Noah's Ark at the Skirball has won a Merit Award at Seattle AIA's Honor Awards
Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, designed by Alan Maskin and Jim Olson, FAIA of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, has received a Merit award for architectural excellence at the AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture. The project team includes Alan Maskin (lead designer); Jim Olson, FAIA (ark designer); Stephen Yamada-Heidner, AIA, LEED AP (project manager); Martha Rogers and Megan Zimmerman (architectural staff).
Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, designed by Alan Maskin and Jim Olson, FAIA of Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects, has received a Merit award for architectural excellence at the AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture. The project team includes Alan Maskin (lead designer); Jim Olson, FAIA (ark designer); Stephen Yamada-Heidner, AIA, LEED AP (project manager); Martha Rogers and Megan Zimmerman (architectural staff).
Noah’s Ark at the Skirball Cultural Center strongly resonated with the honor awards program’s theme: Perform/Transform. Co-Chairs Bill Gaylord, AIA and Mary Johnston, FAIA, called for projects that embody “how our values as architects shape our approach to building: environmental values, social values, cultural and communal values” and provide “the transformative experience of moving through well-designed places.”
Noah’s Ark at the Skirball is designed to values and challenges preconceptions about design for families. Located at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, it is a permanent interactive exhibit that draws on the ancient Noah’s Ark story as well as approximately 500 flood legends from around the world. The exhibit aims to be a place where children and families of all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to play together. It responds to three values the Skirball feels are highly relevant: a belief in diversity; the need for people to work together for survival; and the importance of second chances in life.
In preparation for creating the exhibit, the architects participated in an intensive three-month “Play Practicum.” They studied early childhood education and psychology, and toured major children’s destinations across the country. Challenging preconceptions about what children’s museums “should” be, the project team developed an exhibit design that favored clarity over chaos, utilized a wide spectrum of colors and natural fabrics, and employed a hierarchy of vertical scales. They rejected written text in favor of a completely interactive exhibit that incorporates the leadership of docents of all ages.
The team designed and handcrafted 186 pairs of animals. Many animals are designed from re-purposed and found objects such as bottle caps, bicycle parts, baseball mitts, croquet balls, mop heads and rear-view mirrors. Approximately fifteen pairs of animals are kinetic – puppets brought to life by visitors and staff.
The jury commented: “The creativity and sheer joy of this project make it remarkably convincing. Material inventiveness shapes the fresh but recognizable expression of the animals, creating an environment that can engage children on a variety of levels.”
The owner of Noah’s Ark at the Skirball is the Skirball Cultural Center. The design team worked with artists, puppeteers, folklorists, ropes course designers and engineers including: Lexington Fabricators (Exhibits); Chris Green (Puppeteer); Lynx Challenge Courses (Ropes Course Design); Nabih Youssef and Associates (Structural Engineers); Syska and Hennessy, Inc (Mechanical and Electrical Engineers); Yantis Acoustical Design (Acoustical Engineer); Candela Architectural Lighting Consultants (Lighting Designer); Somelab (Graphic Designer).
More information about the 2008 AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture can be found on-line at the AIA Seattle website at http://2008honorawards.aiaseattle.org/