Building Constructions

Polycarb House

Closed Loop BCL

Hypar Canopy

Shared Beds


Material Museum

4815 Graustark St

Draped Stone

Flat Stand

Tip Tap




Material Museum

Type Museum & Cultural

Date 2020

Location Boston, MA

Location Winner



The design approach for the Material Museum was to treat the building as both a gallery and a display. The initial ambition was to use the building itself to communicate the materials and histories of the discipline of architecture. In doing so, the building becomes an instrument for learning. In response to the four types of gallery spaces required, the building stacks vertically, both material and spatial typologies. 

The large full-scale galleries are housed at the top of the building using steel and channel glass on the fourth floor, followed by precast concrete on the third floor, creating large ceiling heights and massive spans. The second floor is made of mass timber, further reducing the spacing of the members while also increasing their size. The reduced span and ceiling height accommodate scaled models, in a more intimate gallery space. On the ground floor, the shift from timber to stone further reduces the column spacing while creating a nested urban landscape that steps down to create the entrance plaza and museum shop. The digital media gallery is located just below the urban gallery. Finally, the primary auditorium is positioned to negotiate the lowest two floors.   




The Axonometric Drawings, Of Both Building And Structure, Demonstrate The Densification Of Structure And Envelope. 


The first design move was to define a horizontal line across the site. The line which runs from one corner of the site to the midpoint of the opposing edge produces a north-facing skylight that illuminates the depth of the building.  The large wall defined by the skylight splits the plan. Parallel to the wall, the primary public circulation cuts obliquely across the stacked program through an oversized straight runs staircase.

The Galleries Range In The Types Of Objects On Display As Well As The Associated Spaces Necessary And Spatial Implications Are Mapped Onto Four Different Material Systems And Resulting Structural Grids


The Stacked Galleries Which Expand As They Ascend Are Revealed In The Short Section


The Long Section Reveals The Straight-Run-Stairs, Which Parallel The Stone Wall And Connect The Various Gallery Spaces



The Structural Isometric Reveals The Stacked Systems
Steel Floor Plan Sized For Full Scale Architectural Installations
The Large Full-Scale Galleries Are Housed At The Top Of The Building Using Steel As The Structural System And Channel Glass As The Envelope On The Fourth Floor
Concrete Floor Plan Sized for Large Scale Models
With The Shift From Steel Trusses To Precast Concrete Beams, Columns Are Inserted Which Pick Up The Spans And Start To Suggest Possible Configurations For The Gallery.
Timber Floor Plan Sized For Architectural Models
With The Shift From Precast Concrete To Mass Timber The Compressed Space Serves As A Gallery Sized For The Display Of Architectural Models.
Entrance Plaza And Lobby Plan

The Stone Wall Ties Into The Floor And The Columns Of The Ground Level. To The Left, The Two  Public Circulations Are Visible, The Ascending Staircase To The Elevated Galleries In The Background, And In The Foreground, The Descending Staircase To Galleries Below.

Digital Gallery Plan
The Exhibition Gallery Receives Indirect Illumination Through The Stair Opening. The Edge Of The Stone Wall Is Visible To The Right. The Half Round Profile Allows The Wall To Float In The Space.


Auditorium Plan


The Two Straight-Run-Stairs Are Of Equal Width And Stacked To Facilitate Above-Ground And Below-Ground Circulation


Aligned With The Axis Of The Stair, One Can See Either To The Top Gallery, Made Of Steel And Illuminated Through Large Skylights, Or Down To The Media Gallery, And The Auditorium Below.

The Rendered Evleation Shows The Shift From Channel Glass, To Precast Concret, And Finally To A Wood Rainscreen
The Front Elevation  Reveals The Shift Between The Sight Boundary And The Solar Orientation.
Back Elevation Of The Material Museum  Is Oriented North And Opens Up The Allow Defused Light Into The Gallery Spaces.


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DCS