 |
|
|
Designed by world-renowned architect,
Moshe Safdie, Crystal Bridges will be both
museum and culture center. As a place that
will house diverse activities indoors and
outdoors for all age groups, the facility will
offer a wide range of spaces conducive to
interaction and with varied character.
The site selected is a ravine fed by Crystal
Spring, steeply sloping with mature trees –
extraordinarily beautiful, yet fragile. The
challenge of the design was to create a
powerful sense of place in harmony with its setting, and to connect it to its surrounding
community, including downtown Bentonville.
Two structures, which are both dams and bridges, will be placed across the ravine forming two great
ponds. Additional structures will be nestled into the steeply sloping terrain on either side, containing
galleries, classrooms, a library, a lecture hall, curatorial and administrative offices. The bridge
structures will contain galleries in the northern bridge and reception and hospitality facilities in the
southern one. Further south within the pond, on axis with the bridges, will be a Great Hall, a multipurpose
public space.
A great variety of outdoor public spaces will interweave the complex – protected courtyards,
promenades along the water’s edge with both formal and informal sculpture gardens. The rest of
the site, approximately 100 acres, will be developed as a public park, including trails and picnic
grounds, well connected to the campus.
The complex will have two principal entrances. An east entrance will connect Crystal Bridges to the
regional roads, provide underground parking and truck docks and serve the public arriving by
car. A west entrance will be formed by a tower and a pedestrian bridge spanning across the treetops to
the hillside ridge, joining the trail system that connects to downtown Bentonville, a 15-minute
walk.
The design aims to enhance and protect the natural beauty of the site and to achieve a high level
of sustainability in the use of construction materials and methods, maximizing reliance on
daylight, water and flood management. Plant life will be integrated into the architecture, creating a
constant dialogue between the building and the landscape.
The buildings will incorporate primarily wood, harvested from the region, and concrete structures.
Innovated systems of construction of laminated wood and wood lattice space-frames will be used in
the bridge buildings, the Great Hall and the roofs of the gallery structures. Glass will be used generously,
and it will always be well-shaded.
The architecture seeks to create an
expression of the region, its fauna and flora, and particularly its history and culture.
|
|
|
|
 |