April 09, 2010

skin of the deYoung Museum


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

The skin of San Francisco's deYoung Museum reminds me of the halftone dot pattern they use in lithographic printing.

Swiss architects Pierre de Meuron and Jacques Herzog decided to focus on sensations, not forms. They wanted to created architecture that touched all our senses in an overall experience. As you might imagine, the wild plans created quite a stir with the general public -- oh, you know, everybody is a critic. But despite a lot of "designing by committee" and cost over-runs the far-out place finally managed to get built. It opened in 2005.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

The copper 'skin' was chosen for its aging and changeable qualities through the oxidation process, which will give it a rich green patina over a period of time allowing it to blend with the natural surroundings.

Just kidding, but evidently the Swiss architects had erroneously heard that we only have sunny days in California so they thought a vast perforated skin would be enough of a barrier from the elements.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

This pillar is part of the Park Bandshell, and of course the tower in the distance is the deYoung's Education Center, museum offices, and Observation Tower.

Bet you didn't know that about 37 years ago I took a nice young lady on a date to the Park Bandshell, but the date turned to disaster when she didn't appreciate the um-pa-pa band that was playing. Heck, I thought the band was pretty good, but she never wanted to go out with me again, so, a visit to the Park Bandshell always brings back some minor regretfulness.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

And of course, with events like the annual Bay to Breakers footrace and Pride Parade there is nothing unusual about naked men and women letting it all-hang-out in public. Still, if you have a pulse, you can't run around with knives...


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1 comment:

photowannabe said...

My goodness, has it been 5 years since it opened? I still haven't made it to the museum. Shame on me...
Guess I will have to settle for your great pictures instead.

 
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