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Part 1
Repurposing
Surprise in Repurposed Places
Given the opportunity, most museums will build new when possible; but as cities fill up and industrial cores are taken over by cultural and human-focused uses, museums will increasingly need to repurpose the remnants of previous buildings. The two museums in Part 1 reveal the value in not entirely erasing older uses of existing structures, but instead leaving the bones of what came before to contrast with the newer architecture.
As the Monash University Museum of Art in Australia (Chapter 1) and the Long Museum West Bund in China (Chapter 2) demonstrate, the interplay between the existing and the renovated can shape museum space and enliven the experience of users. The primary question for renovation is how much of the old structure to leave and how any of the old uses and social meanings to allow to show through. From the user perspective, the juxtaposition between the clarity and openness of galleries and the usually more mundane or industrial nature of the previous uses can surprise and delight, providing a relief from the preciousness and preciseness that so often accompanies museum architecture.
At the Monash University Museum of Art, the architect had very little freedom because the galleries are just one floor, and the offices another, in an existing building whose other tenants remained. While the new gallery could not significantly alter the buildingās exterior due to budget constraints, the architect transformed the interior and a parking lot into art spaces and social spaces. The repurposed parking lot has become a sculpture courtyard, creating an outdoor space for arts and education where none previously existed. Inside, the prior usage remains visible in the structural columns dotting the space, which define the boundary between the utility spine and the white galleries. A sculpture commissioned by Monash University Museum of Art marks the outside of the building as one which holds a museum.
At the Long Museum West Bund, the architect was working with two different structures from two past eras: above ground, an existing piece of industrial infrastructureāa coal hopper loader bridgeāmarked the site as a place of heavy industry during the middle of the twentieth century; and below ground, two floors of parking garage still provided a needed function for the burgeoning arts and culture district. The architect kept the lower level of the garage and used the structure of the top floor to generate the pattern of the galleries that replaced it. The coal hopper marks the entrance to the museum, serving as a sculptural centerpiece and a reminder of the past industry of the area.
The museums in Part 1 have both renovated existing space, incorporating the remnants of the previous structures and uses to give the museum a sense of place and to help shape the space inside. Buildings represent the bones of history, ossified social data, and a good renovation will acknowledge that past, pulling it into the present to accentuate the art.
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1
Monash University Museum of Art
The Monash University Museum of Art began as a small collection created by Monash University faculty, housed on the Clayton campus. It has since grown to manage a large collection of contemporary Australian art as well as hosting temporary exhibitions. When the museum wanted to be closer to the city center, the university gave it the first floor of an existing building. At the new location, the university wanted iconic architecture for ceremonial functions while curators wanted white boxes to provide a neutral backdrop for contemporary art. The existing building constrained the design, limiting the shape of the galleries and eliminating the buildingās skin as a place to showcase the architecture.
In the new space, Kerstin Thompson Architects has created galleries that have a classic feel and are easy to display art in while still being architecturally iconic and engaging with the rest of campus. In the end, the design contrasts clean white galleries with a spine of exposed structure. People passing through a new sculpture courtyard can see into the galleries, becoming users of the museum even if they never enter the building. A clear understanding of the projectās constraints and the museumās desires created a framework for robust conversations between the architect and client, resulting in a building that entices passersby and engages the campus.
Figure 1.1 The Monash University Museum of Art from the interiorāthe service spine, gallery space, and window to the Ian Potter Sculpture Courtyard are all visible
In 1961, a group of faculty members at the Clayton campus of Monash University started a small collection of art, called the University Collection. Since then, the collection has grown and evolved to become the Monash University Museum of Art, with a collection of over 1,800 works of Australian contemporary art. In spite of that expansion, museum staff found it difficult to get large numbers of people to openings in the suburban Clayton location. Moreover, Max Delany, former director, wanted to increase the museumās role in the arts and design life of the university. The Fine Arts building is on the Caulfield campus, and Delany thought that locating the museum near the Department of Fine Art would encourage collaboration between that department and the museum. The university could use a new museum space to host its distinguished guests as museum spaces are often iconic and highly prized spaces. The museum and the university each wanted a building with symbolic and practical functionality.
In 2005, the university agreed to move the museum to the Caulfield campus location, closer to the city center, and offered Monash University Museum of Art space on the ground floor of an existing campus glass curtain-wall building, which had originally been used by the Victorian governmentās Public Works Department. The ceiling heights were lower than those of most contemporary galleries, and concrete columns for structural support were scattered throughout. The modernist building curved to follow the contour of Dandenong Road, a major thoroughfare to the north. The upper floors of the five-story building are inhabited by other university programs, including Access Monash, the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor for social inclusion, the Architecture program, and the Public Health and Preventative Medicine program; but the museum space is distinct, having a completely separate entrance.
At the new location, Monash University Museum of Art wanted a space that was responsive to the university, above and beyond responding to the needs of curators and artists. Because of its connections to the university, the museum has always been concerned with engaging students and supporting research in addition to engaging the broader public by inviting them into the university setting to see contemporary art exhibits. Thus, the entry space was important; it needed to be identifiable, accessible, and welcoming to insure that students, faculty, and the public would readily engage with the museum. Most symbolically, Monash University Museum of Art wanted to use the building project to reinvigorate not only the museum but also the campus, bringing the public in and giving the campus more social gathering spaces. Thus, the museum remodel extended into the parking lot to the south of the building to form the Ian Potter Sculpture Courtyard, creating a gathering place for the campus.
The design brief called for the renovation to consist of approximately half gallery space, one-quarter office and foyer space, and one-quarter of the space for storage and other back-of-house functions. Because the Monash University Museum of Art is a collecting institution, it needs galleries to show both collections and temporary exhibitions; and because much of contemporary art is multimedia, it requires spaces where light and sound can be controlled. However, the curators also wanted the possibility of a single narrative for a show, which meant the spaces could not be entirely separate from each other.
In 2006, the museum undertook a limited architectural competition. The selection committee, made up of university faculty and members of the visual arts community, invited a mix of well-established and smaller Australian firms to submit proposals. Even though it was part of the university, the new space was to be funded with a combination of private and university funding; this meant that the selection of the architect was important for fundraising as well as for design.
Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) won the competition. They had responded to the brief with a schematic design that resembled a series of shipping containers set into the space. On the inside, the containers were clean and white, creating traditional white cube galleries. On the outside, the containers were rough and industrial, providing relief from the formality of the white galleries.
Once selected, Thompson worked closely with Monash University Museum of Art staff to refine the design. Each iteration changed the balance of architectural statement and neutral white cube, seeking harmony between curator needs and symbolic needs. In a second iteration, to create more narrative flow, KTA made the g...
