HOK’s Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg Florida
I came across an article discussing a new museum to contain the work of Salvador Dali, one of my favorite and most inspiring artists. The article itself can be found at archdaily.com. I placed a link to it here. I have paraphrased and added a little of my own opinion regarding this interesting project.
HOK along with Beck Group have recently designed a new museum in St. Petersburg Florida to house the work of Salvador Dali’s mysterious artwork. The entire museum is inspired by Dali’s surrealist paintings and sculptures that defined his career as an artist.
The museum itself is composed of thick cast-in-place 18″ reinforced concrete walls in order to protect the artwork in Florida’s tough weather. In fact, the shell of the museum can withstand up to a Catagory 5 hurricane and winds up to 165 mph. The art is also going to be placed above the flood plain in case of severe rain storms.A triangular glass “enigma” interrupts the concrete structure and represents a recurring theme in Dali’s work. The rational world involuntarily interrupted by the chaotic and surprising natural world. the glass structure also is reminiscent of Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome design which was always liked by Dali. It reminds me of Dali’s transition from his early work in Cubism (which nobody ever hears about – however there are hundreds of Cubist paintings he did) to his later insane-like surrealist work.
Reading into the article further, I noticed that the triangular glass structure is so unique that no piece is identical. This is where I get a bit hesitant about it. HOK is known for their desire to be sustainable and they are big on LEED etc. So how is making a glass structure where every piece is unique sustainable?? It must have been a nightmare to fabricate…. (that’s just my opinion and I may be wrong).
By far my favorite part of the project (and probably many other people’s favorite) is the spiral staircase in the shape of a DNA strand to represent Dali’s obsession with Deoxyribonucleic acid. What a fascinating artist, one whom may never be fully understood in his insanity and genuine gift that changed artistic interpretation forever.
In all – I think the project will look great when its completed. Thanks HOK!
