Museum of Moving Image Wins 2013 Red Dot Design Award
LEESER Architecture’s design for the Museum of Moving Image has recently been announced as the winner of the 2013 Red Dot Design Award in its highly competitive Architecture and Urban Design category. Completed in 2011, the Museum of the Moving Image houses a comprehensive collection dedicated to educating the public about the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media.The existing structure is seamlessly integrated with the substantial new addition through a grand lobby which connects the two. More information on their award after the break.
Moscow Polytechnic Museum – Education Center Proposal / Leeser Architecture
Designed by Leeser Architecture their design concept for the Polytechnic Education Center takes its cues from the rich history of modern Russian architecture of the early part of the twentieth century. Located in the Lenin Hills section of Moscow, which play an important role in the history of Moscow as a place of radical experimentation, the new institute symbolizes this incredible energy and conflation of future inventions with past achievement as a new symbol of global importance. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Video: Caught in the Act / LEESER Architecture
Watch Thomas Leeser of LEESER Architecture share some insight into what architecture means and how his firm expresses that philosophy. One of our favorite lines is when Leeser stated, “We are not architects with a particular style; we are architects with a particular message.” The clip shares some background pertaining to Leeser’s Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, New York that exemplifies the firm’s idea of a changing continuous media surface and ties the conceptual understanding between film and architecture. What are your thoughts on Leeser’s closing comment when talking about the Bric media center and Urban Glass project – “Our work can influence and change the world around us, there is a really impact…it’s not just like another building” – perhaps, not just in terms of Leeser’s work, but for the field of architecture at large.
Moscow’s Polytechnic Museum Proposal / Leeser Architecture
Leeser Architecture was recently awarded the second prize in international design competition for the reconstruction and renovation of Moscow’s Polytechnic Museum. The 430,000 sq ft Museum was built in three stages from 1887 to 1907 and has since become an architectural and cultural landmark in Moscow. Their design included covering the courtyards of the existing building with an additional 22,000 sq ft of exhibition space identified as ‘the Cloud.’ The Cloud, comprised of all glass, floats above the proposed active courtyard spaces, allowing for visitors to experience the feeling of walking on air. When occupying the Cloud visitors are granted unprecedented views over the city of Moscow establishing the Museum as a cultural destination. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Museum of the Moving Image / Leeser Architecture
The Museum of the Moving Image opened its doors this past weekend sharing with the public its expansion and addition of a 264-seat theater, 68-seat screen room, Video Screening Amphitheater and gallery for changing exhibitions. The complete redesign of the ground floor plus construction of a three-story addition and Courtyard Garden, has doubled the size of the existing building, enabling growth and innovation in the Museum’s uniquely comprehensive presentation of screen culture in all its forms (film, television, and digital media) and welcoming visitors into an experience in which architecture is seamlessly fused with the moving image.
Designed by Leeser Architecture, the Museum of the Moving Image is hoping to achieve LEED Silver certification. Follow the break for a section, photographs and a complete project description.
Architects: Leeser Architecture
Location: 35 Avenue at 37 Street, Astoria, New York, USA
New York Founder and Principal: Thomas Leeser
Project Manager: David Linehan
Design Team: Simon Arnold, Kate Burke, Sofia Castricone, Henry Grosman, Joseph Haberl
Owner’s Representative: Levien & Company, Inc.
Rendering: VUW
Project Area: 50,000sqf (existing) 47,700sqf (new construction)
Project Year: 2008-2011
Photographs: Peter Aaron/Esto. Courtesy of Museum of the Moving Image
