Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Institute Of Contemporary Art

Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan

INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Diller Scofidio + Renfro

AREA
65000.0 m²

YEAR
2006

PHOTOGRAPHS
Iwan Baan, Nic Lehoux

CATEGORY
Museum

LOCATION
Boston, United States

MANUFACTURERS
Bendheim, Pilkington, Sto, Oldcastle APG, Design Communications, Karas and Karas Glas, Naturally Durable, Wausau Window and Wall Systems

LEAD ARCHITECT
Diller Sofidio + Renfro

LIGHTING
Arup

ACOUSTICAL CONSULTANT
Jaffe Holden Acoustics

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Seamus Henchy and Associates

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Skanska

THEATER CONSULTANT
Fisher Dachs Associates

EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT
Perry Dean Rogers and Partners

Text description provided by architect.

The ICA is the first museum to be built in Boston in 100 years. The 65,000 sf building includes temporary and permanent galleries, a 330 seat multi–purpose theater, a restaurant, bookstore, education/workshop facilities, and administrative offices.

It straddles the competing objectives of a dynamic civic building for public programs and an intimate, contemplative environment for viewing art.

Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan

The site is bound on two sides by the Harbor Walk, a 47–mile public walkway. The Harborwalk is used as a civic surface that extends up to form the public grandstand, flattens into the theater stage, and wraps the surfaces of the theater extending into a horizontal tray that holds the gallery and shelters the grandstand.

Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan

The waterfront is both a great asset for the museum and a distraction from its inwardly focused program.

Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan

A choreographed passage through the building dispenses the visual context in small doses.

Upon entry, the view is compressed under the belly of the theater, then scanned by the glass elevator, used as a variable backdrop in the theater, denied entirely in the galleries, and revealed as a panorama at the crossover gallery.

Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
© Iwan Baan

The mediatheque suspended under the cantilever edits the context from view, leaving only the texture of water. The Institute of Contemporary Art is a collaboration with Perry Dean Rogers as Associate Architect.


Institute Of Contemporary Art
1st Floor Plan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
2nd Floor Plan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
3rd Floor Plan
Institute Of Contemporary Art
4th Floor Plan


Institute Of Contemporary Art
Section 01
Institute Of Contemporary Art
Section 02
Institute Of Contemporary Art
Section 03

Diller Scofidio + Renfro
T +1 212 2607971
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
601 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001, United States