Information Architecture: Building Story- The de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

The de Young Museum,

San Francisco, CA

2005, Herzog & de Meuron Designer, Fong & Chan Architects

Photo courtesy of FAMSF

Quick Facts!

● Most visited art museum west of the Mississippi

● 6th most visited art museum in North America

● 1.2 million visitors last year.

● American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries, textile

arts, and art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

● Original museum opened in 1895, aged poorly and was done

in by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

● 1999 competition for design won by Herzog & de Meuron

(Designer) & Fong & Chan (Architects)

● $135 million to construct

I Chose this because I didn’t like it.

● Heavy, dark, sharp, industrial,

● “huge shed”, “Internet start-up

company” and an “aircraft carrier”.

● It isn’t cozy, it isn’t a friendly

building from the outside,

● Architecture=Rhetoric for a space

● Monolithic form sparks the sense

of adventure, like a pyramid or

ziggurat, it invites you to explore Photo courtesy of FAMSF

Materials● Natural materials including copper, stone,

wood and glass

● The copper rainscreen that sheaths the

building took 950,000 lbs of copper, largest

copper-clad building in the world.

● The mantra of Herzog & de Meuron is to

focus on using common materials in an

uncommon way.

● Copper plating which is expected to

eventually oxidize and take on a greenish

tone and blend into the park.

● Ball-bearing slide plates and viscous fluid

dampers help withstand future earthquakes

Photo courtesy of FAMSF

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Photo courtesy of FAMSF

The Good: Outside

● Flat base and tower draw

the eye to the museum,

and it looks both ancient

and modern.

● 144 foot tower twists from

the ground to the sky

● It aligns with the grid

formed by the streets of

the nearby

neighborhoods.

● At the top an observation

floor provides views of the

Bay area. © Iwan Baan

Exterior Transformation

Photo © Thomas Mayer

● The building's copper

skin was chosen for its

changeable quality.

● Through oxidation, will

assume a patina over

time.

● This will let it blend in

with the surrounding

natural environment.

Copper Skin EffectPhoto © Thomas Mayer

Photo © Thomas Mayer

● Texture and

patterning of copper

skin was Jacques

Herzog’s.

● Visiting Golden Gate

Park he took pictures

of the effect of

sunlight filtering

through the leafy

trees of the park.

The Good: Interior

● Once inside it is light and more

non-descript.

● The focus of visitor is no longer

on the building but instead on the

art

● Takes advantage of what light is

available in the Bay.

● You still have a sense of the

outside because of all of the light

filtering through the copper skin.

● You don’t feel confined.

Photo © Thomas Mayer

Interior Transformation

● The rotating

exhibits that are in

the lower gallery

are able to

transform their

environment.

○ Tutankhamen

○ Andy Warhol

Picture credited to FAMSF

Museum Navigation

● Easy to lose

yourself, hard

to get lost.

● You won’t

miss artwork

in your

wandering of

the museum.

Picture credited to FAMSF

Photo courtesy of FAMSF

The Bad

● Copper structure canopy was

meant to cover the outdoor

cafe.

● It leaks copper dust and tainted

copper runoff onto patron’s

food and cafe furniture.

○ A permanent temporary

structure has been placed

under the canopy.

The Ugly

● The building is anti-sustainable.

● Copper run off from the building is poisoning the

environment 73.5lbs of copper run off/year.

● This is equal to 25% of the copper pollution for all of

Palo Alto.

● Copper runoff is such a severe problem in Palo Alto that

they issued an Ordinance that prohibits copper roofing

materials.

How and What

Architecture (What): User needs & site objectives, FAMSF Mission

statement: it needs to serve, be accessible, and draw broad audiences.

● Draws people to the structure through imposing size and tower.

● Series of outside corridors all lead visitors to the the main entrance.

Design: (How): Interaction design, navigation design.

● Interior of building is easily navigated, it allows for easy flow of traffic

and guides visitors.

● Interaction between the art inside and the art and natural beauty

outside.

To be good it doesn’t have to be beautiful.

References

http://www.critiquethis.us/2009/12/17/de-young-museum-by-herzog-de-meuron-the-copper-killer/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Young_(museum)

https://deyoung.famsf.org/about

https://deyoung.famsf.org/about/history-de-young-museum

http://www.arcspace.com/features/herzog--de-meuron/de-young-museum/

http://www.copper.org/consumers/arts/2010/august/restoring-de-young-museum-with-copper.html