For a building housing the world's largest accessible collection of espionage artefacts, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners' design for Washington DC's International Spy Museum is decidedly conspicuous; even when – or perhaps especially – considering the proposal themes of 'concealment' and 'in plain sight'.
Be that as it may, new renders of the museum building are aesthetically impressive, possessing clear – if stripped down – parallels with practice founder Richard Rogers' iconic co-design of the Centre Georges Pompidou (in no small part due to RSH+P's signature red detailing). The most prominent new alteration within the firm's masterplan for the city's L'Enfant Plaza, the Museum features an expansive, inverted trapezoid atop a single floor, glass walled 'atrium' at ground level.
The building's key functional spaces are found in the 'exhibition' and 'events' boxes: the former featuring three levels of exposition, theatre and teaching areas; the latter a double height glass structure perched on top of the exhibition halls, offering further event space and lofty panoramic views of the city and waterfront.
The International Spy Museum, explains the practice, will influence the character of the area 'by generating activity and interest within a neighbourhood noted for large scale government office buildings'. Building proposals for the new site and structure were submitted to the US Commission of Fine Arts on 16 July – approval is now awaited. The museum is currently located within downtown DC's Pennsylvania Quarter; as well as a permanent collection including such idiosyncratic trinkets as a lipstick pistol, a pigeon camera and a pair of spectacles concealing a cyanide pill (for spies favouring suicide over torture), it also hosts a range of 'interactive spy experiences' and, currently, a comprehensive exhibition on the history of Bond villains.
The firm's designs are aesthetically impressive, possessing clear – if stripped down – parallels with practice founder Richard Rogers' iconic co-design of the Centre Georges Pompidou
The most prominent new alteration within the firm's masterplan for the city's L'Enfant Plaza, the Museum features an expansive, inverted trapezoid atop a single floor, glass walled 'atrium' at ground level
The building's key functional areas are found in the 'exhibition' and 'events' boxes
The former includes three levels of exposition, theatre and teaching areas
The latter is a double height glass structure perched on top of the exhibition halls, offering further event space and lofty panoramic views of the city and waterfront
-
Lauded British designer Grace Wales Bonner is the new head of menswear at HermèsThe LVMH Prize winner will replace Véronique Nichanian, the Parisian house announced today
-
With no tasting notes to go by, Highland Park offers a new way of drinking whiskyMichelin-starred chef Björn Frantzén has collaborated with the Orkney distillery on ‘Between You and I’, a 16-year-old single malt whisky, where drinkers are encouraged to explore personal memories and emotions when tasting
-
Matsuya Ginza lounge is a glossy haven at Tokyo’s century-old department storeA new VIP lounge inside Tokyo’s Matsuya Ginza department store, designed by I-IN, balances modernity and elegance
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in LondonRegent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the marketNorton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in PhiladelphiaThe new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
