----------------------------Original message---------------------------- What about architectural models? Any good charrette should have them. We'd love to see those too! Wendy Botting Assistant Curator, Visual Resources College of Architecture, Art & Planning Cornell University [log in to unmask] At 06:31 PM 5/12/97 EDT, you wrote: >----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >Are you making slides of those drawings available? I know >several slide libraries would love to have them. >Maryly Snow >UC Berkeley >Architecture Slide Library >[log in to unmask] >> >> ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >> On April 10, 1997 The Museum of Modern Art announced that Jacques Herzog & >> Pierre de Meuron, Yoshio Taniguchi, and Bernard Tschumi would participate >> in the next phase of the process to determine an architect for the Museum's >> expansion and renovation project. These architects were chosen from a >> field of ten (which included Dominique Perrault) who were invited to take >> part in a charrette, or problem-solving design exercise, to present design >> concepts for the Museum. >> >> The three finalists are currently engaged in the competition leading to >> preliminary architectural designs for the new Museum. The charrette >> submissions by all ten architects are currently on display at the Museum. >> >> Eumie Imm Stroukoff >> Associate Librarian, Reference >> The Museum of Modern Art Library >> >> >> >> ---------- >> From: Eric Fenster[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] >> Sent: Sunday, May 04, 1997 2:14 PM >> To: Multiple recipients of list ARLIS-L >> Subject: Botched French National Library >> >> ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- >> So, French architect Dominique Perrault is in the running to do >> MOMA's extension. Good luck to the administrators and future users >> of this prestigious establishment if the result turns out to >> resemble that of the French National Library (BNF) in Paris! >> >> Should that happen, employees and visitors would be well advised to >> show up wearing masks, helmets, thermal underwear and, in winter, >> cleated soles. Hip boots will be useful when it is necessary to >> rescue collections from floods like the one the BNF had last >> January, during which the detection systems failed to function. >> >> It is well known that the naming of the BNF's architect was a >> political choice and that Mr. Perrault was picked by the French >> President's chief of staff, but does MOMA face the same constraints? >> Despite the warnings of many professionals, the BNF's architect finished (fin >> inter t >> he staircase becomes as slippery as an ice skating rink and can only be climbe >> (After the library's president fell on one, the speed was slowed to >> a crawl.) >> >> The heating and cooling system has to be entirely redone. In order >> to satisfy his "esthetic" preferences, the architect chose to >> install pipes of inadequate caliber. Employees have to bring >> individual heaters not only in winter but in the summer when the >> outside temperature may be 28C (82F). Everywhere, the air is >> glacial. The public entrances are open to the outside, allowing an >> invasion of cold and snow. The method of creating vestibules is >> being discussed, and it appears necessary to go around just about >> everywhere constructing supplementary structures to correct Mr. >> Perrault's errors of youth. >> >> Mr. Perrault didn't foresee the air currents his towers would >> generate and which make it difficult for the three hapless elevators >> at the foot of each tower to close their doors. Not only that, the >> lifts' machinery on the roof will not function in hot weather. Three >> elevators would already be few for an 18-storey building, but they >> also cover five underground levels. Long waits provoke staff to take >> the staircases, but since those were expected to be employed mainly >> in emergencies, cheap plastic door handles were installed and many >> have now broken off from use. >> >> Each month there is a test of the emergency electrical generators. >> These run on diesel fuel, but since the ventilation system is >> defective the fumes arrive in the offices and the staff has to be >> evacuated. Mr. Perrault claims to be seeking a solution! His first >> suggestion was to conduct the tests when the wind was blowing the >> other way. >> >> Another "flaw," and perhaps not the least was Mr. Perrault's failure >> to make provision for BOOKS, a small matter of course for the >> architect of a library. The thousands of books that arrive each day >> and their temporary storage in the offices of the staff who >> processes them encountered a total void in Perrault's functional >> notions. >> >> Perrault's attack on books was multi pronged. His choice of linoleum >> to cover the kilometers of corridors where heavy carts would pass to >> transport the millions of books arriving from the old library almost >> defeated that process. The linoleum was quickly turned into ruts >> over which the carts would not move and it has to be removed. Should >> books actually make it to the shelves, Perrault had a fail-safe >> mechanism. The glass towers as originally designed would be >> beautifully transparent. The party was spoiled by enough pressure by >> those concerned by what the sun would do to the books that a wall of >> wood was finally placed inside the glass perimeter. >> >> Poor Mr. Perrault. His other attempt at openness was to plant a >> fully grown forest at which users of the research reading rooms >> could gaze but upon which no human could set foot. Unhappily, >> account had not been taken of the comings and goings of people in >> the corridor between the desks and the picture window. A wooden >> barrier had to be thrown up to block the view. >> >> Dominique Perrault is certainly an ace when it comes to making >> models, but for MOMA it would be prudent not to rely too much on the >> advice of the clique. The financial abyss that the French taxpayer >> has accepted with resignation might not be to the taste of the >> Museum's administrators. >> >