Raleigh Contemporary Art Museum (CAM)

jason
09/27 02:20 AM

is that a giant pinecone on top?

brian
09/27 03:05 AM

Better a pinecone than one more g.d. acorn.

go go girl
09/27 12:07 PM

They have got to be joking. IMO that “seed bud of the magnolia tree” is ridiculous. I think it will be a dated, obsolete eye-sore two days after it is completed.

On the other hand it would certainly draw people to the district just to see what the hell that damn thing is.

I think I’d rather have another acorn. Or a very large squirrel.

David
09/27 12:22 PM

I think the structure would be a fantastic addition to downtown in that form. I realize it would be a hard sell, but we need more unique and identifying structures- it would help carve out a unique skyline and it would be appropriate to mark a building that is full of modern art.

erin
09/27 12:38 PM

oh no!  somebody dropped their beehive on the model right before they were photographing it.  when will people realize you can make a stand-out building without tacking on some crazy shape.  in an area of BIG BRICK BUILDINGS (i.e. warehouse district)  i think just the base of this building would stand out a lot and draw people to it.  can you occupy the beehive?  whats its purpose other than ornamentation?  can birds nest in it?  does that mean its green?

Cindy
09/27 01:52 PM

I don’t know, it is still a design concept…I like the idea of something really different and ‘out-of-the-box’.  I just googled some other contemporary art museums and there are some oddities out there.  Just the fact that this is happening here is pretty cool.  I’d like to something stand out among the brick buildings…

David
09/27 02:03 PM

Me too Cindy.  Whats wrong with something wild, fun even, downtown.  European cities have tons of traditional architecture blended with wild new stuff.  I would much prefer these concepts to some goofy fake traditional look or completely lifeless box.

go go girl
09/27 02:50 PM

I agree that something “wild, fun, different and out-of-the-box” is an appropriate goal, particularly for a modern art museum. Iconic buildings are a wonderful addition to any city.

And I strongly agree that the “fake, goofy, traditional” stuff is making Raleigh look more than a bit trite in places.

I just don’t think Marge Simpson’s hair is the way to go. But I could be wrong.

Chad
09/27 03:45 PM

Whatever form this finally takes it will hopefully serve as an iconic structure and should help encourage some interesting advancements to the warehouse district. I prefer the third scheme (the rectangular apartment unit).

r o b
09/27 04:49 PM

The expression of forms feel like they should be reversed to me. The gallery space should be the irregular/sculptural form beause of the things being put inside and the flexibility associated with those spaces.  Having a residential component in an oddly shapped space will be hard to furnish and layout efficiently.

RaleighRob
09/27 05:23 PM

I’m all for the goofy wild stuff that’s unusual to be built in downtown, too.  But of all parts of a magnolia to put on the building, the seed has got to be the least interesting.  The flower or leaves would be nicer wouldn’t it?

Jedidiah
09/27 06:02 PM

The fact that each of you is creating a name for this building is proof that it is somewhat intriguing to each of you.  This may or may not be the final form, but it seems that everyone wants to call it by their own name. 

Why don’t we do this more for items of “architecture” in Raleigh that deserve to be slapped by their horrible design, like stucco cornices (every condo building in Raleigh), red brick on most buildings, cookies and cream concrete (RBC),  etc. etc. 

We need this building in downtown Raleigh, whatever shape it is.  Remember Bilbao when Gehry’s building first landed.  Now think what Bilbao has done with the itself over the years.  I am not comparing this building to the Guggenheim but the fact that we need better design that isn’t just a box in downtown Raleigh.  We need distinguishable forms of architecture if we are going to move into the 21st century of design at some point. 

The buildings in this city blend in too much with the surroundings creating too much complacency.  We need variability and hopefully CAM will create this.

That said, I’ll get back on rendering some images of CAM.

Jedidiah
09/27 06:09 PM

Also, the program of the building will be ground floor retail and museum shop, second floor Contemporary Art Museum, and tower (whatever shape name you call it) would be residential.

TR
09/27 07:10 PM

The eifel tower is an eyesore.

lauren
09/28 02:17 AM

I think the building feels a bit unresolved- perhaps if it wasn’t just a beehive tacked on to an otherwise typical modernist-style museum, we’d all feel differently.  I like both pieces for separate reasons, just not together in that way.

Robin
09/28 03:38 AM

All new buildings are unresolved in the predesign phase.

At first, when I saw that image of the model, I thought it was a picture of a contemporary work of art.  When I realized it represented a structure in which to experience contemporary art, I thought, ok, why not?  Artists have the opportunity to just say, “why not?” much more than architects.  Maybe if we let some architects have some fun (on this scale) here in Raleigh, others will follow.  And that could be fun for all of us.

Doc
09/28 04:39 AM

Raleigh is in dire need of exciting new buildings downtown! The two towers on Fayetteville St. are the most conservative, early-90’s-looking buildings to ever form a city skyline.

It’s the people who moan about anything that is different that are holding Raleigh back from having a real downtown.

Listen, I don’t think the “seed” is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen but I do think it would look pretty cool through the trees outside of downtown if it was really a “tower”.

It’s way cooler than the base of the building. The base reminds me of all the other buildings downtown.

It’s a contemporary art museum, people. Raleigh’s not a small town anymore. Get over it. You’re not the boss of it and nobody is.

Sam
09/28 02:32 PM

Form Form Fun Form? What is smart about this building? I want some intellectual rigor here. What is driving the polycentric-net-blob scheme, how is this form derived, what unseen forces in the warehouse district are making this happen? What is the context? I am not advocating a literal contextual translation but something interpretive, abstract and maybe if we are lucky something witty that amuses us like modern art. Unfortunately Raleigh would probably accept Gehry’s wads of t.p., especially if it comes in a Tiffany box. The so called “Bilboa Effect” just isn’t that effective. Bilboa is lame, I’d take Raleigh any day.

Dan
09/28 02:48 PM

The Hipster Hive?

Jedidiah
09/28 02:50 PM

It would be awesome to have a bar at the bottom called:  Hive Bar.

the truth
06/06 10:55 PM

too bad that this will never be realized because of bureaucratic red tape and a complete lack of vision for this potentially great city.

im pretty sure it will end up a garden beside a brick box.

joshua
06/08 02:58 PM

i’d be down for this. raleigh is in dire need of some defining buildings. and having seen the new stadium in beijing, its clear that some non linear thinking can really advance a city.

but looks like this is the latest iteration: http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive/raleigh-contemporary-art-museum-4/
i’d agree with the comment that this iteration is commendable for trying to embrace the warehouse feel. but the exterior doesn’t reel me in like a hive would.