higher educational offerings in the immediate vicinity.
    This unsightly building strikes me more than anything else as a wasted opportunity for the museum and the state; inhabitants current and future will still need to travel to NYC, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Philly, Chicago to see a world-class art museum for decades to come.

  • Andy

    I looked at these renderings last time I was at the museum. Light and space, yes, perhaps, but at the expense of creating a structure that is effectively a postmodern warehouse, devoid of any classical (or even postmodern proper, a la Michael Graves) architectural flourish. Perhaps is a new trend of striking the sharpest possible contrast between beautiful, classical works of art and their environemnt. Or, perhaps it’s a false step, a way to obtain 90000 sq ft of space on a warehouse-construction budgets…
    In my humble and unsought opinion, North Carolina ought to do itself a good turn and create a world-class art museum to complement the booming urban area of Raleigh and the world-class higher educational offerings in the immediate vicinity.
    This unsightly building strikes me more than anything else as a wasted opportunity for the museum and the state; inhabitants current and future will still need to travel to NYC, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Philly, Chicago to see a world-class art museum for decades to come.