Architect and Rice College alumnus Charles Renfro, associate at Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), is returning to the Houston campus of his undergrad alma mater for the creation of a cross-disciplinary “extroverted mini-campus” devoted to the visible arts. Described by the agency as a “machine for the manufacturing of artwork,” the 50,000-square-foot multi-department constructing is called Susan and Fayez Sarofim Corridor and shall be situated straight adjoining to the Michael Maltzan Structure-designed Moody Heart for the Arts and never too removed from the Shepherd Faculty for Music’s Alice Pratt Brown Corridor, and the newly accomplished Brockman Corridor for Opera. The brand new corridor will incorporate exhibition areas, studios, outlets, labs, school workplaces, and extra below a sprawling single roof.
A markedly clear and barn-like construction composed of pre-engineered metal portals spanning 160-feet, DS+R’s design for Sarofim Corridor embraces prefabricated building methods and promotes seamless interplay throughout creative disciplines whereas paying homage to Rice’s iconic, now-demolished Institute for the Arts—higher referred to as the “Artwork Barn”—and its sibling construction, the Rice Media Heart.
Commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil and accomplished in 1969 and 1970, respectively, the Artwork Barn and Media Heart had been designed by native architects Howard Barnstone and Eugene Aubry in what Rice referred to “as a dramatic development of the ever present Butler constructing, the mass-produced, pre-engineered metallic constructions that grew to become widespread following World Warfare I.”
Erected at a fast clip and meant solely to face quickly, the straightforward wood-framed, corrugated metal-clad constructions, which evoke the agricultural outbuildings dotting the agricultural Texas panorama, collectively served because the epicenter of creative goings-on at Rice for over 5 a long time. In 2014, the Artwork Barn was razed to make method for the Moody Heart whereas Sarofim Corridor will rise the place the Media Heart as soon as stood.
“What’s actually distinctive in regards to the web site for this undertaking is the historical past of the previous Artwork Barn and Media Heart buildings—two easy but iconic metallic buildings whose significance can’t be ignored,” mentioned College Architect George Ristow in an announcement. “DS+R’s preliminary idea for the brand new constructing cleverly weaves the symbolism of that historical past with the dimensions, materiality and porosity of the broader campus cloth. With the constructing being on the outward-facing perimeter—and at an entrance into campus that has advanced into probably the most energetic and dynamic entry factors—it’ll undoubtedly have a unique sort of visibility past the hedges that shall be leveraged as a brand new and distinctive gateway to the Rice arts hall.”
Though particulars and design renderings of the four-story Sarofim Corridor have solely simply been introduced by Rice, DS+R was chosen for the $25 million undertaking in 2020 by way of a nationwide competitors. The New York Metropolis-based agency is joined by a bigger design workforce that features, amongst others, Jackson & Ryan Architects within the function of government architect, OJB Panorama Structure, Fisher Dachs Associates as theater guide, and Threshold overseeing acoustics and AV parts. A groundbreaking is slated for subsequent yr with a goal completion date of 2024.
Sarofim Corridor is technically not the primary Rice fee for DS+R. In 2014, the agency was tapped by the college to design a 600-seat opera home on the web site of what was as soon as a parking zone. Work on that undertaking was in the end pushed again and the agency, having ushered the undertaking by way of the pre-design section, was changed by Allan Greenberg Architect for the schematic and design phases. That years-in-the-making, classical-style undertaking, now referred to as the Brockman Corridor for Opera, lastly broke floor in 2017 and, as talked about, shall be a neighbor of Sarofim Corridor.
As for Renfro, who was born outdoors of Houston within the metropolis of Baytown and graduated from Rice in 1989, his personal expertise on the college was a department-spanning one. As reported by the Houston Chronicle, he arrived on campus to check music earlier than shifting his focus to artwork and structure. (He obtained his M.Arch in 1994 from the Columbia College Graduate Faculty of Structure, Planning and Preservation.)
“Cross-disciplinary discourse is a trademark of the humanities within the twenty first century, however it has been tough at Rice since its services are scattered throughout campus,” Renfro defined in an announcement, recollecting the lengthy walks throughout campus that had been required between artwork courses of various disciplines whereas he was a Rice scholar. “Sarofim Corridor is not going to solely carry these packages collectively for the primary time, but additionally facilitate experimentation and collaboration between disciplines by way of the usage of open, clear, indoor/out of doors and public-facing house.”
“The constructing shell is considered a chunk of infrastructure: easy, sturdy and timeless, whereas the insides can rework as wants change,” Renfro added.
Main options of Sarofim Corridor embrace the glass-lined ArtStreet, a dynamic pedestrian hall that bisects the constructing diagonally and serves as a “bridge between Rice and the Metropolis” the place “college students, school, and the general public mingle […] creating a brand new social hub that inherits the DNA of the Rice arcades and courtyards.” One other main public-facing aspect is the West Porch, a sheltered out of doors extension of the constructing that can operate as a social entrance porch that may host courses, exhibitions, screenings, and different out of doors programming.
Inside Sarofim Corridor, which is able to present house for Rice’s Media, Movie, Pictures, Portray, Print-Making, Drawing, Sculpture, and Efficiency departments, there are plans for a 230-seat cinema, a set of versatile presentation halls that incorporate superior acoustical and technical methods, and a extremely adaptable core Efficiency House that may be employed for a variety of performing arts wants whereas accommodating an viewers of 125.
Becoming a member of these building-anchoring areas would be the aforementioned studios, workplaces, labs, and “devoted interstitial areas” that can operate as shared work and social zones, per DS+R. “Each house, enclosed or open, indoors or outside, serves a function on this course of: making, considering, discussing, experimentation and innovation all occur below one roof,” the agency elaborated. “Each wall and area of interest can develop into a floor or space for the show of artwork. The boundaries between disciplines, maker-spaces and exhibition areas are blurred.”
“With DS+R helming the design of a constructing that can present a versatile house for brand new considering across the making of latest artwork and efficiency, Rice shall be poised to activate dynamic interdisciplinary in addition to interdepartmental collaborations, conscious of the custom of aesthetics and social justice that the de Menils started regionally,” mentioned Bruce Hainley, incoming chair of Rice’s Division of Visible and Dramatic Arts. “Quickly the brand new constructing will enable a significant humanities division to resituate itself and the humanities as central to the college, making for probably the most compelling websites of invitation to the larger group of Houston.”