The COURTYARD-C-PAVILION 2007
MASSMoCA, Museum of Contemporary Arts, North Adams, Massachusetts USA
In MASSMoCA’s Courtyard C there is a huge piece of concrete, a part of an old wall and a steel frame;
remains of the old industrial architecture that used to belong to the factory which was housed in it.
It was there to support a necessary extension.
Because of the new function of the building as a museum of contemporary arts another light fell on the use of this terrain; as “opening-pavilion”, for the drinks and bites, as a “small stage” for musicians, and as a platform for the screenings on one of the walls of the museum during the summer season. The spot needed a revisit, at the same time there was nostalgia for the remains of this industrial epoch.
The first thing I did was adding a wooden floor to cover the old concrete.
As protection against sun and rain new coverings, which can be put tight with an expansion-system, were developed. Small adjustments that are hardly noticed were made, like for instance the extra opening towards the tank at the back of the wall, now painted in a bright ( Dutch ) orange coating. In a second phase the “upper course” will be restored and connected with the lower level. There is a wooden “sitting-pit” positioned, hanging in the steel frame, within it the woodstove and woodstorage-wall, all to encourage a longer dwelling until late in the season.
• Photography: © Kevin Kennefick • Production: MASSMoCA and Dré Wapenaar • Membrane Engineer : Tentech, Utrecht • Membrane: Sperry Sails, Marion MA, USA • Structural Engineer: Jim Balmer, Boston • Computer Drawings: Studio Dré Wapenaar
This project has been made possible with the nancial support of:
• The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture (Fonds BKVB), Amsterdam • The Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• SICA, Service Centre for International Cultural Activities (SICA) in Amsterdam
• NL: A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires.
The dutch consulate in New York, Jeanne Wikler, Robert Kloos.