David Chipperfield speaks at the Menil [Photo by Raj Mankad]
- Oct. 2, 2009
- 12:09 PM
Chipperfield Speaks at the Menil
During his presentation to a packed audience at the Menil yesterday, David Chipperfield referred to the Richmont Square apartments as “the great big thing,” “this thing getting in our way,” and a “nonconforming” space. Charged with developing a master plan for an expansion of the facilities for the Menil Collection, he quickly identified the redevelopment of that site as the key to expanding while also maintaining the positive qualities of the current campus.
Before the internationally renowned architect spoke, the director of the Menil, Josef Helfenstein, announced the plan had been unanimously approved by the board.
Chipperfield succinctly presented the core aspects of the plan. He began with some aerial views; then diagrams showing the current building, street infrastructure, and circulation; and finally basic plans and renderings of how the campus would be configured.
He called the main building of the collection in which he spoke “Renzo Piano’s best building.” He described how the colonnade mediates its scale, a very important factor given that it is surrounded by bungalows and two-story houses. The extraordinary institutional buildings of international caliber confront “domestic normality.” Showing pictures of the oaks lining Sul Ross and Branard Streets, Chipperfield talked about a “convincing and relaxed landscape.”
What distinguishes the Menil is the sequence from parking across lawns to buildings with oblique orientations. The “inconvenient but charmingly off axis” paths to art allows visitors to decompress. He also spoke about the little forest of trees between houses. Having lived in the neighborhood for eight years and taught children at the Menil through the Writers in the Schools program, I was impressed by Chipperfield’s ability to describe what makes the experience of visiting the collection so distinctive. He distilled and codified its virtues into simple principles: domestic normality, relaxed landscape, oblique orientations, and off axis sequences.
Now for the actual details. The car park along Alabama would be strengthened with the new bookshop, cafe, and auditorium nearby. The key change would be to connect West Main across the site through the area occupied by the northern end of Richmont Square. The complete street grid would surround a new green space that would also be made possible by the clearing of the north side of the apartments. It would connect, slightly off axis, with the current Menil park between the main building and the Rothko. The Drawing Institute and Study Center and Single Artist Studios would be sited around the new green space. And along Richmond itself, the plan calls for dense residential and commercial development.
What the master plan does not change is as notable as what it does. Most of the bungalows are preserved. Chipperfield repeatedly referred to their “precious” and “hidden” domestic character. The current main building and park remain the center of gravity.
Two people from the audience asked whether the plan goes too far in codifying the Menil’s positive qualities, making them overly precious, a parody or Disneyland version of its former character. Chipperfield response was deliberate and calm throughout. He called the plan a balancing act. Whereas an Italian square has an identifiable formalism that can be easily described and replicated, the informal and rather mysterious Menil was harder to expand upon. “We might call it a campus,” he said, “but we don’t want it to feel that way.”
For our previous coverage, see Chipperfield and the Menil Masterplan: An Interview with Josef Helfenstein.
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