Sustainable Salvador Dali Museum by HOK

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Sustainable Salvador Dali Museum by HOK

There are three things that make us astounded by The Salvador Dali Museum which is located in scenic waterfront downtown St. Petersburg, occupying 68,000 square foot which was actually double the size of the original 1982 Dali Museum where it was previously a one storey warehouse.

This museum was designed involving international caliber recognized architect such as AIA, LEED AP, Yann Weymouth and the director of this Museum architectural design was HOK, a Florida based architecture and led the design team.

Secondly what keep us amazed at this 75 feet tall which is adorned by 1,062 unique triangular glass panels in a semi spherical shape was completed on time and it was $700,000 under budget. Thirdly is the 2,140-piece permanent collection found at this museum and the Dali’s surrealist art of the building itself.

Here are several comments from Weymouth the architecture;
“Salvador Dali was a monumental pioneer of twentieth-century art and this is perhaps the best collection of his work in the world,” stated Weymouth. “Our challenge was to discover how to resolve the technical requirements of the museum and site in a way that expresses the dynamism of the great art movement that he led. It is important that the building speak to the surreal without being trite.”
“We deliberately exposed the unfinished faces of the concrete to reduce maintenance and to allow it to be a tough, natural foil to the more refined precision of the glass Enigma,” said Weymouth. “This contrast between the rational world of the conscious and the more intuitive, surprising natural world is a constant theme in Dali’s work.”

Energy surely becoming issue today and to overcome such problem the museum uses several sustainable design strategies to create energy, water and cost savings. The building able to reduce solar load from the low-angled western sun and there are two types of solar collectors on the roof heat water for the restrooms. Automated controls to turn lights on and off are used in this modern museum design. Visit HOK website for more info.