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Creative
Discovery Museum
Building Design
Lee
H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership
Based
in New York City, Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership
is a recognized expert in children’s museum design.
The 29-year-old company is a full service architectural design
and museum services firm and has worked with such prestigious
clients as the Smithsonian institution, Library of Congress,
Children’s Museum of Manhattan and the Staten Island
Children’s Museum.
Creative
Discovery Museum and Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design
Partnership worked together to design a facility “rich
in imagery, exciting to the eye, welcoming to the visitor,
and friendly to the child,” – a backdrop for a
successful education program.
The development
of the character and mission of Creative Discovery Museum
was an integral part of the process, which led to its design.
The opportunity presented in Chattanooga was to integrate
the educational goals and objectives of the institution into
every aspect of the design of both the building and exhibits.
In fact, the intention was to eliminate the line between the
two, thereby creating architecture of complete engagement
with the interactive learning experience. In direct contrast
to the decorated black box which, in the name of flexibility,
characterizes many children’s museums, Lee H. Skolnick
Architecture + Design Partnership chose to make a specific
building whose architecture is both an accurate expression
and a functional manifestation of its philosophical program:
the creative process as it is explored through the arts and
sciences.
Recognized
experts in the fields of museum education, subject area specialties
and operations participated in the design team. Local Chattanooga
educators and children were involved to ensure local participation,
appropriateness and support.
The resulting
building and exhibits are a direct expression of both the
philosophical mission and the interpretive subject matter
of the institution. Principally, a 60-foot science tower acts
as an iconographic landmark on the city’s skyline. Referring
to the traditional clock or bell tower, this structure beckons
the public to gather at this community center. The tower encloses
optics activities at its base, leading up the spiral stairs
to its observation deck. Its visual arts counterpart is the
120-foot long glass wedge, which houses an interactive water
sculpture from end to end. The wedge, which presents a colorful,
constantly changing visual announcement to the public, is
inflected with respect to the city grid in order to welcome
people directly off the street. Other architectural elements,
arrayed around the white glazed panel housing the main exhibit
block, express their individual importance in relation to
the life of the Museum. These include the Little Yellow House
toddler play space and the truncated cone of the Rainbow Room
(for birthday parties and education classroom space).
Creative
Discovery Museum is already a distinctive landmark in downtown
Chattanooga. Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership
successfully created a facility that’s functional, yet
artistic and inviting.
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