item: new museum of contemporary art, ny
architects: kazuyo sejima + ryue nishizawa of sanaa
photos via: arcspace
comments: recently i had the pleasure of attending a lecture at the art institute of chicago featuring kazuyo sejima + ryue nishizawa, the 2010 pritzker prize winners, of the architectural firm sanaa. they talked about ten of their projects, most of them completed with just a few that are still in progress. what struck me about their work is their focus on the relationship and tension between the interior of the buildings and the natural environment of the exterior, the idea of flow within a space, and the attributes of light and reflection. they use materials like glass, plexiglass and aluminum to achieve those qualities. the work i chose to feature in this post is the new museum of contemporary art in ny. the architects arrived at the stacked boxes based on the museum's need for specific galleries. they decided to stack them off center to allow natural light and unique views of the city. the boxes at the top of the building have a smaller footprint so they increased the ceiling height to keep the feeling of openness. the building does not have columns so that maximum flexibility to reconfigure the space based on the specific shows is maintained. galvanized, zinc-plated steel clads the exterior of the building which at night is illuminated from the interior lighting. check out arcspace for more information about their work. incredible.