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----------------------------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. >