Honorable MentionJ. Michele Rudolph, AIA
Riverside Design
75 Old Mill River Rd.
Pound Ridge, NY 10576
Phone: (914) 764-1096
Email: riverside.design@mac.comSouthern Alleghenies Museum of Art
Altoona, PA
A framework of perforated aluminum panels suggests the rhythms of a railroad car for a museum s display of historic 19th century railroad photographs. Riverside Design's gut interior renovation to a prominent landmarked building near the famous Horseshoe Curve created a state of the art gallery and storage facility for SAMA's portfolio of fragile albumen prints.
Stringent limits on light levels as well as HVAC requirements posed many design hurdles. In fact, the curators referred to what was to be the main gallery as a "vault". Riverside Design used perforated aluminum panels to create an architectural framework and as a method to display the photos. The photographs mounted on the translucent panels give the gallery a feeling of light and air appropriate for the 191h century landscape subject matter. Visitors are reminded of the proportion of a railroad car as they wander through the exhibit. Perforated panels flank a central circulation spine in a space with a vaulted roof similar to a 19th century railroad car. The industrial language of perforated panels echoes the industrial forces that helped form the railroad industry.
The lightness of the panels complements the subtle sepia toned images on display and gives a general fee ling of openness to a space that could have easily felt confined.
Milwaukee, WI 53214 IPERF.org
