Diller Scofidio + Renfro is responsible for the design proposal of a 145 foot tall inflatable meeting hall which Richard Kohsalek, the director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington DC), plans to erect at the cultural institution. The large translucent fabric ‘bubble’ will swell out of the top of the museum’s internal court yard, creating an air of lightness, making the building seem as if it were ready to float upwards into the sky.
The balloon-like form will be stabilized by a gigantic tube of water, encircling the interior structure. A series of large steel cables tethered to the inner tube on one end and the roof-level truss at the other end, will provide structural support to hold it in place. These cables will wrap around several times pushing the structure through the core of the museum.
The structure would be installed twice a year, in May and October and would cost about 5 million USD, which is a relatively small amount for a museum expansion. The design is extremely flexible – it can be blown up in a short time, and the interior can be easily reconfigured with each installation, allowing the museum to respond to cultural issues of the moment in a timely manner.
The design proposal still needs to be refined, but from the exterior, visitors will be able to enter the balloon via a short, tube-shaped corridor located between the museum’s lounge and central courtyard. The translucent blue skin of the lounge will progressively become more transparent at its base so that visitors are able to peer into the mall. The inner tube anchoring the lounge will also serve as a bench for resting and socializing.
In contrast to the Whimsical Bulb, the main hall will be a more formal space, housing 1 000 guests in a semi-circular pattern around a temporary stage. this will be built over the courtyard’s off-center fountain. Here, transparent areas in the fabric will give visitors views of patrons who are visiting the galleries above. As the courtyard is a four-storey tall void, diller scofidio + renfro is considering an addition of one or two levels of balcony space to the hall to take advantage of this open area.
Some more information from Hirshhorn Museum:
Purpose of the project: We aim to create a vibrant public space offering diverse artistic and educational events, via a seasonally installed temporary pavilion that is also an important architectural and artistic work in its own right. The pavilion and the activities it will house affirm the Museum’s commitment to enhancing public understanding and appreciation of contemporary art and culture–locally, nationally and globally.
Vision: Standing nearly 145 feet tall, the inflatable structure sits in the Hirshhorn’s courtyard, ballooning through the top of the building. It will be visible from all sides of the museum and at points along the Mall. The pavilion will transform the Plaza’s public space into a seasonal auditorium, café, and meeting place filled with activity.
Programming in the pavilion: The pavilion will be a site for new educational initiatives, as well as a place for collaborations between the Hirshhorn and other national, regional, and local institutions. With an expanded auditorium, the temporary pavilion will serve as the hub for a new series of conferences exploring important cross-disciplinary issues in contemporary culture.
About the architects: New York City-based architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro was contracted in September 2009 to start working on the concept of the temporary inflatable pavilion. DSR’s recent projects include the redesign of Alice Tully Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), and New York’s High Line.
Timeline: The project is currently in the early conceptual stage. Preliminary planning for the project began in summer 2009. We are working towards the first installation of the temporary inflatable pavilion in May 2011.
Estimated cost: Initial construction of the pavilion has been estimated at $5 million, with an additional endowment of $2.5- $5 million for continuing installation, storage, and programmatic research costs.
