Articles by Sarah Amelar

Shaping the Show: Architectural interventions in museums and galleries

March 16, 2008

Whether the content of an exhibition is as ethereal as digital sound pieces or as concretely grounded as full-scale model houses, whether it draws on art, architecture, written documents, household objects, anthropological artifacts, or any other collection of information, the perennial conundrum is how to render the immaterial spatial—how to give the show’s concept impact and three-dimensional meaning for visitors moving through it. As artist Marcel Duchamp made abundantly clear when he signed a urinal for display in an art exhibition, the immediate surroundings can influence the perception, if not the experience, of the work presented. After all, even the

Billy Wilder Theater, Hammer Museum, UCLA

Casting light as a metaphor for film, Michael Maltzan and Lam Partners animate the Billy Wilder Theater

Sarah Amelar

November 19, 2007

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Like shooting stars against a night sky—or a glowing game of pick-up sticks—thin rods of white light dynamically charge the black-box auditorium of the Billy Wilder Theater in the Hammer Museum at UCLA.

Honda Advanced Design Studio

With high-speed, streamlined curves, the late George Yu created a shimmering cocoon of a workspace for Honda’s Advanced Design Center.

Sarah Amelar

September 3, 2007

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Before moving to this surprisingly exposed location in the Old Town area of Pasadena, California, the 10-person advanced-design team, an in-house R&D engine, had been buried deep in Honda’s corporate campus some 25 miles down the freeway, in Torrance.

New Music Building at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University

Tapping into the rhythms of the city, Saucier + Perrotte compose the new Music Building for McGill University, in Montreal

Sarah Amelar

July 19, 2007

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Unexpected edge conditions and juxtapositions characterize not only the location of McGill University’s New Music Building (NMB—until it gets a donor name), but also the complexities of the department itself.

The Roundhouse

John McAslan + Partners revives London's Roundhouse, a free-spirited performance venue with multiple past lives

Sarah Amelar

June 19, 2007

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Reincarnation has long been a way of life for the Roundhouse, a cylindrical building in the Camden section of north London.

Christ Church Tower

Boyarsky/Murphy slips an 11-hour home into the tower of Christ Church in London.

Sarah Amelar Raymond Ryan

April 1, 2007

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Christ Church was one of four dozen iconic churches erected by Christopher Wren in the City of London after 1666, when the Great Fire annihilated much of the famous Square Mile—a world center, then and now, for trading and banking.

The Institute of Contemporary Art by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Boston

Sarah Amelar

March 19, 2007

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After punching holes in the fundamental concept of museums, Diller Scofidio + Renfro actually creates one: a new building for Boston’s Institute of Contemporary art