Global Contemporary Art Museum North Adams, Massachusetts Building, Architecture, Architect
Global Contemporary Art Museum, North Adams
GCAM Building, MA: Contemporary Art Storage Facility design by Gluckman Tang Architects, USA
Apr 10, 2017
Global Contemporary Art Museum in North Adams, Massachusetts
Location: North Adams, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Exhibition and Art Storage Facility for Contemporary Art
Global Contemporary Art Museum, North Adams, Massachusetts
Design: Gluckman Tang Architects
This 165,000-square-foot exhibition and art storage facility for contemporary art adapts the economical and flexible building system of industrial sheds and the scale, massing, and form of early industrial mill buildings, such as those seen at the nearby Mass MoCA.
Its goal is to be the “least expensive museum in the world” with a budget of less than $200/sf, or one tenth of the cost of typical “world-class” contemporary museum construction today.
To this end, a repeating, prefabricated steel structure and envelope create series of long, linear bays, providing the large-scale, flexible space required for changing exhibitions of contemporary art. The steel structure rests on a slab-on-grade foundation, typical of big-box stores.
Each bay includes a north-facing translucent skylight-monitor to provide daylight and reduce lighting energy consumption, a major operational expense for museums. The insulated panel building roof is left exposed from the interior, and mechanical distribution is routed through open-web truss roof structure, concealed by translucent scrims.
The building is punctuated by a 140’ x140’ column-free gallery and a series of courtyards. These elements enable orientation, circulation and provide moments of relief within the larger, repetitive structure of the building. The project is divided into two structures, a 35,000-square-foot art storage wing that reaches to the road, and the main 130,000-square-foot exhibition facility.
Located at the intersection of the Appalachian Trail and Massachusetts State Route 2, the building is part of an active municipal airport complex. The client demanded that the building’s footprint extend to be as large as possible, while avoiding site setbacks, wetlands, and right-of-ways. The building is split into two volumes to allow a proposed North Adams-Williamstown Bike path to pass through the site.
Global Contemporary Art Museum, North Adams – Building Information
GLOBAL CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM (GCAM), North Adams, Massachusetts | 2015
Architects: Gluckman Tang Architects
Client: Global Cultural Asset Management
Location: Global Contemporary Art Museum, North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Boston Architecture
Contemporary Architecture in Massachusetts
Boston Architecture Design – chronological list
Massachusetts Architecture
photo : © Anton Grassl / Esto
Boston Architecture Walking Tours
photo courtesy of Andy Ryan
American Architecture Walking Tours : city walks by e-architect
Massachusetts Architecture Designs – architectural selection below:
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Massachusetts College of Art and Design Design and Media Center
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Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex, Boston
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image by architects
Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts
Design: Richard Olcott / Ennead Architects
image courtesy of architects
Powerhouse Student Event Space, Amherst College
Design: Bruner/Cott Architects and Planners
image courtesy of architects
General Electric HQ Building in Boston
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image courtesy General Electric / Gensler
CChange – One Main Office Interior in Boston
Design: Mark Goulthorpe, Raphael Crespin
photo : dECOi architects & Anton Grasslo
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Website: North Adams, Massachusetts
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Website: Peabody Essex Museum
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Website: MASS MoCA | Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
