Cool Spaces!: "Art Spaces"

John Hill

13. January 2015

Atrium of Barnes Foundation by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (Photo: Screenshot)

Cool Spaces! The Best New Architecture, a documentary series on U.S. public television, has made its "Art Spaces" episode available online.

In each Cool Spaces! episode, host Stephen Chung, an architect and educator based in Boston, presents three buildings based on a particular typology. In addition to Art Spaces, the other three episodes in the show's first season feature Performance Spaces, Libraries and Healing Spaces. The buildings in the Art Spaces episode are:

Barnes Foundation
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Philadelphia, PA

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
Freelon Group
Charlotte, NC

Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Steven Holl Architects
Kansas City, MO

Chung's presentations mix together on-site footage of the buildings, discussions with architects and clients and others involved on the project, and interactive demonstrations that illustrate, for example, the way the lighting works in the Gantt Center or how the entry sequence of the Barnes plays out. The show is particularly a treat when it goes beyond what is normally scene online and in print magazines, exploiting the TV format. One such scene is when Chung heads to the top of the Barnes atrium with Williams and Tsien, giving viewers a glimpse of what is normally out of sight but integral to the building's presence and experience.