Museums 2024
Think What’s Possible.
Museums in the 21st Century — Engaging, Educating, and Inspiring People
Within and Beyond the Building
The design of museums and galleries is possibly the strongest expression of architecture’s ability to reflect our society’s values and culture. In our practice we have been fortunate to work with clients who care deeply about their buildings, how they function as important tools in fulfilling their mission, and their value as a legacy to their institution or organization. To serve our clients we make every effort to understand what makes them and their projects unique, and we use this knowledge to provide thoughtful and responsive solutions. We recognize that architecture is a multidisciplinary and collaborative process; the interaction between our clients and our design teams are a significant part of our design process.
The planning, programming, and design of museum and cultural projects have comprised a significant part of our portfolio since our founding. Page (as Davis Brody Bond) was involved in the planning, design, and execution of two immensely significant cultural projects: the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. We are the design architects of the Memorial Museum that sits nearly 70 feet beneath the 9/11 Memorial housing artifacts of the September 11th tragedy, and executive architect the 8.5-acre Memorial Plaza and the recently-opened Perelman Performing Arts Center on the site. We are also a member of the Freelon Adjaye Bond / SmithGroup team responsible for the design and execution of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, which commemorates the black community and the impact African Americans have had on the United States and the world. In addition to the design, we prepared the Museum’s programming and planning study that led to the international design competition.
These notable buildings along with the other innovative projects highlighted in these pages, are not just traditional museums but vital cultural centers providing educational cultural, and technological resources crucial in establishing the identity, life, and character of their communities. We understand the critical role these projects play in supporting their institutions’ curatorial and educational missions, and we work with institutions to ensure their missions are conveyed both within buildings’ walls and beyond — through diverse digital, educational, and community outreach programs. These projects narrate the past, enrich the present, and foster the future growth of the communities in which they reside.
The following pages highlight several of these recent projects and discuss some of the critical technical and design challenges and developments facing museums and cultural centers in the 21st century and beyond.
Featured Projects
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture / Washington, DC
• National September 11 Memorial Museum / New York, NY
• Buffalo Bayou Park and the Cistern / Houston, TX
• American Museum of Natural History Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation and Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals / New York, NY
• Columbia University Lenfest Center for the Arts and Wallach Gallery / New York, NY
• Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum / Austin, TX
• The Frick Collection Master Plan and Portico Gallery / New York, NY
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Project Size 12 Acres
Services Provided Architecture / Signage / Wayfinding and Experiential Graphics / Donor Recognition
Reference
Owner Contact Name
Current Email Address
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) commemorates the black community and the impact African Americans have had on the United States and the world. It operates simultaneously as a museum, a memorial, and a space for cross-cultural collaboration and learning. Beginning in 2008, DBB/Page, in association with The Freelon Group, developed pre-design and programming documents for the museum prior to being part of the design team.
As part of the Freelon Adjaye Bond / Smithgroup team, Page collaborated on the design. The museum rethinks the role of civic institutions in the 21st century, offering new modes of user experience and engagement. It presents a new form of museum: one that prioritizes cultural narrative and identity and that gives form to untold stories, establishing an
LEED Goldempowering emotional context for positive social change. The design approach to the NMAAHC establishes both a meaningful relationship to its unique site on the National Mall and a strong conceptual resonance with America’s deep and longstanding African heritage. The design itself rests on four cornerstones: the Corona shape and form of the building; the bronze filigree Screen; the Lenses framing views through the envelope; and the extension of the building out into the landscape via the Porch.
During the design process, the building’s massing was refined to reduce the above-grade bulk placing two thirds of the building’s 400,000 sf program below grade. The stacking of the building placed much of the non-daylit spaces 80 feet below, including the centerpiece of the museum, the 50,000 sf main history gallery. The museum’s bottom to top gallery
relationship provides visitors a chronological experience of past, present, and future as one ascends through the structure. Veiled by the exterior Corona, above grade circulation is placed within a seven story atrium to promote views of Washington DC monuments while contextually anchoring the museum within the greenspace of the National Mall.
Our scope in the design phases comprised over 60% of the museum including the changing exhibition gallery, café, curatorial departments, collections and back-of-house spaces that form the operating core of the museum, and the 350-seat concert-class Oprah Winfrey Theater. We were also responsible for designing NMAAHC’s centerpiece 50,000 sf History Gallery and accompanying Contemplative Court. During Construction Administration, our team led the efforts for all below-grade interior architecture.
PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
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FRAMING VIEWS
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CONTEMPLATIVE COURT
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OPRAH WINFREY THEATERFRAMING VIEWS
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National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Project Size 12 Acres
Services Provided Architecture / Signage / Wayfinding and Experiential Graphics / Donor Recognition
Reference
Owner Contact Name
Current Email Address
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum is deeply intertwined with the nation’s cultural memory and emotional reaction to the events and site of September 11, 2001. Davis Brody Bond, a Page Company served a dual role as Design Architect for the Memorial Museum and Associate Architect for the Memorial Plaza.
MEMORIAL PLAZA
Our executive work on the Memorial shepherded the design through numerous technical challenges. We applied our expertise to every aspect of the project, from the configuration of the bronze name parapets to the fountain geometry that creates the perfectly even waterfalls around the reflecting pools marking the absent towers. We collaborated on site fittings, materials, lighting, and designed the mesh enclosures that integrate the large west vent structures into the plaza.
LEED GoldMEMORIAL MUSEUM
The architecture of the National September 11 Museum is defined by four core design principles: Scale, Authenticity, Memory, and Emotion. Concrete, some raw and some polished, is the predominant material of the floor and walls that survived within the 70 feet deep excavation of the remediated World Trade Center site. Within this excavation are two new insertions: the Tower Volumes and the Ribbon.
The Tower Volumes align with the footprints of the original Twin Towers and the pools above, creating sense of context and connection to the site. The Ribbon provides a gently ramped descent whose faceted form winds between the Tower Volumes and brings visitors to the bedrock level. The decision to locate this museum at the site of the event it interprets provides an important link between the act of
memorializing those who perished and the provision of a narrative historical account of the event. The museum is shaped around four core principles:
• Memory. Our individual memories of the WTC, the events of 9/11 and the recovery effort shape our response to the site, the artifacts and the exhibit.
• Authenticity. Located at the site of the attack, the museum, footprints, and foundations of the original towers create a deeply felt and intuitive connection to the events.
• Scale. The vastness of the spaces reinforces our connection to the original towers, the scale of the attack and the tragic fate of those who perished
• Emotion. The museum provides space for private contemplation while also acknowledging the need for a collective emotional response.
OBSERVANCE AND HOMAGE
Inspired by the way visitors came to Ground Zero to pay witness in rituals of observance and homage, the project evolved into a series of spaces that evoke the scale of the loss and the still resonant physical impressions left by the towers.
PROGRESSIVE DISCLOSURE
The museum introduces visitors to the museum gradually via a ramped descent, providing a time and place for the reconnection to the site as its iconic features are progressively disclosed.
The initial concept of the museum arose from the enormous and emotionally powerful void that was the recovered site. Observing how visitors came to Ground Zero to pay witness, and the personal and public rituals of observance and homage that spontaneously arose there, the design evolved into a series of space that evokes both the scale of the loss and the still resonant physical impressions left by the towers.
Acknowledging our individual memories, the museum introduces visitors to the museum gradually via a ramped descent, providing a time and place for the reconnection to the site as its iconic features are progressively disclosed. The architectural journey, supported by key artifacts and the insitu remains of the Twin Towers, affords a uniquely personal encounter for each visitor, allowing one to re-connect with one’s own memories and emotions.
THE MUSEUM IS THE EXHIBIT
The decision to locate this museum at the site of the event it interprets differentiates it from other museums and provides an important link between the act of memorializing and the provision of a narrative historical account of the event.
CULTURAL MEMORY
The architectural journey, supported by key artifacts and the in-situ remains of the Twin Towers, affords a uniquely personal encounter for each visitor.
Selected Awards, Memorial Plaza
• 2012 AIA NY State Design Awards Award of Excellence
• 2012 AIA NY Chapter Design Awards Honor Award
Selected Awards, Memorial Museum
• 2015 AIA Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture
• 2015 AIA New York Chapter Design Awards Honor Award for Architecture
• 2015 Society of American Registered Architects, NY Council, The Gold Award of Excellence
• 2014 Interior Design Magazine Best of the Year Awards, Winner, Museum/ Gallery Category
Buffalo Bayou Park and The Cistern
EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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BUFFALO BAYOU PARK
Page designed two buildings and two large pavilions in the 2.3-mile, 160-acre park, planned and designed by landscape architecture firm, SWA. The project restores the natural landscape which was adversely affected by the channelization of the bayou six decades ago and focuses on “passive” recreation and destination points, such as hike and bike trails, a dog park, event venues and food service. The structures, from simple shade pavilions to larger amenity buildings, create landmarks and places of focus, while employing consistent architectural elements that visually connect the park from end to end between Lost Lake and Water Works.
THE CISTERN
Bids had already been solicited by the City of Houston to demolish The Cistern when the Page design team dropped through a roof hatch and viewed this magnificent space. The 87,500-square-foot former underground drinking water reservoir, built in 1927, had been out of service for years and the city was considering proposals for commercial uses of the space such as a parking garage. The designers saw one of the most powerful and memorable industrial structures ever built in the U.S. The vastness of the space, its complete darkness except for the modest dose of light introduced by open hatches, the rhythm of repetitive structural elements, and the reverberation time that magnifies sound all conspire to create an extraordinary experience.
The team proposed to repurpose the space as a visitor destination that could accommodate installation art — particularly light and sound. They worked with the non-profit client Buffalo Bayou Partnership to find a way to save it with the help of the Houston Arts Alliance and funding from a prominent foundation. A “less is more” approach was taken to preserve The Cistern, the exterior of which disappears into the landscape like a low, flat hill. The visitor entrance is a curving tunnel with a soft, low line of LED lighting, allowing eyes to slowly adjust to the dark interior and to reduce abrupt light spoilage. The lighting from the tunnel continues into a transparent handrail edging an unobtrusive walkway that was constructed around the interior perimeter. Four fire egress doors and two moveable hatches in the roof permit adjustable penetration of natural light.
The space’s 8” thickened flat slab roof system is supported by 221 slender, round concrete columns with belled capitals and square bases. A constant depth of a few inches of water is maintained on the floor, creating dramatic reflections that emphasize the vastness of the space by making it seem double its actual height.
American Museum of Natural History Gilder Center and Halls
of Gems & Minerals
EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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GILDER CENTER FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION & EDUCATION
Page was selected to serve as Executive Architect in collaboration with design architect Jeanne Gang on the AMNH’s new 203,000 sf, five-story Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. Set into the Columbus Avenue side of the Museum complex at 79th Street, the project invites visitors to experience the Museum as not only a place of public exhibitions but also an active scientific and educational institution. At a time of urgent need to enhance the public understanding of science, the Gilder Center will expand access to the beloved institutions’s resources for students, teachers, and families, offering new learning opportunities (including STEM education programs) and inviting visitors from all walks of life to share in the excitement of discovery. The project includes exhibition galleries, stateof-the-art classrooms, an immersive theater, a redesigned library, and a newly revealed Collections Core.
Conceived in the Museum’s original master plan as a crossaxis connecting galleries, the Gilder Center is being designed to achieve LEED Gold certification and incorporates such sustainable strategies as efficient landscaping, lighting designs, and water conservation initiatives. Informed by aeolian processes found in nature, the Central Exhibition Hall creates a continuous, “windswept” spatial experience flowing along an east-west axis from the Museum’s new Columbus Avenue entrance. The sinuous forms of the space encourage visitors to move beneath and across connective bridges and along sculpted walls with openings that progressively reveal the Museum’s myriad natural treasures.
MIGNONE HALLS OF GEMS AND MINERALS
In collaboration with award-winning exhibit designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates, Page developed a comprehensive design vision for a new signature exhibition as part of a renovation of the AMNH Hall of Gems and Minerals. The project is one of a series of architectural and programmatic enhancements to the cherished New York City institution leading up to its 150th anniversary and the opening of the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The new space will provide a suitably stunning home for the Museum’s expansive collection of 115,000 mineral specimens and 4,500 gems, only a fraction of which are currently on display. “Whether you’re talking about the spectacular 563-carat Star of India sapphire or the unique almandine ‘subway garnet’ unearthed in New York City in 1885, the AMNH is known for having one of the most spectacular and comprehensive collections of gems and minerals in the world,” said Museum President Ellen Futter. “Our new exhibits will allow us to tell how the story of minerals is linked with their natural environment and biology on the one hand and with culture and technology on the other,” wrote Project Curator George Harlow.
The Museum’s goal was to transform the 11,000 sf hall into must-see destination that will educate and delight the next generation of diverse visitors. To this end, the design team held multiple workshops with the AMNH executive team and key staff; toured the back-of-house to inform physical design concepts; reviewed the Museum’s collections to determine iconic specimens; developed a prioritized list and budget for the acquisition of additional large-scale specimens from around the world; and addressed the institution’s myriad technical, infrastructural, and security requirements.
The completed space represents a dramatic transformation from the aesthetically and technologically outdated space that existed before. While the halls previously formed a cul-de-sac, they now provide a glamorous portal to the other exhibit halls via a stunning Crystalline Pass. The overall design restores the hall’s original architectural character, recapturing its axial formality while opening up the space and modernizing its infrastructure. New durable flooring accommodates power and data distribution as well as the needs of special events. The ceiling has been replaced to allow for HVAC distribution and finished with decorative beams, coffers, and column capitals.
EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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Columbia University
Lenfest Center for the Arts & Wallach Gallery
PLANNING FOR THE ARTS
A “box within a box” concept and floating slab technology have been employed to achieve complete structural and acoustic isolation from one space to the next.
Davis Brody Bond has been working with Columbia University since 1990 on their historic campus, as well as on other sites owned by the University. Over the course of over 25 years, we have completed approximately 20 projects for Columbia comprising services from master planning and programming studies, to renovations and the design and construction of new facilities. For the past 11 years, Page (as Davis Brody Bond) has been working on the development of Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus, a three phase new graduate student campus located in northern Manhattan. When fully realized, this new 17-acre urban academic environment will include more than 6.8 M sf of space for teaching, research, civic, cultural, recreational, and commercial activity. Page served as the Executive Architect for Renzo Piano Design Workshop (RPBW) on the first group of buildings for Columbia University’s new Manhattanville campus.
The Lenfest Center for the Arts, part of Phase 1 of the new master plan, contains a state of the art 150-person film screening room and a 120-person flexible performance “black box” theater; it also houses the prestigious Wallach Gallery, screening rooms for film, and rehearsal space as well as an event space on the top floor. Detailed acoustic and vibration analyses resulted in the use of special methods for controlling sound in Lenfest. A “box within a box” concept and floating slab technology have been employed to achieve complete structural and acoustic isolation from one space to the next. This innovative vertical approach achieved programmatic needs for isolation of the distinct program elements as efficiently as possible. The venue will serve multiple functions in order to accommodate Columbia’s cutting edge arts program.
ENGAGING THE PUBLIC
Serving as both a laboratory and a forum, The Wallach Art Gallery offers opportunities for curatorial practice and discourse, while bridging the diverse approaches to the arts at the University with a welcome broader public.
Located at the edge of Zilker Park, the Umlauf Sculpture Garden is a large naturally landscaped garden housing the sculpture of local artist, Charles Umlauf. The Visitors’ Center acts as a buffer separating the street and parking area to its south side from the protected gardens to the north. The Visitors’ Center also houses art works which require weather protection as well as support facilities for the gardens.
The building is composed of two distinct volumes. On the south side, a long thin stone volume with a wide sallyport puncturing its center creates a dramatic gateway to the gardens. This volume contains a media room, library, rest rooms, kitchen and other support functions which needed little exposure. On the north side, an even larger open frame volume houses both indoor and outdoor gallery spaces.
A grand, generous porch comprises half of this volume, opening to a terrace on the east and to the broad expanse of the gardens to the north. The expression of the building is very quiet and understated so as to focus attention on the gardens and the works of art. Materials in the building are predominately native limestone for the walls, natural-finished wood for the frame, and brick pavers for the floor. The gabled roof of the frame volume is galvanized metal.
More recently, Page has worked with the Umlauf staff to develop a conceptual master plan for the expansion of the museum’s facilities. The proposed facilities include expanded gallery space, educational classrooms, dedicated indoor and outdoor event space, additional administrative area, and associated structured parking. New buildings were laid out in order create an intimate entry court and to respect the rich topography and vegetation of the existing site.
Master Plan & Portico Gallery
MASTER PLAN
Services Provided
Architecture / Signage / Wayfinding and Experiential Graphics / Donor Recognition
Reference
Owner Contact Name
Current Email Address
Page was engaged to develop a Master Planning Study with the goal of providing for the Frick Collection’s evolving needs while respecting the undeniable character of the existing house, library, gardens and collection. The study focused on visitors’ experience by examining amenities such as the lobby, coat check, café and gift shop. Exhibit space, both temporary and permanent, was studied to find new ways to improve the quality of the education program space such as reconfiguration of the 200-seat auditorium and classrooms.
Project Size 12 AcresPORTICO GALLERY
As the first expansion of The Frick Collection in thirty-five years, the Portico Gallery displays one of the museum’s most significant pieces of sculpture as well as a developing collection in the decorative arts.
The design approach for the new gallery carefully maintains and preserves the original character and feel of the loggia as an outdoor space. The design incorporates the structure’s most important features, such as the colonnade, bluestone floor and exterior limestone walls and bas reliefs. New architectural details relate to the vocabulary of the original mansion and to John Russell Pope’s later addition of 1935. The original exterior features and finishes have been cleaned and restored; the floor replaced with carefully matched bluestone in the original pattern.
To minimize the architectural impact of the new glazing, fourteen foot high, self-supporting structural glass panels extend along the south facing colonnade resulting in minimal interference and attachment to the historic fabric. These large glass panels visually open the space to the Fifth Avenue Garden and for the first time afford the visitor the opportunity to experience the garden from the loggia.
Portico Gallery Selected Awards
• Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts 2012 Transformation Award
• AIA New York Chapter Design Awards
To minimize the architectural impact of the new glazing, fourteen foot high, self-supporting structural glass panels extend along the south facing colonnade resulting in minimal interference and attachment to the historic fabric.
INCREASED VISIBILITY FROM STREET
The large glass panels visually open the space to the Fifth Avenue Garden, and for the first time afford the visitor the opportunity to experience the garden from the loggia.
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Preservation & Modernization Creative strategies for the storage, protection, and display of priceless art and artifacts
Davis Brody Bond has a long history of working collaboratively with exhibit and interpretive designers, and we have found that the concept of the exhibit can play a significant role in informing the design of a building. We believe it is critical for the architect and exhibit designer to begin working together early in the process. By sharing a common vocabulary, the scale of the interior spaces particularly the size and lighting, are more successful.
After being selected to design the National September 11 Memorial Museum, we worked with our client to help select the exhibit designers, Thinc and Local Projects LLC. The Museum is charged with interpreting and displaying not only the historic resources and artifacts of the site but is also responsible for providing insight into the people who tragically lost their lives in the September 11th and 1993 attacks. Visitors engage interpretive exhibits, historic resources including the original slurry wall, tower structural artifacts, and resource material remembering the victims.
As part of the design team for the National Museum of African American Museum of History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, we worked with an exhibit designer during the programming effort (Amaze Design) and then again during the building design phases (Ralph Applebaum Associates). Throughout the programming phase, our effort was wide ranging, including public engagement, site analysis, facility programming, security studies cost estimates, room data sheets, in addition to the development of an exhibit master plan. We listened, discussed, and researched in collaboration with the museum and the Smithsonian to refine the visitor experience, identify themes, and reinforce the core messages for the exhibitions. During the design of the building, we oversaw the design of the History Galleries that comprise 50% of the exhibit space.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ELLIS ISLAND STORAGE PHASING STRATEGY
Page worked with the National Park Service on to identify and document design solutions for the long term storage, stabilization and protection of the collections at Ellis Island. The scope of the project includes the evaluation of collection management and storage of over one million historic artifacts. To address the concerns generated with the evacuation of the collection after Hurricane Sandy, the team developed multiple alternatives to consolidate storage locations in protected and efficient spaces within the Park
EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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MOMA FILM ARCHIVES
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EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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TECHINICAL DEMANDS OF GALLERY SPACE
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EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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Visioning & Stakeholder Engagement Working with institutions and the broader public to define and clarify the overriding values that shape the project’s evolution
The pre-design phase for museums —including visioning, feasibility review, planning, and conceptual design — is one of the most important steps in the museum design process. Though the product can be viewed as simply a comprehensive design criteria, it is a critical exercise that will define and clarify the overriding values that will govern the institutions and shape their evolution.
Because a large part of our practice focuses on institutional projects, we have extensive experience working with multiple user groups and complex constituencies on projects in which there is significant public involvement and investment. We bring an ability to listen and interpret the varied needs and goals of different user groups; and then the expertise required to guide the project to a successful completion. Page has performed feasibility reviews, planning, and conceptual designs for countless institutions, many of which involved a detailed assessment of the site concurrent with analysis of programmatic requirements to support future needs.
Programming and Master Planning
For the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Page in association with the Freelon Group develop the Pre-Design and Programming report that defined the needs of a new national museum. Leading nearly 20 consultants, our team worked collaboratively with Smithsonian representatives from various disciplines to produce a comprehensive 1,200-page, sixvolume document Through a dynamic and flexible process, our work plan included Exhibition master plan workshops with museum staff exploring core statements, themes, and strategies to provide a dynamic visitor experience.
Stakeholder Engagement
At the 9/11 Memorial Museum the many public stakeholders involved included family members of the victims of 9/11, survivors, local residents, and first responders. Their participation was encouraged through a series of formal presentations and informal workshops structured throughout the design process. The broader public was also engaged in a series of open presentations and discussion sessions. In addition, because of the especially sensitive nature of the historic resources on the site, regular workshops and presentations were held with consulting parties including, but not limited to, NYC Landmarks, the Municipal Arts Society, Landmarks Preservation Conservancy, the National Trust, and the NYSHPO. Finally, the team coordinated the design process with the participation of curators and exhibition, graphics, and lighting designers who were major stakeholders in the development and installation of content for the museum.
EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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The pre-design phase for museums —including visioning, feasibility review, planning, and conceptual design — is one of the most important steps in the museum design process. Though the product can be viewed as simply a comprehensive design criteria, it is a critical exercise that will define and clarify the overriding values that will govern the institutions and shape their evolution.
Because a large part of our practice focuses on institutional projects, we have extensive experience working with multiple user groups and complex constituencies on projects in which there is significant public involvement and investment. We bring an ability to listen and interpret the varied needs and goals of different user groups; and then the expertise required to guide the project to a successful completion. Page has performed feasibility reviews, planning, and conceptual designs for countless institutions, many of which involved a detailed assessment of the site concurrent with analysis of programmatic requirements to support future needs.
Selected Museum Design Proposals, Plans, Studies, and Vision Documents
(Click hyperlinks to virtually “page through” complete documents online)
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture 2009 Competition Companion Document
• Smithsonian NMAAHC Programming Studies Vol. 1 2 3 4 5 6
• National September 11 Museum, New York, NY Project Monograph
• Irish Arts Center, New York, NY Phase II Due Diligence and Feasibility Study
• Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA NOMI) Vision Document
• National Medal of Honor Museum. Arlington, TX Design Proposal and Final Presentation
• National Park Service / Ramsey House, Knoxville, TN Space Planning & Programming Study
• NPS / Cedar Creek & Belle Grove, Middltown, VA Space Planning & Programming Study
• NPS / Coltsville Armory, Hartford, CT Space Planning & Feasibility Study
• NPS / Martin Van Buren National Historic Site Kinderhook, NY Planning & Programming Study
• Olana State Historic Site, Olana Center, Hudson, NY Design Services Proposal
• Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY RFP Phase Design Proposal
• Yunnan Museum, Kunming City, China General Design Proposal
EXPLANATORY CAPTION
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Experiential Graphics, Signage & Branding
As
problem solvers
first and foremost, we begin with strategy and discovery and extend a brand promise to print, digital, and built environments.
Page/Branding & Graphics is the branding and experience design consulting group of Page. We articulate our client’s vision to create strong and authentic brand experiences across many platforms. As problem solvers first and foremost, we begin with strategy and discovery and extend a brand promise to print, digital, and built environments. We seek to deliver effective and elegant solutions, and we believe that design has the power to make lives better.
The Branding & Graphics studio collaborates across disciplines by problem-solving with other Page groups including: architecture, interior architecture, campus planning, and urban design. Our ability to draw on a wide range of capabilities and experiences provides us with the tools to deliver the best and most appropriate solution for every client.
Our clients are known in multiple markets, including museums, cultural and civic institutions, housing and hospitality, higher education, non-profit organizations, healthcare, and corporate and commercial.
A/MFA BRANDING
The Page Branding & Graphics team worked with Arkansas Museum of Fine Art, Little Rock on a comprehensive graphics package (including print graphics, naming & branding, experiential graphics, and donor recognition) that conveyed their mission and values.
Museum Design Leadership
Education
Bachelor of Architecture
New York Institute of Technology
Registrations
Registered Architect, New York
Affiliations
American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Years of Experience
32 years in Industry / 18 years with Page
Principal
Mark Wagner
AIA
Mark Wagner has extensive experience in the design of cultural projects. As Project Lead for the 9/11 Museum, he was charged with overseeing the daily progress of the project’sdesign and construction, navigating many challenges due to the complexity of the numerous integrated construction projects at the site. His role on the project involved coordination and consultation with a consortium of museum representatives and government agencies including the NY State Museum, The Museum of the City of New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the FBI, and the NYPD.
Relevant Project Experience
• American Museum of Natural History
Hall of Gems and Minerals
New York, New York
American Museum of Natural History
• Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation
New York, New York
• National September 11 Museum
New York, New York
• The Frick Collection Master Plan and Portico Gallery
New York, New York
PrincipalEducation
Bachelor of Architecture
New York Institute of Technology
Registrations
Registered Architect, New York
Affiliations
American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Years of Experience
32 years in Industry /
18 years with Page
• US National Park Service
Five -Year Contract
Multiple Locations
• Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, Pre-planning and design of new Visitor Center & Park Headquarters
Kinderhook, NY
• Museum of Contemporary Art Expansion / Vision Plan
North Miami, FL
• Brookhaven National Laboratories
Children’s Science Museum
Upton, New York
Larry Speck (?) AIA
Larry Speck has extensive experience in the design of cultural projects. As Project Lead for the 9/11 Museum, he was charged with overseeing the daily progress of the project’sdesign and construction, navigating many challenges due to the complexity of the numerous integrated construction projects at the site. His role on the project involved coordination and consultation with a consortium of museum representatives and government agencies including the NY State Museum, The Museum of the City of New York, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the FBI, and the NYPD.
Relevant Project Experience
• American Museum of Natural History Hall of Gems and Minerals
New York, New York
American Museum of Natural History
• Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation
New York, New York
• National September 11 Museum
New York, New York
• The Frick Collection Master Plan and Portico Gallery
New York, New York
• US National Park Service Five -Year Contract
Multiple Locations
• Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, Pre-planning and design of new Visitor Center & Park Headquarters Kinderhook, NY
• Museum of Contemporary Art Expansion / Vision Plan
North Miami, FL
• Brookhaven National Laboratories
Children’s Science Museum
Upton, New York
Years of Civic & Cultural Experience
Page is a powerfully imaginative and collaborative architecture and engineering firm: one that’s ready for today and designed for what comes next.
We pair form with function, reason with emotion, and ideas with expert implementation. At Page, the potential of what’s possible is paired with the practicality of how to make it happen. Our purpose is designing places smarter, while improving the experiences of those who work, live, and learn in them. From thought to finish, Page experts—of all disciplines—see the big picture, figure the best way forward, and deliver solutions in inventive and amazing ways.
Selected Museum & Cultural Clients
• American Museum of Natural History / New York, NY
• Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts / Little Rock, AR
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute / Birmingham, AL
• Blanton Museum of Art / Austin, TX
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden / Brooklyn, NY
• Buffalo Bayou Park & The Cistern / Houston Arts Alliance / Houston, TX
• Columbia University Manhattanville Development, Lenfest Center for the Arts & Wallach Gallery / New York, NY
• The Frick Collection / New York, NY
• Houston Museum of Natural Science / Houston, TX
• Kennesaw State University Museum / Kennesaw, GA
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Arts Center at Governors Island / New York, NY
• Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial & Education Center / New York, NY
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change / Atlanta, GA
• Museum of Modern Art / New York, NY
• Museum of Modern Art / Warsaw, Poland
• Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCA NOMI) / North Miami, FL
• Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University / Alpine, TX
• National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) / Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum / Hyde Park, NY
• National Great Blacks in Wax Museum / Baltimore, MD
• The National Mall Trust / Washington, DC
• National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation / New York, NY
• New York Public Library Gottesman Gallery / New York, NY
• Prairie View A&M University, Texas Institute for Preservation of History & Culture Museum / Prairie View, TX
• Prince Georges African American Museum & Cultural Center / North Brentwood, MD
• Smithsonian Institution / Washington, DC
• Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum / Austin, TX
• US Department of the Interior, National Park Service / Multiple locations nationwide
• Yunnan Museum / Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China
We pair form with function, reason with emotion, and ideas with expert implementation. At Page, the potential of what’s possible is paired with the practicality of how to make it happen. Our purpose is designing places smarter, while improving the experiences of those who work, live, and learn in them. From thought to finish, Page experts—of all disciplines—see the big picture, figure the best way forward, and deliver solutions in inventive and amazing ways.
Let’s Work Together.
Architecture Master Planning
Visioning Programming
Archiving / Collection Management
Preservation / Modernization
Community Engagement
Branding
Experiential Graphic Design
Signage / Wayfinding
With inquiries, contact:
Mark Wagner
AIA
Principal, Cultural Projects mmagner@pagethink.com 212.555.5555
Wendy Heger
AIA, WELL AP, LEED AP Principal, Civic/Community wheger@pagethink.com 713.658.2266
Carla Fraser Principal Director, Branding & Graphics cfraser@pagethink.com 512.382.3580
Paul A. Bielamowicz AIA, LEED AP Principal & Sr. Project Manager Civic/Public pbielamowicz@pagethink.com 512.382.3430