Haggerty Museum of Art: Parti Analysis

1983 - 84

01

USA

HAGGERTY MUSEUM OF ART

Wi s co ns i n

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA O ’ N e i l F o r d , P o w e l l & C a r s o n , K a h l e r S l a t e r To r p h y E n g b e r g B le n di n g i nto t he M a rquette campus wi thi n a c loak of local mat erial s, t h e Hag g erty Museum of A rt p ro g rammat ical ly p re se nt s o n e co nt ra d i c t i o n aft e r another. Com pos ed i n a dec ei tf u l vern acul ar w h ich d raws fro m arch it ect ural t h emes of rel ig io n , si t e , an d p ost- m o d e rn co nt radi cti on, thi s des i gn c an s i m ulta n eo usly fun ct io n p o o rly an d p erfect ly as b ot h a p l ace to visit o r wor k .

On ly m a d e p os s i b l e t hrough a c los e r elati ons hi p wi th the un d erlyin g co n cep t : to emb o dy key el ement s an d t h emes seen i n tradi ti o n a l a rc h i t e c t ure of the c atholi c c hur ch whi le not exp ressin g t h em l it eral ly b ut t h ro ug h co nt rad ict io n an d w it .

T h a n ks to t h e a p p l i e d overar c hi ng concept, the bui ldi ng it self ad d s an ot h er l evel of exp erien ce to g uest visit s. Makin g t he m f e e l s o m et hi n g ev e n from ac ros s the ci ty bloc k at the p o int of eye co nt act . In an an alysis of t h e arch it ect ure t h ese emp loye d ele m e nt s b e co m e q u i ckly evi dent. However , i f one doesn’ t ap p ro ach w it h a min d ready to d eco n st ruct , t h e Hag g erty w il l si mply sta n d i n s i l e n c e , p a s s i vely m ani pulati ng ex per i enc e at every scal e.

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SITE + LOCAL CONTEXT

church of gesu

haggerty museum site block

The Haggerty rests within one of the larger blocks on the Marquette University campus within the heart of Milwaukee.

This block is of particular importance due to it being wrapped by the freeway, and Wisconsin ave. allowing for the visual experience of the museum to begin at a great distance.

The block itself is dense with a mix of open air spaces (seen in white) and buildings (black ). The mostly smaller scale of these buildings dictates that some only be accessible by foot, Haggerty being one of them.

In relation to other buildings in the block , the museum is most strongly connected to Church of The Gesu. This relationship, both in materiality and concept is fundamental to principles of the Haggerty. This being one of few truths of the building, is highlighted through a visual connection from the north facing windows of the museum to the high reaching steeples of Gesu.

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lake

church of gesu Within the site itself, the building is directly connected to a sculpture garden in the north which serves as a picturesque frame. This form of composing scenes for a building to be viewed from is closely tied to the Gothic style, speciďŹ cally it was common practice to apply this type of framing to small churches. The southern side of the site remains mostly baron, with the exception of a few trees and an extended service entryway. This contrasting lack of elements works to the buildings advantage as it allows for the museum to be clearly seen from the street adjacent and the freeway beyond that.

MASSING, FORM, PROPORTION

THE PRECEDENT

Haggerty’s basic 3:4 north/south facade

proportioning of the first and second floors

east/west facade

Although the individual pieces of the building can exist on the same ground plane, the realized design must content with the site’s slope. This is dealt with at the main entry, located at on the west facing façade.

interlocking in three dimensions. The lower mass connected is a basement

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loading dock.

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From this southwest view of the building massing, key geometries can be seen

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Robert Venturi’s home design for his mother, the Vanna Venturi House, is purely concept driven postmodern building. In this case, the concept is related to the deconstruction of a home and is expressed at each scale of the design. The Haggerty is also a concept driven building, but instead of the subject being deconstruction, the subject is contradiction.

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In looking at the axis of the museum, it has clearly been aligned to that of the Church of Gesu’s. Both the north and south facades have extended paths which although read as public entry, are in fact service entries only.

assemble a basis for the

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vanna venturi house philadelphia, pennsylvania

Notably on the north façade of the Haggerty is a similar large window, coupled with the extended path leading to a door, this façade reads as that of Gesu’s, an entry. This is not the case however, the door is only for service access.

These components

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entry facade glass

Additionally key to this building is orientation. The southern end of the building encapsulating the alter and the northern end serving as entry, which is very common programmatic practice in churches.

The entry axis is accentuated by the conclusion of 12th st. at the north façade.

H A G G E R T Y

church of gesu

Of the visible precedents, the most closely connected to the Haggerty is Church of The Gesu, a catholic church fundamental to the Marquette campus.

At its monumental façade, the church features two massive towers framing an expansive stained glass window and a series of doors at the ground level.

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SPACE AND LEVELS For the remainder of this analysis, topics will cover only three levels of the museum. These being the entry level, lower gallery space, and second floor which have been specifically chosen due to the overlapping relationship these levels and spaces have to one another and the inhabitants of the Haggerty. The basement level is not a publicly accessible or visible space and, in this regard, does not continue to hold conceptual relevance to the analysis subject.

NATURAL LIGHT At the entry level, visitors are greeted with an open volume extending forward the full width of the museum. This expanse features exhibit space on its walls and small gallery hall. Although this area does include space for artwork , it is not the main event. This is purely a representational gathering space which works in tandem with the building exterior to establish context for the remainder of the visit. The Church of Contradiction.

There are only two locations in the Haggerty

Once the visitor has been guided with art through the gathering

which visually and spatially allow for the entry,

space, they are ready to enter the lower gallery floor. To get there

lower gallery, and second floor levels to

however, the Haggerty employs another element common to

connect. This view is found upon reaching the

church design program, an elevation change before the nave to,

second floor before meeting the gallery space.

among other things, establish spatial hierarchy. The nave (or lower gallery floor) of the Haggerty contradicts the notion of a forward progressing solidified circulation plan. Not only does it twist and turn to cut off views of the alter, the walls themselves can be

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moved or removed entirely.

The second floor continues to reflect church design vernacular in circulation.

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Two staircases bring visitors to opposing ends of the same hallway where they are funneled into the second floor gallery space. Unlike the lower gallery floor, the second floor gallery space follows a linear unchanging plan. This, typically first floor church circulation plan, is directly contradictive to the programmatic purpose of a typical second floor balcony. In the Haggerty, this upper floor extends out over the lower gallery floor directing circulation and attention to what would be an alter on the lower level.

Direct natural light is cut off from nearly all of the Haggerty interior space with an exception of the entry. This glass box vestibule penetrates into the entry gallery, but the natural light it allows in is swiftly contained within the entry walls

In the lower gallery and entry spaces the only other form of natural light within the museum is in the form of veiled sky lighting. These are located at each of the roof peaks and in some cases have been covered over due to an excess of light reaching the gallery floor.

EXPERIENTIAL COHESION

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The circulation of the lower gallery directs visitors to one space in particular, this being the alter within the church program. The view from the lower gallery expands to meet the south facing clerestory window, which has been covered over with a grid of panels to keep an excess of light from disrupting the galleries.

H A G G E R T Y A R T

The theme of contradictory can be found at all scales of the Haggerty, one of the most blatant being the entry path. The north façade is designed with the same elements found in its precedents, the monolithic scale, extended entry path, and massive clerestory window all call attention to a unassuming and highly unimpressive service door. The main entry, found on the buildings west façade is given no real treatment at all aside from the stairs leading up to it. echo zone + alter

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Seen here, the north facing window allows for a direct view of The Church of Gesu’s steeples.

This view is only afforded to museum staff within a private library but still speaks to the building concept, reinforcing the design roots and church vernacular.

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If a visitor were to be walking onto the lower gallery floor while talking simultaneously, they may make note of a sudden reverb of sound. This due to the increase in room volume as the ceiling height more than doubles.

Circulation in the second floor gallery space, in contrast to the first, is much more direct in bringing guests to the alter view. From this level, the scale of the clerestory volume is less expansive, allowing the alter viewing space to be much more inhabitable. This additionally allows for the minimalist details and reveals of the ceiling panels to come into view as they meet visitors with a scale closer resembling the more compressive volumes which people inhabit daily.

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There is no point throughout the museum that

Reveals applied to the partial height walls with stair rails divide the

The inclined ceiling sections, incorporate oak

different materials touch, instead, a reveal is

wood cap, wall surfaces, and floor from one another. On a normal

wood panels, concrete sheathing, and lighting.

applied at the convergence point. Here they can be

floor to ceiling museum wall this detail visually removes mass from

These materials applied to the ceiling section

seen dividing oak wood built-in shelving and

the display area, highlighting the plane on which art can be hung and

contradict the nature of the heavy materials

window sill from the wall plane.

creating a separation from the physical context of the building.

by suspending them overhead.

At their underside, the concrete beams house a

The north end of the site is dedicated to a sculpture garden.

The Haggerty exterior, much like that of the

channel which allows for massive walls to be

Scattered throughout, visitors can chose to sit amongst and on top of

surrounding buildings is clad in brick , a

moved along the column grid or removed entirely.

some of the art, such as this stone table and benches. The sculpture

building material which honors local

Inside the Haggerty, This type of system is only

garden is one of the only signs, on the exterior of the Haggerty,

vernacular while creating contrast between

found in throughout the lower gallery floor.

which suggest the building is an art museum

the exterior and interior experience.

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DETAILS + MATERIALS