Expansion as an Art: Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences


by Stanley Collyer

 


Initial proposal by ©VOA
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Adding space to an existing museum to improve its functionality can be a daunting challenge. Confronted with such a scenario, the Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences turned to a competition to arrive at an innovative solution to its expansion plans. Limited to architectural firms based in Florida, the competition was conducted in two stages — the first stage consisting of a short list based on expressions of interest, followed by a submission of designs by finalists.
The history of Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences (MOAS) is similar to many museums, in that new wings were added to accommodate a larger collection. The level of the West Wing of the museum, located 30” below the main structure, can only be reached by a ramp, and is prone to flooding. To eliminate the need to move exhibits from this wing every time it is threatened by water, MOAS decided to demolish the existing wing and build a slightly larger structure to replace it at the same level as the rest of the museum complex. At the same time, they wanted to address the expansion of an entrance lobby, with the intention that it also be used for special events. The latter was considered to be a second phase if sufficient funding did not become immediately available. However, this latter phase of the program is certainly important to the image of MOAS, because it would provide it with a new sense of arrival for visitors.


As a multi-functional museum, MOAS is home to various types of activities and exhibits. In addition to a planetarium, its collection includes natural history, archeology, science, and art — Cuban, American, Afro-American, crafts and even a Coca Cola exhibit. As such, it has a major educational component as its mission. Combining so many different agendas might be considered a weakness of mission by many museum administrators; but here it can also be an advantage, bringing many visitors to a site where they can be exposed to a large variety of subjects that otherwise might not be high on their list of priorities.


The museum’s $7.5 million budget for this expansion might be considered modest by comparison with expansion plans of some museums: the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s expansion will be in excess of $200 million; Louisville’s Speed Art Museum’s expansion budget is $79 million. Still, for a relatively small community, where snowbirds make up a considerable segment of the local population, this plan is ambitious in its own right. The budget for for new West Wing, including demolition is approximately $6 million. If the new entrance, Grand Lobby design and Observatory are added to the mix, the total will be slightly over $7.5 million.
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nitial presentation drawings by ©VOA. The design was refined after jury input.
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To administer the competition, MOAS engaged James Bannon, AIA, RIBA of DACORI Design and Construction, as a consultant. The subsequent RfQ limited to Florida firms, resulted in three shortlisted firms as finalists:

  • VOA , Orlando, Florida office
  • HOK, Tampa, Florida office
  • Architects Design Group, Winter Park, Florida

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Des Moines Water Works Parkitecture

Sponsor: Des Moines Water Works Board, Iowa State University College of Design Department of Landscape Architecture Type: Open, two-stage Location: Des Moines, Iowa Language: English Fee: none Eligibility: Open to teams in architecture and related fields. Timetable: June 8, 2011 – Registration open August 1 – Registration deadline October 3 – Submission deadline October 24

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Emblematic Addition Competition Winners

The Université Laval School of Architecture has announced the three winning projects, three mentions and two finalists of the Emblematic Addition ideas competition held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the School’s founding in Quebec City, Canada. Entries were asked to propose an “emblematic addition” to the 18th century building, the Old Seminary, in which

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Tallinn Architecture Biennale Vision Competition: Street 2020

Sponsor: Estonian Architecture Centre, City of Tallinn Type: Open International One-phase Language: English Fee: Free Eligibility: Architects and architecture students Timetable: April 27, 2011 – Competition launch July 1 – Submissions deadline August 1 – Results announced Jury: Eva Castro, Architect (AA School, Plasmastudio, Groundlab) Endrik Mänd, Chief Architect (Tallinn City Government) Awards: First prize

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Route de Meyrin – CERN International Competition

Sponsor: Canton of Geneva Type: Open, single stage Location: Geneva, Switzerland Language: French and English Fee: Free Eligibility: The procedure is open to a grouping of representatives combining the skills of a landscape architect, a town planner, a civil engineer and a lighting designer established in Switzerland or in a State that is a

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CAPITheticAL: A Design Ideas Competition for a Hypothetical Australian Capital City

Sponsor: ACT Government Type: Open, international, ideas Location: Canberra, Australia Language: English Fee: Free Eligibility: Open to individuals and collaborative design teams of professionals, students and recent graduates in architecture, planning, engineering, landscape architecture, urban design, as well as artists, environmentalists and other suitably qualified design professionals who have a passion for cities and urban

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Interview: Peter Schaudt (Fall 2008)

 

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Peter Schaudt
Winner, Nathan Philips Square International Design Competition, 2007
Rome Prize Winner in Landscape Architecture (FAAR), American Academy in Rome Fellowship, 1990-1991
Third Place, Kent State May 4 Memorial National Design Competition, 1986
Citation of Merit, Innovations in Housing National Design Competition, 1986
Second Place, Copley Square National Design Competition (4 person team), 1984
Meritorious Award, Vietnam Veterans Memorial National Design Competition, 1981

 

COMPETITIONS: Environment often plays a role in what we choose to do with our lives. What was the determining factor that led you to become a landscape architect?

 

 

PETER SCHAUDT: My first goal was to become an architect. As I studied architecture here (in Chicago) at UIC, I was exposed to the great park system legacy of Chicago. We had many studios in the parks here. What actually led me to become a landscape architect was the Vietnam War Memorial Competition. I needed an art credit in architecture school, so rather than taking color theory or painting, and after seeing the poster, I approached the dean. He told me I could do it; ‘but you have to do it without an architect.’ So I teamed up with Charles Wilson, a wonderful sculptor at UIC, and I looked at that park through the eyes of a sculptor as opposed to an architect. The site in constitution gardens was a rolling site — very difficult because the competition site was half of an amoeba shape. That’s why Maya Lin’s project is so amazing. It’s because she was able to tie (her design) into the context.

 

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Shanghai Nature Museum and Plaza Competition – Winning entry [2007] (Rendering by Perkins + Will)

 

PS: I worked on it as an independent studio, made a couple of models and really elaborate drawings, and it led me to really pursue landscape more closely. Then I started reading more about Dan Kiley and his work here in Chicago at the Art Institute. I did win a merit award for my Vietnam Memorial design: there were over 1,400 entries, and they selected 46 merit award winners which I assume might have been the last day of judging and were on exhibit at the Octagon Building in Washington. As a senior in undergraduate school, that gave me an incredible amount of confidence.
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Vietnam Memorial Competition, Washington, DC – Meritorious Selection

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Interview: Jacques Ferrier (Fall 2009) with Olha Romaniuk

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Cite de la Voile Eric Tabarly, Lorient, France, 2007 – Winning competition entry [2001] (Photo: Luc Boegly)

COMPETITIONS: What inspired you to start your career in architecture?

Jacques Ferrier: First and foremost, I was fascinated with the way buildings were built, with their structure. Before I was trained as an architect, I was trained as an engineer – in science and mathematics – and then I pursued architecture. When I began my architectural studies in architecture, I realized the specificity of it, as compared to art or engineering. In a way architecture is less complex because there might be less calculation involved, but more complex because you work directly with people, with site contexts, etcetera.

COMPETITIONS: And what inspired you to start your own firm?

JF: I started a firm with a friend of mine who went to school with me. We started in 1990, as sort of a first run. I opened my own office in 1993, sixteen years ago now. We were lucky because it was the end of the golden age of public competitions in France and it was possible, even if you were a young architect, to be invited to participate in these competitions. When I started my practice, I managed to get invited to one such competition for a university laboratory building. With this building, I received a national prize, which was typically awarded for an architect’s first work. A few weeks after that, I won another competition for an industrial facility for the city of Paris – a water treatment plant. It was interesting because the brief for the building was very typical, but the lasting impact was on the site as a whole.

COMPETITIONS: Who were your mentors when you were receiving your education and who were your major influences along the way?

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Interview: Allison Williams (Summer 2009)

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August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Pittsburgh, PA (Competition 2003, competion 2009)
COMPETITIONS: When did you first decide you wanted to become an architect? Was it a sudden revelation?
ALLISON WILLIAMS: My undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley is in the practice of art. It would be wrong to say that I wanted to be an architect from the beginning; but frustration with the practice of art not really feeling that it was going to be a career-based thing for me. At the time, in the late 60s and early 70s, I was surrounded by some really promising artists. For me there was also the [question] of what the art was going to be used for — how do you know exactly whether something is working or not, whether it’s interesting or not, whether it has a sort of bigger platform of use or service? I grew up in a home which was very visually based. My father was not an architect by the strict terms of the AIA; but he was an engineer-urban designer type—he built our house in Cleveland. So architecture was part of my life from the beginning. My mother, who was a journalist, was very artistic. So it came together, but rather as a graduate degree at Berkeley.
COMPETITIONS: I guess Yung-Ho Chang (previous Chair at MIT) wasn’t at Berkeley when you were there. But he was so good at rendering, that everyone sort of waited to see what he was doing before they got started.

 

AW: When I started there, I was the only one in my class of thirty who knew how to draw or knew how to express things. We had all kinds of backgrounds in the masters program at Berkeley, psychologists, structural engineers—you name it in terms of their background. They were very unfamiliar with the tools of architectural or life drawing.

 

COMPETITIONS: Was there a particular person or persons along the way who helped shape your ideas on architecture?

 

AW: Beyond my father, there were some inspirational people. People who really taught me the most are those who think of architecture as series of problems you need to solve. Gerry McCue, who later became the dean at Harvard was one. If I was going to identify the most inspirational architect, it would be Le Corbusier. I don’t know if it’s just a generational thing, or just total admiration. It probably has more to do with more time in Paris and France than any place other than places I have lived. I have probably visited almost every work by Corbusier.
During my time at Skidmore, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Marc Goldstein, who was an incredible mentor. I benefitted in my experience and success at the office because of working with him. When he became ill, he looked to me to just take it and run.

 

COMPETITIONS: What was the first competition you ever entered? And the most memorable?

 

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Interview: Blostein/Overly Architects (Summer 2010)

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COMPETITIONS: What led both of you to architecture? Was it something that occurred early on, or was it more of an evolutionary process?

 

BETH BLOSTEIN: Our answers will be very different. My interest was pretty sudden. I randomly decided to take an architecture class at Ohio State, and once I got into it, it seemed to be such a natural fit—for a way of thinking and making things. Even though it wasn’t something I had considered before, it seemed pretty natural.

 

Beth Blostein and Bart Overly

 

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Franklinton Arts District, Live/Make Artist’s Housing, Columbus, OH
COMPETITIONS: In these times it’s pretty unusual to be able to come in as a general studies student and take a studio course in architecture.
BETH BLOSTEIN: In those days, you took a studio course and then applied. I applied for the program after I had taken an introductory class, not really sure if I would get in. After I did get accepted to the program, it did turn out to seem like a natural fit/
BART OVERLY: I can very distinctly remember when I was in third grade, we got a Crate and Barrel catalogue at the house. Everything was crisp and clean and white and black and red. I just loved the stuff. I grew up in a house with two parents with very traditional tastes, and I asked my mom, ‘Who buys this stuff?’ And she said, ‘I think architects probably buy this stuff.’ I was always very interested in the arts as a young kid, and I liked how the profession merged with so many other disciplines to effect cultural change and all those kinds of issues. That’s why I think architects are still needed in our culture today.
COMPETITIONS: You both were students at about the same time at Ohio State. Was it clear early on that a professional partnership was a possibility in the future?

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