Commercial Architecture June 2018 - 11

FEATURE

museums

The Gateway Arch Museum design is fully integrated into the National Register-listed landscape. The new entrance is precisely inserted
into the topography, allowing visitors to enter
the building through the landscape rather than
descending underground. Illustration: James
Carpenter Design Associates

landscape above while leading the eye down to the point of
transition into the original building. The ceiling's distinctive
undulating field of light heightens the awareness of this
luminous volume as a powerful reflection of the Arch grounds
and sky above," he said.
"This clarity of circulation is always maintained through
the new entrance and lobby. At the moment of entry, you see
down to the intermediate level mezzanine, an educational
interpretive space, enlivened by a large-scale floor map
of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, illustrating
the routes taken both by Lewis and Clarke as well as the
memorable spaces by Cooper Robertson and JCDA at

achievement, and beauty that must be compared with the

tens of thousands of pioneers moving by wagons further

the landmark Saarinen arch, elevate the cultural complex

most important American icons, like the Statue of Liberty.

to the west. Looking further down into the new expansion,

to become a more cohesive and engaging international

However, the setting of the Arch had diminished its potential

one sees the beginning of the new exhibitions leading into

destination. The museum and park now connect directly to

to inspire ideas and emotions. The design of the new museum

the restored Saarinen-designed museum and the lifts that

the 1862 Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, while also

and surrounding landscape has more fully realized that

will take you to the top of the Arch. The main escalator

engaging with and reinforcing the presence of the Arch.

potential through an ambitious but respectful intervention that

circulation is 'carved' into both side walls of the new west

interprets the spirit of the Arch and amplifies its relevance to

entry and they are flanked by open stairs which connect to

our time," said Scott Newman.

the mezzanine and lower level. Beneath the mezzanine is

"The museum design is fully integrated into the National
Register-listed landscape," said Cooper Robertson's Scott
Newman, FAIA. "The new entrance is precisely inserted into

"Since the inception of the Gateway Park, originally

the topography, allowing visitors to enter the building through

proposed in the early 1930s but not executed until the 1960s,

the landscape rather than descending underground. As one

the critical interconnectivity of the city to the Gateway Park

"From the exterior, the main axis of the entry is emphasized

enters, a luminous great hall is revealed with views deep into

and to the Mississippi River embankment has been missing,"

with both cantilevered and clear-span open-roof structures,

the museum's monumentally scaled exhibits below, elevating

said JCDA's James Carpenter.

which allow views down into the museum and of the Old

and enlivening the visitor experience, while respecting Dan
Kiley's original park design."

an open glass education space for school groups or special
functions," Carpenter continued.

"This has primarily been due to the divisive presence

Courthouse, establishing an intimate visual link between

of a six-lane-wide highway trench cut into the landscape.

the two landmarks. This notion of the open central axis is

JCDA's founder and principal James Carpenter described

A significant piece of MVVA's new work has created a

essentially what the Arch itself presents: that all circulation

the new museum experience: "The new entry is announced by

landscaped park over the highway that now links a sequence

symmetrically moves one toward or away from the implied

an arc of glass laid flat on the ground, reflecting the image of

of parks into a unified thread of green space connecting

'center,' whether one is moving through the landscape, the

the sky above, while the Arch itself scribes an arc against the

from west to east-from Washington Square Park, Poelker

new entrance, the museum entrance hall, or exiting from the

sky beyond. This welcoming gesture leads visitors down into

Park, Serra Sculpture Park, Citygarden, Kiener Plaza, the

base of either leg of the Arch. One meanders upon sinuous

the spaciousness of the new museum expansion, embedded

now restored Old Courthouse, Luther Ely Smith Park, and

paths through the site, capturing changing views of the

within the landscape."

to the now accessible Gateway Park and the banks of the

landscape above as well as enriching one's sense of the
interior spaces and exhibitions below," he said.

The design creates a coherent and memorable visit

Mississippi. Following this sequence of parks, when arriving

by integrating the museum content with the Arch, said the

at the Gateway Park, one now has the direct connection and

"The new entry, museum entrance hall, and the

architect Newman. "A linear exhibition offers various ways

visibility between the Old Courthouse, the new west entry, and

transformed original museum are defined by a deep

to navigate multiple stories on single and successive visits,

the Arch as a seamless pedestrian experience.

vocabulary of luminous materials and light. The museum's

merges seamlessly with the trip up the Arch, and then delivers

"The semicircular, glass-enclosed entry volume mediates

new sense of spaciousness and generosity directly responds

the visitor to its base to experience the great work itself," he

one's passage into the museum lobby, modulating the

to and references the revitalized landscape of the arch

explained.

brightness from outside to inside. As visitors transition into

grounds and its new engagement with the city, river, and

"As a work of great monumental public art, Eero Saarinen's

the below-ground entry foyer, the curved profile of the ceiling

region, establishing a new place that engages hope for a

Gateway Arch is imbued with meaning, technological

becomes immediately apparent, mirroring the presence of the

positive and sustainable future," Carpenter concluded.

commercialarchitecturemagazine.com

JUNE 2018

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