Barnard
faculty member and Columbia colleague share architectural
award for design of new ticket booths at Museum
of Modern Art
March
21, 2000, New York, N.Y. - A Barnard architecture
faculty member and her Columbia University colleague
have received an international design award for
a set of new ticket booths for the Museum of Modern
Art.
The
booths, designed by Karen Fairbanks and Scott Marble,
won an ar+d award in December from The Architectural
Review and d-line, the Danish ironmongery company.
Fairbanks is senior lecturer at Barnard and director
of the Barnard and Columbia Colleges Architecture
Program, while Marble is an adjunct assistant professor
of architecture at the Columbia University Graduate
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.
Architectural Review said the deceptively simple
design impressed the judges: "Two new ticket booths
at the Museum of Modern Art in New York by Scott
Marble and Karen Fairbanks captured our imagination
because, though modest, they solve a complicated
set of problems (which at first appear to be extremely
simple) with finesse and efficiency."
Jurors reviewed more than 900 entries from architects
and designers under 45 from more than 50 countries.
Twenty-one projects were selected for awards.
The project consisted of two ticket booths, guard
stations, brochure stands and benches for MOMA.
The booths, located in the lobby, are made as layers
of solid surfacing material and glass over a steel
frame set on wheels so that they can be moved during
special events and museum openings.
According to the two architects, the design was
built on aesthetic and practical considerations
derived from a study of movement around the booths:
"The geometry of the ticket booth counters was derived
from studies of the ergonomic needs of the booth
attendants who are stationary inside the booths
and the museum visitors who queue up and move around
the outside of the booths from the lobby to the
museum. Each booth accommodates two attendants who
face opposite directions. All ticketing equipment
is placed around the attendant to allow efficient
transactions with each visitor while the exterior
configuration of the booths and the placement of
related pieces (guard station and brochure stands)
encourage smooth and continuous movement from the
lobby through the ticketing process to the museum.
"A
combination of clear and translucent glass surfaces
exploit the abundant natural light from an adjacent
courtyard to continually transform the visual effect
of the ticket booths from solid to reflective to
transparent as one moves from the lobby to the museum.
The effects range from a reflection of adjacent
art to virtual disappearance from the glow of natural
light."
Judges
included Peter Davey, editorial director and editor
of The Architectural Review and chair of the jury;
Theo Bjerg, professor of architecture at the Royal
Academy, Copenhagen; David Chipperfield, principal
of David Chipperfield Architects, London; Massimiliano
Fuksas, principal of Massimiliano Fuksas Architetto,
Rome, Paris and Vienna; and Billie Tsien, principal
of Tod Williams Billie Tsien & Associates, New York
City. Additional information may be found at www.marblefairbanks.com.
The Barnard and Columbia Colleges Architecture program
is a joint undergraduate major administered by Barnard
for the two institutions. The program typically
has about 50 majors who go on to fields including
architecture, computer graphic design and the visual
arts, as well as careers in law and urban planning,
among other professions.
Contact:
Lucas Held, 212-854-2037
.jpg)
