lugano_construction detail adition exterior wall.jpg

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In this project, the transformation of the slaughterhouse to a performing arts center and exhibition space began with an attitude towards the way in which culture is proliferated; it cannot be collected or defended as a series of precious objects but exists abstractly through the collective habits and practices of a community of people. Therefore the new center must not purely be a destination where art is displayed and consumed, but a place of production as well, serving both to continually refresh the art on display and to supply the city with public works.

The urban consequences of the additional function manifest itself as building additions that establish a presence on the street and celebrate the complex as a cultural monument. Establishing the façade of the central building as an icon, its importance as a historical artifact is established by the removal of the gatehouse currently in between it and the street creating a public plaza. Two additions flank the newly created open space contextualizing the old building by juxtaposing it with the new. The programmatic functions of the complex operate as individual pieces and gain meaning through their adjacencies and relationships to the other pieces as well as enhancing exterior spaces by creating symbiotic relationships.