“The mother art is architecture. Without an
architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization… Every great
architect is – necessarily – a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter
of his time, his day, his age… Art for art’s sake is a philosophy of the
well-fed… Buildings, too, are children of Earth and Sun… No stream rises higher
than its source. What ever man might build could never express or reflect more
than he was. He could record neither more nor less than he had learned of life
when the buildings were built… Noble life demands a noble architecture for
noble uses of noble men. Lack of culture means what it has always meant:
ignoble civilization and therefore imminent downfall.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
The
Frye Architecture
Here
I am, standing in front of
“my” museum. Although it is not mine to claim, I feel a rather strong
connection to the building in which I am studying for the next few weeks. The
Frye Art Museum will house not only my body, but also all my thoughts on and
off for my near future. It is not a large magnificent building; it is actually
quite opposite. At first glance it is just a concrete building one passes by on
a walk to the park or market, hidden by houses and busy streets. It takes, literally,
a step back to see the real glamour behind the concrete facade. The building is
an architectural relic in its own right. With its squared entry archway and
high cylinder reaching for the sky, topped with glass panes, the view from the outside
of the museum itself draws you in.
Not only is this architecture built for an art aspect, but it plays house to the
museum’s private collection; acting as security against the elements. The
architecture of the Frye was almost nonexistent up until 1997 when the
collaborating duo, Rick Sundberg and Alan Maskin, stepped in to create an
expansive remodel of the building. The design of which brought
an aging institution into the present. The architecture prepares the visitor
by, among other ways, reinforcing a cadence that is conducive to viewing art. A
new entry arcade knits together additions and existing architecture with public
spaces, which include a new café, curatorial wing and sculpture garden, and
brings the life of the building to the street edge. Natural light slips into
the building in strategic places to intuitively guide the visitor through the
museum. The result is a jewel-box of a museum that celebrates the museum
experience as well as the art.
All over the world we are seeing this change amongst museum architecture as the art
community tries to mesh together the ideas of the new with the old in new and
creative ways. Being not only a devotee of architecture but of museums, I am fascinated
with this new modification to the exterior and interior structural design of
these edifices. The combination of museums and architecture, old and new, art
and collection; it is quite remarkable. This shows especially through the Frye
Art Museum, playing on people’s art emotions using visual aspects to draw them
inside.
Upon making my decision to attend The Frye as my study destination, it was originally
for its collection and exhibits. However, the object that fixated me -created the
upmost evocation within me- was that of the architecture, which I have now
become enthralled with. The idea The Frye took on from the rest of the art
world to update their architecture worked increasingly well and added even more
art to their already growing collection.
