The museum is comprised of a series of generic gallery spaces where, due to the curved form of the glass windows, the variety of daylight entering the museum creates three distinctive galleries. Stacked vertical, dark galleries with artificial lighting are found to the south, and a large horizontal, naturally-lit gallery with panoramic views is located on the north side. In between these spaces is the sculptural gesture, creating a twisted sliver of roof light.
The first and second floors include four play zones arranged by color and programmed with activities that represent a certain aspect of a child’s learning: red is creative, blue is cognitive, green is social, and yellow is emotional. Guests of all ages can have an immersive and interactive experience, express their imagination, and not least be challenged by meeting other builders from all over the world.
BIGs third proposal for the new Kimball Arts center is designed as a series of gabled roofs, oriented on site for best daylight conditions and creating a volume that is compatible with the vernacular of the Park City area. Layering the program and mitigating the height difference between the site edges, the geometry steps back from the busy road at the upper level and extends towards ground plane to create a unified roofscape that houses galleries, classrooms, art studios, restaurant, and administrative spaces.
At Rue de la Verrerie the façade pushes a bridge across the street to connect to its neighbor. The traditional elements of architecture fuse into a continuous warped surface: wall becomes roof becomes ceiling becomes gate becomes bridge. At a glance the new architecture blends seamlessly with its neighbors. On closer inspection it is a social sculpture shaped by the flow of people passing between its streets and archways, courtyards and rooftops.
CityLife is located on the former site of Fiera Milano. The fairs primary axis, called Domodossola Axis, was the main pedestrian walkway to the pavilions dividing the site diagonally between Largo Domodossola and Piazza Amendola. This axis is maintained in the CityLife masterplan as a visual connection and further enhanced by the underground metro. BIGs site acts as an entryway to the axis, split in two parts.