Intersection of material and space. LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture
22/01/2021.
[Bedford - NY] USA
metalocus, VALERIA OZUNA
metalocus, VALERIA OZUNA
Located on a private estate in Bedford, New York, LX Pavilion is a site-specific structure named for the Richard Serra sculpture it houses, London Cross (2014). Designed by OLI Architecture, the pavilion is designed to not just be a container but an integral component of the artistic experience, becoming spatially, figuratively, and contractually the “art” itself.
Constructed in a carefully choreographed sequence with the sculpture installation, LX Pavilion is a quiet sanctuary where time and space merge. Wrapped in charred Accoya timber, the facade is intended to naturally patina marking the passage of time, yet unlike many of Serra’s outdoor sculptures that measure time and space through material transformation, London Cross is protected by this intervention.
Constructed in a carefully choreographed sequence with the sculpture installation, LX Pavilion is a quiet sanctuary where time and space merge. Wrapped in charred Accoya timber, the facade is intended to naturally patina marking the passage of time, yet unlike many of Serra’s outdoor sculptures that measure time and space through material transformation, London Cross is protected by this intervention.
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
LX Pavilion by OLI Architecture. Photograph by FRAME Studios
The interior of the pavilion also emphasizes transience and the passing of time. A north-facing sawtooth skylight distributes soft indirect lighting into space which changes throughout the day, offering an ever-changing experience of London Cross.
The project came to OLI Architecture through Serra himself, with who the firm had previously collaborated. The artist worked closely with OLI throughout the design process for LX Pavilion, choosing the site with them and even sharing a copy of a Japanese joinery book from his library.
The project came to OLI Architecture through Serra himself, with who the firm had previously collaborated. The artist worked closely with OLI throughout the design process for LX Pavilion, choosing the site with them and even sharing a copy of a Japanese joinery book from his library.
“The aim was to create a pavilion that would fit timelessly into the landscape. We knew that the key was to complement the art without competing with it, to maximize its intimate and powerful spatial-temporal qualities.”
Hiroshi Okamoto, co-founder, and Principal at OLI.
Description of project by OLI Architecture
On a sloping estate in Bedford, NY, the LX Pavilion stands at the intersection of minimal and cerebral, of material and space: dualities emanating from the Richard Serra sculpture within. Unlike the temporary indoor gallery installation where the London Cross (2014) was first shown, the design team was tasked to create a permanent home for Serra’s sculpture composed of two fifteen-ton weathering-steel plates measuring 40’ long, 7’ tall and 2-1/2” thick. Balanced on its edge, the lower steel plate runs diagonally between two corners of the room, while its counterpart, perched atop with a point load at midpoint and running perpendicular to it, is held in place by the specially constructed hydrated-lime wall partition resisting only the plate’s rail loads.
The lower plate defines a plane that bisects the pavilion into two galleries, bringing an immediate awareness to the presence of the unseen side. Due to the mass and finish of the weathering-steel plates, the design mandated a carefully choreographed sequential dance between professional riggers and contractors to install the plates and the interior partitions during temperate weather to address temperature and RH control prior to commissioning the remotely located MEP system connected underground. Once complete, the pavilion interior spatially, figuratively and contractually became Serra’s “art piece.” On the exterior, a charred Accoya timber rainscreen wraps the façade shrouding the north facing skylights distributing soft indirect lighting into the gallery. In contrast to the preserved dark mill-scale of the steel plates, the façade was designed to naturally patina over time.
The artist, Richard Serra, who spent half a century experimenting with unconventional, industrial materials of rubber, neon and lead before his large-scale installations in steel, considers space to be his “primary material.” In some sense, it was scale and the reduction of his art to the most elemental of materials and form that gave rise to his prominence. His art gives intimate access to the emotional and existential appeal of time, timelessness and body.
In the same ethos, the LX Pavilion was designed not only as a container of Serra’s London Cross (2014) but an integral component of the artistic experience. From the careful siting of the pavilion twenty degrees east of True-North minimizing any untoward shadows through the carefully sculpted sawtooth skylight, to the charred wood rainscreen veiling in anticipating the spatial/temporal tension within, to the specially hydrated-lime walls eliminating construction joints while resisting the movement and rail load of the plates; the pavilion is complex with deceivingly simple results.
Unlike many of Serra’s outdoor sculptures that measure time through slow material transformation, the charred Accoya rainscreen transforms with time while protecting the weathering-steel plates within. Conversely the gallery interior delineates time and space through the precariously balanced latent tension, marking its temporality in anticipation of the piece’s eventual demise, providing the visitor a quiet sanctuary where time and space merge.
More information
Architects
Design team
Partner in Charge.- Hiroshi Okamoto. Project Architect.- Dongshin Lee.
Collaborators
Day Lighting Consultant.- Carpenter Norris Consulting. Skylight engineer.- David Kufferman PE Structural Engineers. Structural Engineering.- LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (Elias Matar, Sami Matar). MEP Engineer.- Dagher Engineering (Elias Dagher, Daniel Nielson). Geo-Technical.- Kellard Sessions Consulting.
Client
Confidential.
Builder
APEX Projects, LLC.
Data set
Size.- Exterior: 36'-7 5/8" x 36'-7 5/8" x 22'(H); Interior: 28'-5 1/8" x 28'-5 1/8" x 17'-6"(H).
Budget
Confidential.
Dates
Design.- 2015-2018. Construction.- 2018-2019.
Location
Bedford, New York, United States.
Photography
Hiroshi Okamoto, Bing Lin. OLI Architecture
Having a combined work experience of over 30 years on signature museum, civic and institutional projects worldwide, the founding members, Hiroshi Okamoto and Bing Lin joined their expertise in collaboration forming OLI Architecture PLLC in 2010.
With a vision towards the future, accompanied by a vast disciplinary understanding of the built environment, and respect of the specific cultural parameters of each project, the firm offers full service architectural design. OLI’s specialty expertise consists of civic and cultural building design, museography, exhibition design, education, healthcare, and custom residential design.
The firm’s approach is to investigate the specific nature of each project to craft a design response to meet the aspirations of the client, stakeholders, and the detailed requirements of the future occupants. OLI transforms these contextual studies using parametric models, and computational analyses, to create the unique tectonics of each project. These are then articulated with local construction practices and standards to create a unique building that merges with the cultural environment of its site.
OLI is a growing design office with broad international experience working in collaboration with various clients and local municipalities, bringing their vision to fruition through award winning, singular architectural environments.
Core services offered include Programming, Planning, Architectural Concept Design through Construction Documentation and Construction Administration.
With a vision towards the future, accompanied by a vast disciplinary understanding of the built environment, and respect of the specific cultural parameters of each project, the firm offers full service architectural design. OLI’s specialty expertise consists of civic and cultural building design, museography, exhibition design, education, healthcare, and custom residential design.
The firm’s approach is to investigate the specific nature of each project to craft a design response to meet the aspirations of the client, stakeholders, and the detailed requirements of the future occupants. OLI transforms these contextual studies using parametric models, and computational analyses, to create the unique tectonics of each project. These are then articulated with local construction practices and standards to create a unique building that merges with the cultural environment of its site.
OLI is a growing design office with broad international experience working in collaboration with various clients and local municipalities, bringing their vision to fruition through award winning, singular architectural environments.
Core services offered include Programming, Planning, Architectural Concept Design through Construction Documentation and Construction Administration.
Richard Serra
Richard Serra. (Born 2 November 1938 in San Francisco - 26 March 2024), Richard Serra lives and works in New York and on the North Fork of Long Island. Serra attended the University of California, Berkeley before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara graduating with a BA in English literature; he then studied painting at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut completing both a BFA and MFA. He began showing with Leo Castelli in 1968, and his first solo exhibition in New York was held at the Leo Castelli Warehouse the following year. His first solo museum exhibition was held at the Pasadena Art Museum, California, in 1970.
Serra’s sculptures and drawings have been celebrated with two retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, twenty years apart: Richard Serra/Sculpture (1986) and Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years (2007). He has had solo exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1977–78); Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany (1978); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany (1978); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (1980, 2014, and 2017); Centre Pompidou, Paris (1983–84); Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany (1985); Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, Denmark (1986); Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster, Germany (1987); Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich (1987); Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (1988); Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Netherlands (1990); Kunsthaus Zürich (1990); CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux, France (1990); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1992); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany (1992); Dia Center for the Arts, New York (1997); Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro (1997–98); Trajan’s Market, Rome (1999–2000); Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis (2003); and Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Naples, Italy (2004).
In 2005 The Matter of Time (1994–2005), a series of eight large-scale works, was installed permanently at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain. For Monumenta 2008, the major site-specific installation Promenade was shown at the Grand Palais, Paris. Three years later the large-scale, site-specific sculpture 7 was permanently installed opposite the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. A major traveling retrospective dedicated to Serra’s drawings was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Menil Collection, Houston (the organizing venue), from 2011 to 2012.
In 2014 the Qatar Museums Authority presented a two-venue retrospective survey of Serra’s work, and East-West/West-East (2014) was permanently installed in the Brouq Nature Reserve, Zekreet, Qatar. In 2017 the Museum Wiesbaden, Germany, presented Richard Serra: Props, Films, Early Works; an overview of Serra’s work in film and video was shown at the Kunstmuseum Basel; and recent drawings were featured at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Serra has participated in numerous major international exhibitions, including Documenta (1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987), and the Biennale di Venezia (1980, 1984, 2001, and 2013), and his work has been included in many Whitney Annuals and Biennials (1968, 1970, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1995, and 2006). He is the recipient of the Leone d’Oro for lifetime achievement, Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2001); Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste, Federal Republic of Germany (2002); Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España, Spain (2008); President’s Medal, Architectural League of New York (2014); Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, Republic of France (2015); and J. Paul Getty Medal (2018).
Serra’s sculptures and drawings have been celebrated with two retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, twenty years apart: Richard Serra/Sculpture (1986) and Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years (2007). He has had solo exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1977–78); Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany (1978); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany (1978); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (1980, 2014, and 2017); Centre Pompidou, Paris (1983–84); Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, Germany (1985); Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk, Denmark (1986); Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster, Germany (1987); Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich (1987); Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (1988); Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Netherlands (1990); Kunsthaus Zürich (1990); CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux, France (1990); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1992); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany (1992); Dia Center for the Arts, New York (1997); Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro (1997–98); Trajan’s Market, Rome (1999–2000); Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis (2003); and Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Naples, Italy (2004).
In 2005 The Matter of Time (1994–2005), a series of eight large-scale works, was installed permanently at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain. For Monumenta 2008, the major site-specific installation Promenade was shown at the Grand Palais, Paris. Three years later the large-scale, site-specific sculpture 7 was permanently installed opposite the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. A major traveling retrospective dedicated to Serra’s drawings was presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Menil Collection, Houston (the organizing venue), from 2011 to 2012.
In 2014 the Qatar Museums Authority presented a two-venue retrospective survey of Serra’s work, and East-West/West-East (2014) was permanently installed in the Brouq Nature Reserve, Zekreet, Qatar. In 2017 the Museum Wiesbaden, Germany, presented Richard Serra: Props, Films, Early Works; an overview of Serra’s work in film and video was shown at the Kunstmuseum Basel; and recent drawings were featured at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Serra has participated in numerous major international exhibitions, including Documenta (1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987), and the Biennale di Venezia (1980, 1984, 2001, and 2013), and his work has been included in many Whitney Annuals and Biennials (1968, 1970, 1973, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1995, and 2006). He is the recipient of the Leone d’Oro for lifetime achievement, Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2001); Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste, Federal Republic of Germany (2002); Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España, Spain (2008); President’s Medal, Architectural League of New York (2014); Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, Republic of France (2015); and J. Paul Getty Medal (2018).
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