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2007 Design Awards & Allied Arts & Craftsmanship Awards
DURA-LUX
The owner of a non-descript 5000 square foot building located at a major intersection of Kansas City’s self-declared Arts District asked an architect and an artist to suspend their specific disciplines: she asked that the artist and architect develop a singular, comprehensive building renovation approach for 1737 Main Street. The artist worked with computer-aided drafting software to co-develop plans, elevations, and construction details. The process blurred the disciplines to such an extent that the resultant project became simultaneously art + architecture, with no clear line depicting the beginning of one or the end of the other.
The artist and architect developed two strategies for the renovations: 1) Storefront Assemblies and 2) Intersected Lighting. The Storefront Assemblies corral local retail and light industrial vernacular into an aluminum framing system, presenting signage, clear vision glass, and stainless steel operable vents as an interchangeable kit of parts. The site lighting deals specifically with a dynamic urban intersection: Two custom, linear lighting systems “intersect” at the southwest corner of the building in the form of a kinetic lighting installation which continuously rotates and pauses to align with 18th Street, then with Main Street.
The sensibilities set forth by the exterior collaboration directly informed the finishes selected for the interior tenant. As a finishing touch, the artist and architect carefully selected the lobby furniture as a nod towards the iconic red stripes of the neighboring TWA Building.