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Polshek Partnership Architects
Senior Designer: David Sherman
Photographers: Jeff Goldberg, Jock Pottle (model)
Completed: 1995
AWARDS:
National Honor Award for Architecture, 1999, American Institute of Architects
Award for Excellence in Design, 1996, AIA/ New York State
PUBLICATIONS:
Architectural Record, May, 1999
Architectural Review, August, 1994
Architecture, December, 1995
The New York Times, July 30, 1995
EXHIBITION
AIA National Convention, Boston, 1992
Inventure Place was initiated at Polshek and Partners as a design collaboration among many individuals, for an unprecedented building type. The resulting design w as published extensively and includes a large stainless steel 'sail' housing the National Inventors Hall of Fame, an entry plaza above an exhibit hall for science projects, and an administration building. In 1991, a large-format film theater (IMAX-type) was added to the program and design development began on the balance of the project. As the new Senior Designer, it was Mr. Sherman's role to execute initial design concepts through construction documents for the Theater and its integral amphitheater as a semi-discrete project, and to do the same for the building?s entry canopy, while clarifying the remainder. The theater is placed underground, and the geometries of the 70-foot screen and its cone of vision are resolved with a wedge-shaped plan and section. A circular amphitheater emerges above grade to focus attention on the outdoor screen at the opposite side. The primary materials of concrete (circle) and perforated stainless steel panels (wedge) are informed by the shapes and their acoustical requirements. The canopy can be seen as an extension of the atittides formed by the design of the NYU canopy, although at a smaller scale. In collaboration with the structural engineer Ove Arup and Partners, a steel framed cantilever was develped to interact with aluminum roof panels and teflon-coated fiberglas flaps to generate an image of flight, as well as a directional gesture to the public.
