Thom Mayne and Morphosis' building on the campus of Caltech. This being Pasadena Mayne didn't give them Big Signage, as he did some years back at the University of Toronto:
Here the architecture speaks for itself. When you approach, just a little sign reads
Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. I like the use of color, rather than Mayne's usual grey, and his aggressiveness is easier to take at this smaller scale. He nicely brings natural light into the auditorium,
There you see Mayne's grey on the ceiling, along with the metal and mesh he likes to use. The exterior doesn't come in much to the interior, the offices are mainly straightforward and rectangular. But how about those hallways,
Some of the hallways offer two perspectives,
fitting for scientists looking for answers.
The team at Morphosis are rightly proud of the four story central stairwell.
Mayne has said this stairwell is like a telescope you can occupy; and it should make us think about how we look out at the world, as astronomers and astrophysicists do. It's also supposed to encourage encounters with colleagues. Go inside now, and up the stairwell - (click on the arrow to ascend). Don't miss the cosmic "wallpaper."
fitting for scientists looking for answers.
The team at Morphosis are rightly proud of the four story central stairwell.
Mayne has said this stairwell is like a telescope you can occupy; and it should make us think about how we look out at the world, as astronomers and astrophysicists do. It's also supposed to encourage encounters with colleagues. Go inside now, and up the stairwell - (click on the arrow to ascend). Don't miss the cosmic "wallpaper."
I think it works. The craziness in the stairwells does not seem gratuitous. He seems to be saying: there are many ways to solve a problem, try them all. Take a risk. Put unlike together and see what happens. Maybe it will "lead" somewhere. It's a sculptural tour de force; so good it makes you want to say, "Take that, Daniel Libeskind!" I like that natural light is seen entering from the top of the stairwell; this makes us want to ascend to it, to feel a part of it and to discern its nature. Such a stairwell reinforces the seeker in each of us.
Other Hello Beautiful! posts on Thom Mayne / Morphosis' Cahill Center here; and Mayne gets sensuous at Cooper Union in New York here.
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Other Hello Beautiful! posts on Thom Mayne / Morphosis' Cahill Center here; and Mayne gets sensuous at Cooper Union in New York here.
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2 comments:
Thom Mayne's work is getting better and better. This building's "cosmic wallpaper" especially makes sense given that one of his favorite books is Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics. A book review of Cosmicomics states: "Metaphysical conceits are a thing of the past. Now with moon shots and interstellar probes, a writer really in tune with his age has to think of scientific conceits, or better yet, treat mathematical formulate, or theories and equations from physics, as if they were 'characters' gamboling about the universe." It makes you wonder what would Mayne dream up for NASA or an airport, for that matter.
Thanks for this addition. We know what Mayne did for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) although that was designed a while ago - it opened in 2006 - and who knows what people will want and what architects will wish to express when we come out of the current economic downturn.
I look forward to Thom Mayne's social housing in Spain and his Phare Tower at La Defense / Paris which should flow gently up and down.
You say you're wondering what Mayne would dream up for an airport - when you come up with something, tell me if you think you'd want to see it! I would, especially if it's something like this.
-E
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