The Orange County Museum of Art, formerly the Newport Harbor Art Museum, presented an intriguing series of opportunities. The core of the program is devoted to a wide-ranging inquiry into contemporary art. Large-scale installations and multi-media work are integral to the Museums focus. The museum is especially noted for organizing important exhibitions of contemporary art that are locally relevant and internationally significant. Most of this had previously been carried out in a large undefined space that provided great flexibility but at a high cost of effort and entirely without any aesthetic character. The solution involved moving all non-exhibiting functions out of the Main Building into an adjacent and vacant Public Library Building, and creating within the volume of the Main Building a sequence of spaces that could handle large-scale and multi-media work, coherent permanent collection presentations in a variety of scales and styles, and the most technically challenging installations requiring the equivalent of "black box" theater. A new glass wrapped addition extended and enlarged the lobby and provided a much needed special-events space, which is also a garden room connecting both visually and physically to the Museum’s under-appreciated but important sculpture garden.
CLIENT
Orange County Museum of Art
formerly Newport Harbor Art Museum
LOCATION
Newport Harbor, CA
YEARS
1995-1997
DESIGN ARCHITECT
Archimuse
Benjamin Kracauer, AIA
Charles B. Froom
Executive ARCHITECT
McLarand, Vasquez & Partners, Inc
Steven M. La Bruna, AIA
William R. Koster
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jeff Goldberg
The Orange County Museum of Art, formerly the Newport Harbor Art Museum, presented an intriguing series of opportunities. The core of the program is devoted to a wide-ranging inquiry into contemporary art. Large-scale installations and multi-media work are integral to the Museums focus. The museum is especially noted for organizing important exhibitions of contemporary art that are locally relevant and internationally significant. Most of this had previously been carried out in a large undefined space that provided great flexibility but at a high cost of effort and entirely without any aesthetic character. The solution involved moving all non-exhibiting functions out of the Main Building into an adjacent and vacant Public Library Building, and creating within the volume of the Main Building a sequence of spaces that could handle large-scale and multi-media work, coherent permanent collection presentations in a variety of scales and styles, and the most technically challenging installations requiring the equivalent of "black box" theater. A new glass wrapped addition extended and enlarged the lobby and provided a much needed special-events space, which is also a garden room connecting both visually and physically to the Museum’s under-appreciated but important sculpture garden.
CLIENT
Orange County Museum of Art
formerly Newport Harbor Art Museum
LOCATION
Newport Harbor, CA
YEARS
1995-1997
DESIGN ARCHITECT
Archimuse
Benjamin Kracauer, AIA
Charles B. Froom
Executive ARCHITECT
McLarand, Vasquez & Partners, Inc
Steven M. La Bruna, AIA
William R. Koster
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jeff Goldberg