BIG has unveiled new plans for the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah. Departing from his original competition winning design, a twisted 76-foot tall log cabin whose height caused its demise due to public disapproval, the new scheme will now top out at a more modest 46-feet as two slanted concrete walls lift towards the sky and expose the center’s interior to the historic Old Main Street.
"The building seems to rise with Main Street and the mountain landscape, while bowing down to match the scale of the existing Kimball," described Bjarke Ingels in a statement.
The Kimball Art Center design proposal by Will Bruder+PARTNERS focuses on the nature of “exhibition” in the context of history. Taking a cue from the “colorful prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs” of Utah’s canyons along with its abundance of formally expressive Victorian architecture, the proposal takes on the role of expression and education through color and craft. This sensitivity to the history and propogation of exhibition is instantly understood with the facade walls of Main and Heber Streets.
The Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah is hosting a competition for a transformation of the “non-profit center for the arts in the heart of Park City’s historic and vibrant art community”. The list of architects competing to transform this cultural space is selective. Among them is Sparano + Mooney Architecture, an internationally recognized firm with offices in Park City, Utah and Los Angeles, California. The competition submissions for Stage II will be presented on February 2nd, but until then here is a preview of Sporano + Mooney’s Proposal!