Where do your eyes take you when you first enter the Museum?
This 5,270 square-foot, three-story Atrium features a dynamic ceiling installation of hanging wood slats — a work of art on its own.
Comprised of over six thousand individual boards meticulously spaced across the entire expanse of the atrium, the slats are plywood — a common building material. However, the installation’s scope and impact heighten the work’s medium.
Under your feet, the polished, custom concrete floor also feels like a work of art. Notice how the curving bands of aggregate stone mirror the ceiling above, all while leading you through the space.
The Atrium is a centerpiece, serving as the primary “stem” at the heart of the Museum and connecting the Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries, Performing Arts Theater, Windgate Art School, and social spaces to this central point.
Finally, your eye is drawn to the Grand Staircase. Once again, mimicking the topography of our Macarthur Park site, the North and South entrances are built into two different levels.
The Grand Staircase creates a smooth and easy transition between these levels, while also connecting you to the Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries and Cultural Living Room.
With its curved slope, the staircase echoes the flow of the ceiling and floor, while its balcony offers a unique and breathtaking view of the Atrium at large.
Each of these artistic design choices coalesce into an organic and welcoming space.
The roof and grand clerestory windows provide a flood of natural light, reflecting off the frosted glass and the polished plaster walls, changing the ambiance of the Atrium throughout the day with the color of light.
The mirrored nature of the floor and ceiling provide a flow of connectivity, guiding your steps, allowing each Museum space to be at once independent and part of the greater whole, all while allowing the interior of the building to feel ever connected to the park and city.
