Beginning in the early 1960s, the University of California at Davis became home to a thriving academic art scene, with influential figures such as Wayne Thiebaud, known for his colorful paintings of everyday objects, and Robert Arneson, father of the Funk movement, among its diverse faculty. In recent years, the university has sought to reignite the creative energy of that era. A 2013 competition for the school’s first purpose-built art museum— previously, work was exhibited in a handful of galleries in existing buildings—called for a structure that would be a magnet on the sprawling campus. But the budget was extremely tight, and the client mandated a contractor-led design-build team.
Paired with contractor Whiting-Turner, architects SO-IL, based in New York, and the San Francisco office of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (BCJ) offered an unconventional solution. Rather than create a presence with building height, as the other shortlisted entries did, they proposed a one-story structure with a dramatic canopy reaching far beyond the building’s footprint.
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