Just a short time since its public opening celebration, Farshid Moussavi’s Museum of Contemporary Art is already a dynamic hub of activity for the city of Cleveland. A three-day festival in early October welcomed museum members, out-of-town guests and the general public with a series of art installations, music and entertainment, to showcase the city’s newest icon. Moussavi joined in the festivities and was honored for her sleek faceted form at the museum’s three-tiered party. Although we have been following the progress of the project since its conceptual phases, we have yet to see what the mysterious black cube has to offer in terms of interior gallery spaces and public gathering zones… until now! Check out a great series of interior photos plus beautiful exterior photos by photographers Dean Kaufman and Duane Prokop to compliment our set from the summer time.
More after the break.
The photos highlight the strengths of Moussavi’s aesthetic strategy as what appears to be a solid black mass is actually quite transparent and welcoming. As the sky changes throughout the course of the day, the building acts as a natural canvas, allowing the blueish hues and red/yellow shades of the sun’s rays to shimmer of its glass.
“It’s as if the building is performing for you,” says Farshid Moussavi, the museum’s architect. “There are some amazing moments, when the distorted reflections produce a kind of new reality.”
The sectional quality of the building provides a lively lobby condition, with overlapping viewing platforms to focus on not only the art, but also the movement of people, through the dominate space along a grand focal staircase. We love the pop of color along the interior blue wall, and the bold moves made with simple forms and a non-aggressive material palette.
MOCA Executive Director Jill Snyder explained, “We believe MOCA is contributing a great building to Cleveland, one that will stimulate critical thinking and animate social exchange. MOCA is expanding its scope and activities on all fronts, supported by new architecture that allows for flexibility, unconventionality, and technological capacity in the presentation of contemporary art.”
“We want the building to be an experience in itself and to reflect the role of the museum,” Moussavi says. “MOCA Cleveland isn’t a grand museum with a historical collection; it’s all about temporary exhibitions, which change constantly—so does contemporary art, and so should the architecture.”
Congratulations to Ms. Moussavi on her first major US work – we are looking forward to the next!
