Well, it's a modern art museum, so I guess modern architecture is appropriate.  Please no Borg cube though.

 

EDIT:  Apparently it's to be a hexagon shape... can't wait to see Uptown renderings that include this.

Can't wait to see any renderings that include this.

I hope this is another piece to turning University Circle into a great neighborhood.  Can you imagine just how amazing University would become with some more housing and commercial.  It would the neighborhood with the most cultural amenities in the state and one of the best in the whole country!!

I am also really excitied about the musuem's ability to be a think tank for the city in innovation and recreating our industry.

Not to mention being a perfect complement to the more conservative collections of the CMA.

for the record, litt's line is that the CMA as a whole is conservative, in keeping with his self-appointed role as arbiter of taste or whatever. his recent article about major exhibitions at the CMA reveals his bias if you missed it. your paraphrasing of this, as conservative collections, is simply inaccurate. the collection of the CMA is encyclopedic, covering the entire history of art. perhaps the word you are looking for is traditional or perhaps canonical. an institution does not amass a collection such as the CMA's by collecting conservatively, whatever the period, style, or medium.

 

 

great news! almost there -- let's hope they can keep up the moca-mentum and get enough donations to see it through.

Can't wait to see any renderings that include this.

 

We already have.  Maybe in the Uptown thread?

Those renderings showed a footprint, with some indication of what the upper story's outlines would be like.  We haven't really seen a full rendering yet, or even a massing.

jsz65 had posted the rendering upthread in August (#71) but quickly took them down, so only a few got to see.

^exactly, I recall them but was actually not impressed with what little could be made out. It looked rather boxy as I recall with a saw-tooth-esque facade... if that makes sense.

Now I remember.  They did get taken down.  I definitely remember the cube/gem/hexagon/whatever on the corner of Mayfield and Euclid. 

I definitely remember the cube/gem/hexagon/whatever on the corner of Mayfield and Euclid.

 

yeeeaaaaah thats what it looked like. i have the image but reading this I will hold it until they want it released. Plus by the sound of the article they may have changed it already.. can't wait for this one! the area is really becoming incredible. IMHO (and way off topic) is that the entire area needs to be more pedestrian friendly.. hmm...

 

anyways.. great write up by litt!

make sure you scav, i mean sav...the image  :laugh:  so when they put up a newer one we can compare them!

Sorry Scav.  I don't know how else to describe it.  Not that I didn't like it.  I'll look forward to the official release.

Sorry Scav. I don't know how else to describe it. Not that I didn't like it. I'll look forward to the official release.

 

hehe there is nothing to apologize for.. the long drawn out "yea" was meant to be like.. "oops there is secrecy behind this image we werent supposed to see" lol your description was good I would certainly call it a gem ;)

 

i agree anyways, lets wait for this public rendering because they have probably made some sweet changes!

Lets just hope the fact the firm is breaking up doesn't throw a wrench into the design process.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the form of the building hasn't changed much from those renderings that leaked, but that the skin of it is quite different. Previously, I'd best describe it as a piece of gold bling. I could be totally wrong about that though.

 

My understanding of the FOA split is that Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo are splitting their office and projects, effectively in half with each of the projects that each was running in the office going with them. The architecture rumor mill is that they were operating independently of each other in recent years anyway. As far as I know MOCA has always been Moussavi's project, with Zaera-Polo not really involved in the design.

 

For those that don't know, the FOA office is splitting because they were married and are getting divorced. 

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2010/04/moca_cleveland_asks_architect.html

 

MOCA Cleveland asks architect Farshid Moussavi to provide final designs for new building at Uptown

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

April 20, 2010, 4:22PM

 

The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, which has occupied rented space since it was founded in 1968, is one step closer to construction of a new building in the budding Uptown development at University Circle.

 

On Monday, the MOCA board voted unanimously to ask architects from the Cleveland firm of Westlake Reed Leskosky to produce final construction drawings for a detailed concept created by Farshid Moussavi of Foreign Office Architects in London, England. The move toward construction documents is a key step toward a possible groundbreaking in November.

 

The board is scheduled to vote again June 15 on the official go ahead, which could lead to the public release of the Moussavi design soon after the vote, a groundbreaking and an opening by mid-2012.

 

....

Oh man, this sounds like progress.  I cannot wait to see that part of Euclid under construction for this, the Uptown apartments and CIA.  Will be a totally different place.

^The intersection of Euclid/Mayfield/Ford will be so much more urban and interesting in a few years!

yes this is just excellent news! and with the train connection very close by. The possibility of urban developments near a metro train station makes me elated for the future of this city. From what I have experienced, it will become practically necessary as cities move forward. Can't wait to get back to the CLE when im out of school.

based on other foa cultural stuff, some kind of interesting boxy-like something sounds about right. cant wait to see the renders.

 

i wish foa would have gotten the new wtc job, i liked their designs best.

Does anybody know if the MOCA Board met June 15 to offically approve going forward with the new building? (Tentative approval had been given to the architect to start construction drawings)  I was just re reading a PD article from April and it indicates that the Board was to vote on that date, and the article suggested that if the "official" go ahead was given, renderings could follow shortly.

I've been wondering about the board's scheduled June 15th vote as well. It doesn't appear that they've made any mention of their decision to any media yet, but on GreenCityBlueLake's website, dated June 16th, 2010; they've posted  job openings of which one is Director of Development. I have no qualifications for the job, so I barely read the requirements. The thing that caught my eye was a "planned 2012 opening" of the new building. While this is certainly not definative in answering whether or not the board issued it's final approval, it looks to be a sign of a little forward momentum. Here's hoping final renderings come out VERY soon...

http://www.gcbl.org/action-areas/jobs

 

i went back and immediately read the job opening and noticed the posting says specifically that the Director of Development is NOT raising money for the capital campaign...so, yea. haha. guess its interesting, nonetheless.

A friend sent me this recently, guess its the latest image of the proposed building

I'm a little scared of that design. 

 

Maybe, I was hoping for something more glass and inviting....almost like a RRHOF looking building.

 

If it's somewhat transparent, then maybe this won't be so bad.

Someone was inspired when they dropped a piece of obsidian on the floor?

Anyone up for some dreidel?

I'm going to assume (and hope) that is just a massing model.

I remember someone who works for WRL mentioned something awhile back that the design was going to have a triangle aspect to it, since it is going to be on "the triangle".

"I smite thee with my broadsword for....(rolls model of new MOCA building)...a damage of seven hit points!"

Can't really tell much from the rendering.

 

Would love to see some simulated nighttime views from pedestrian perspective and some description of the facade materials.

Black glass and steel is how it has been described.  We had a very similar image posted about a year or so ago before the forumer who posted it removed the image.

A friend sent me this recently, guess its the latest image of the proposed building

 

Needs a pyramidal roof of the same material.  Flat roof=no good.

Remember that one 70's Doctor Who episode where everybody was trying to find the Dodecahedron?  Found it!  On second thought X is right, it looks more like the d8 traditionally used for sword damage.

 

Actually I think this design is just weird enough to work.  A modern art museum doesn't call for a classical design, and it shouldn't look like everything else in town that claims modernity.  This is at least unique.  It's got no corrugated aluminum, no plastic sheeting, no undersized windows, no exposed cinderblock, no chicken-wire railings... none of the awful design elements that have plagued new construction around here for the last decade.  I like it. 

I don't dislike it.

If this is it, I actually love it. Remember this is the museum of contemporary art. I would not be unhappy if this is close to the final design. Build it.

It's different, challenging, thought provoking, new, not ordinary, or practical or even the absolute design but people will of course go on the attack.

from what i have been able to deduce, it also has maybe 6 inch wide "stripes" where the glass becomes a bit less opaque and more just shaded. seems like an interesting design to me, and Farshid Moussavi definitely knows how to build. she is probably one of the best choices made in this city towards architecture, becuase she is not that level of fame where anything goes, but famous enough to be an internationally well-known designer of good architecture. I may or may not be sitting at a desk working for Coop-Himmelb[l]au and if I have talked to anyone here about Farshid they probably said her work was very good and that she was the real talent behind FOA. And as a side note, I bet this thing is stunningly gorgeous at night, as StrapHanger mentioned.

 

I am very much looking forward to this new "gem" for our city.

even as a massing, it is intriguing. I like the space in the rear of the building.

It doesn't go far enough.  Take two cubes, superimposed on each other.  Rotate one 90 degrees (any direction) Rotate again 90 degrees about an orthogonal axis.  There. Kind of like a Star of David rotated through 360 degrees.  I am sure there is an name for this polygon but it has been two many years since I took anyalytic geometry. 

It doesn't go far enough. Take two cubes, superimposed on each other. Rotate one 90 degrees (any direction) Rotate again 90 degrees about an orthogonal axis. There. Kind of like a Star of David rotated through 360 degrees. I am sure there is an name for this polygon but it has been two many years since I took anyalytic geometry.

 

Do you mean 45 degrees?  Rotating a cube 90 degrees along any axis running from the center of the cube through the center of a surface of the cube doesn't change its appearance if all sides have the same surface.

Keep an eye on the City Planning Commission Design Review agenda.

 

From the Uptown thread link:

 

"The MOCA project, for which the design could be unveiled July 15 at a meeting of the Cleveland Design Review Committee, will occupy the strategically important corner at the western end of the triangle formed by Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road in University Circle."

More good news on the MOCA front:

 

Gund Foundation gives $2.5 million in cash and loans to Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland building project

Published: Thursday, July 08, 2010, 11:05 AM    Updated: Thursday, July 08, 2010, 11:21 AM

Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

 

The George Gund Foundation has pushed the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland closer to its dream of building a new home in University Circle with a $500,000 grant and a $2 million loan.

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2010/07/gund_foundation_gives_25_milli.html

In a related article,

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2010/07/james_corner_and_field_operati.html#incart_mce

 

 

^ awesome news, they did the highline landscaping.

 

and moca is certainly looking sharp -- cant wait to see more detailed renders!

MOCA Cleveland board votes to unveil Farshid Moussavi design for new building Thursday

Published: Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 5:36 PM   

Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland took decisive steps Tuesday toward realizing its long-held dream of building an architecturally dramatic new home in University Circle.

 

Twenty members of the museum's board voted unanimously to break ground in December, pending completion of a campaign to raise $26.5 million for construction by the end of October.

 

The board also voted to unveil its closely held architectural plans Thursday morning at a meeting of the Euclid Corridor Design Review Committee.

 

"It's a pivotal moment for us," said MOCA Director Jill Snyder. "All cities need and deserve a contemporary art museum. I think especially for Cleveland, we become a beacon and a symbol of creativity and innovation, and even risk."

 

The building's design architect, Farshid Moussavi of Foreign Office Architects in London, is scheduled to speak Thursday at the design review meeting, which begins at 8 a.m. at East Mt. Zion Church, 9990 Euclid Ave., and is open to the public. She's also to speak Friday at the meeting of the city's Planning Commission.

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2010/07/moca_cleveland_board_votes_to.html