This project began with the investigation of 2 key parts of the competition program-- the sculpture garden and the lobby.

Rather than relegating the sculpture garden to the back of the building, and placing the lobby in the front in a kind of categorical arrangement, we decided to overlap their distinct behaviors in one space, creating an enclosed plaza with traits of natural and urban. This open, naturally ventillated space became the tissue which connected all of the other cultural functions of the building.

In order to negotiate the open landscape and the discreet functions inside we developed a flexible surface which could both provide global continuity and the potential for spatial nesting through local striations.