Addition of a glass canopy to the Buffalo AKG Museum’s patio,
Studio Other Spaces, led by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann,
by creating a massive glass and mirrored canopy enveloping
the courtyard of the Seymour H. Knox Building at the Buffalo AKG Museum of Art in the United States.
It was created as part of a museum transformation master plan,
led by OMA’s New York office partner Shohei Shigematsu,
The installation, called Common Sky, is designed as a canopy of glass and mirrors that envelopes the courtyard of the Seymour H. Knox Building.
The Seymour H. Knox Building, originally designed by American architect Gordon Bunshaft and completed in 1962, is
Major program elements of the campus as part of the larger master plan,
along with the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building, and the design of the new John J. Albright Bridge.
The original – modernist building perfectly complements the organic form of the Common Sky,
which harmonizes with shapes found in the surrounding landscape,
such as trees, winding paths, clouds, and columns of sunlight.
The renewed and significantly expanded campus of the Buffalo AKG Museum of Art was led by OMA New York partner Shohei Shigematsu and in collaboration with executive architect Cooper Robertson.
It is the most important campus expansion and development project in the museum’s 160-year history.
SOS’s Common Sky artwork is designed as a sculpture
and architectural structure to provide a space that is free and open to the public.
The installation reflects the museum’s vision of a 21st-century art institution for inclusion.
Design features
The glass ceiling acts as a lens, inviting people into contact with their immediate environment, emphasizing the ephemeral qualities of the atmosphere:
The changing seasons, dim light, and cloud formations.
Alternating mirror and clear glass panels also emphasize physical movement as a means of shaping space, making visitors visible in the work,
He urged them to co-create fragmented internal and external perspectives.
The artwork’s mirrors and clear glass panels are set at different angles,
with shape-shifting reflections framing unexpected views as people move around the courtyard below.
Common Sky is a dynamic, sculptural statement that combines geometric language with a playful, poetic approach.
It draws your attention to things that are hard to measure and things that depend on emotion and your active participation.
The geometry of the canopy forms a path across the courtyard,
from a triangular pattern at the roof edges to a hexagonal pattern toward the centre.
In cross section, the roof structure consists of two levels, covered with alternating mirror surfaces.
These reflect sunlight and reduce heat gain, which is necessary for environmental reasons.
Thus, the distribution of hexagons and triangles also serves to balance the opening and closing of the roof.
Although nearly half of the roof is enclosed, the space feels open and airy.
The structure also curves and reaches the ground at a single off-center support point,
preserving the asymmetry of the space.
