Week 13: contextualizing an example of postmodern design.

1-photo by: Mahdi ( primary research )

2- photo by: Mahdi ( primary research )

3- photo by: Mahdi ( primary research )

Art movement: Contemporary Art movement itself.
Project Details:
Location: Nottingham, United Kingdom
Construction Date: 2004–2009
Client: Nottingham City Council
Area: Approximately 3,500 square meters
Architects: Adam Caruso and Peter St John
Project Team: Collaborating artists, structural engineers, services consultants, cost consultants, and project managers contributed to its realization.
The gallery officially opened its doors in 2009.
Caruso St John Architects. (2019). Nottingham Contemporary. [online]
Caruso St John Architects masterminded this cultural gem.
The project was commissioned by the Nottingham City Council through an invited competition.
The design reflects a fresh interpretation of traditional Southern California architecture, with a nod to the region’s Spanish Colonial heritage. www.nottinghamcontemporary.org. (n.d.). Architecture in Conversation: A Conversation with Adam Caruso.
Nottingham Contemporary has so many futures:
its interior is characterized its spaciousness, to allow many exhibitions and performances to contribute to the Art gallery.
The central gallery space is a highlight, providing a versatile environment for showcasing both object-based visual art and time-based performance art (in the ground floor).
The design incorporates concave precast concrete panels with an embossed cherry blossom lace pattern, making something special and visually appealing to the gallery.

4-artist-run spaces

Its artistic vision draws inspiration from the artist-run spaces of downtown New York in the late 1960s. These spaces were hubs for object-based visual art and time-based performance art.

5-Gordon Matta Clark and Trisha Brown urban spaces

Artists like Gordon Matta Clark and Trisha Brown directly engaged with urban spaces, influencing the Nottingham Contemporary’s ethos.

6-cherry blossom lace pattern

Key features include an external envelope of concave precast concrete panels adorned with an embossed cherry blossom lace pattern.

7-Guaranty Building in Buffalo

The central gallery boasts a reflected ceiling plan and intricate roof coffer detail.
The façade fabrication draws inspiration from the Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York, and machine-made Valenciennes Lace from Nottingham’s Museum of Costumes and Textiles.