This project hinges on the notion that architecture is, above all else, a way of seeing. It is the artifice which we construct to make sense of the world, to establish order from chaos. A museum of architecture, therefore, becomes a museum of the various ways we see the world. It is not concerned with its appearance in the city, so much is it interested to curate a perspective on the city which is meaningful, to use its parts to frame an experience of Copley Square, Boston, which leads its visitors a heightened sense of meditative awareness of the built environment.

The question of what is “on display”, whether it is the exhibits, the city, or the building itself, is ambiguous (indeed, it seems intentionally so). The real question at hand is: how are the forces of the program (internal), and the city (external), negotiated and woven together on the given site? The position of the plot, combined with the size of the program, generate an urban infill typology which applies disproportionate pressure on the facade to communicate the museums intent.

A datum is established upon which the interplay of external forces and internal forces will occur. This datum is separated from the city, yet defined by it. It communicates an architecture which is engaged but autonomous. Four elements are identified as points of interest which will anchor the experience of moving through the museum: 1/2/3/4. The apertures are positioned and transformed on the datum to create maximum compositional dynamism not of the facade itself, but within the pictorial frame of its apertures, from inside / out. The window which frames the Hancock Tower as the tallest subject is positioned the longest on the facade, the Boston Public Library, which is the westernmost subject, is positioned easternmost. The desired outcome is a sort of intersection of perspective, each which incorporates as many same or similar elements between views as possible, to demonstrate that perspective is everything. Copley Square, for example, may appear active and vivid as the middle ground of the lowest picture window, but quiet and abstract from 100’ above.

Once the form principle apertures are established, the program unfolds around and weaves into projective geometry. That is, a gaze is established looking inside / out, but only in service of instrumentalizing the projective geometry from the outside in. The design is

1) identify target

2) establish projection plane

3) locate point of perspective

4) calculate perspective geometry

5) extend projective geometry back onto the site, to establish lines of reference for organizing program.

6) link moments to create a fluid, collaged experience. Establish a path of travel which navigates the exhibits and frames in a continuous way, both horizontally and vertically.

7) separate program into free / open zones and controlled / contained zones: the former benefiting from the dynamism of natural daylight, diffused / live acoustics; the latter from intimacy, controlled lighting, and acoustic strategies.

8) develop open zones so light sound and movement reflect naturally and free, without much technical manipulation; develop close zones so light and sound are controlled per programmatic requirements.