By Mark Rea

Everyone seems to be a collector of something these days. Antiques, baseball cards, cut glass, porcelain figurines - you name it and somebody probably collects it.

But what do you do when your collection becomes so extensive that you no longer have enough space to display it?

Most people either downsize the collection or build a room onto their house. But Raymond Nasher isn't most people and his collection is a bit more extensive.

The longtime Dallas-area businessman and real estate developer spent nearly 40 years assembling what is general regarded as one of the finest collections of modern (post-World War II) and contemporary sculpture in the world. Conservatively valued at $350 million to $400 million, portions of the collection have traveled the world in recent years, hosted by a variety of world-famous museums.

About three years ago, Nasher decided he wanted to have a permanent place to display his treasured collection. He also wanted to be able to share the distinctive pieces of sculpture with the residents of Dallas and conceived a outdoor garden where visitors could visit the art and get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, if only for a few minutes.

Three years later, that simple concept has grown into the $70 million Nasher Sculpture Center, which occupies an entire city block and features some of most up-to-date amenities and finishes available in the world today.

The unique indoor-outdoor facility consists of a museum, with 55,000 sq. ft of space on two levels, and the garden with another 80,000 sq. ft. to display larger sculptures.

"We are creating a place to learn about sculpture that will also be an oasis within the city," Nasher said. "This project is infusing new life into the Dallas Arts District, continuing a downtown rejuvenation that was begun nearly 20 years ago."

The project was constructed in three separate portions: the museum building, the garden and perimeter work, which includes landscaping and hardscape. The city of Dallas donated $2 million to help defray such costs as landscaping, sidewalk installation and utility relocation.

The design concept of the building is transparent so visitors walking along the Flora Street main entrance can peer all the way through the building and into the garden. In achieving that design, Nasher and his nonprofit Nasher Foundation commissioned Italian architect Renzo Piano, who wanted to give the museum grounds the feel of old Roman ruins.

But before that concept could be realized, the project needed a local architectural firm to serve as a liaison between various city agencies and handle local code issues and certain engineering facets. Nasher's longtime relationship with fellow Dallas businessman H.C. Beck led to Beck Architecture becoming that liaison and The Beck Group becoming construction manager of the project.

Unique Design Features

The structure's façade is made of travertine granite walls, which are complimented by generous amounts of glass adorned by handmade, plate-steel framework.

"We used some new techniques to make the façade appear ancient," said Neil McGlennon, senior project manager for Beck. "This old material comes from Italian quarries, but rather than slicing the stone as you normally would where it is strongest, the cut was made on the weak point, which are the sediment beds of the stone.

"After the cut, the stone is slabbed and honed, then blasted with a high-pressure water spray. It gives the stone a texture almost like a lunar surface. You erode all the weak points away, and leave the old tidal pools of time and achieve an authentic look of age."

The stone is then stacked to give the Old World look and is adorned with 2½-in.-thick matched panels, which flow into one another around and throughout the project.

Even the smallest of details on the project received meticulous attention from designers. Joints between façade walls were honed to within 1/16th of an inch; seams where steel plating was welded were carefully smoothed to eliminate any beading; specialized screws and fasteners were designed for different portions of the museum; and all overhead equipment hidden above the ceiling was installed to face the same direction so that it can be accessed from one point, providing for virtually seamless ceilings and walls.

The entire roof system of the museum is clad with injected casting aluminum with a distinctive European scallop design. But the design is fully functional and deflects direct sunlight away from the museum's interior.

"With a glass rooftop system, you can't let sunlight into the building especially in the summertime because it would just bake everything inside," McGlennon said. "The designer came up with this concept, which is really a series of mini-skylights. Each of the openings is oriented toward true north. That way, there is always light coming in, but it is never direct sunlight."

The sunscreen element rides approximately 6 to 8 in. above the beams that form and support the glass.

Everything below grade is cast-in-place concrete on a pan slab. Once the building rises to ground level, the shell changes over to structural steel.

The roof system features a slightly curved, 2-by-6-in. laser-cut plate steel beam fabricated in Italy. Its installation took the collaboration of nearly 20 different subcontractors. The roof is supported on center with hand-cast stainless steel. It was also designed to disperse up to 14 in. of rainwater per hour - approximately four times the most ever recorded in Dallas - through the center cavities of the wall system via stainless steel gutters.

Other unique design features built into the roof and ceiling system were two tracks of aluminum installed on the underside of the ceiling beam. One holds heat trace elements to eliminate condensation of the building's HVAC system due to sudden climate changes, and it is hidden by a special lighting track to illuminate the building.
Every third lighting track along the ceiling conceals such security features as cameras and smoke detectors cleverly disguised as lighting fixtures.

"I can't begin to tell you the intricacies of a project like this and what it takes to put everything together," McGlennon said. "We've been at this about three years, but everything is designed to flow seamlessly, so there has to be a lot of coordination and collaboration on the part of everyone associated with this project.

"The glass system is probably one of the most unique systems on the building.
Dallas-based Haley Greer collaborated with an Italian firm to fabricate the extensive amount of glass used for the building, then used its own crews to install the system.
It's very simplistic in nature, but more like the inner-workings of a fine watch."

In addition to several oversized galleries, the interior of the museum features a gift shop, café-style restaurant, office space and a huge steel and glass staircase that connects the two levels. On the lower level, much of which will be off limits to the public, there will be full kitchen facilities, cleaning and maintenance rooms for the art objects, mechanical equipment and a loading dock complete with a hydraulic truck lift to help place large sculptures in the garden.

Sculpture Garden

The garden appears to flow seamlessly from the indoor museum features an open gallery for larger pieces in Nasher's collection.

Much of the sculpture is shaded by live oak trees from Houston on a lush grass turf bed that would make many professional sports teams envious. Works from such renowed artists as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder and Magdalena Abakanowicz greet patrons, who may walk among the pieces throughout the garden.

At the rear of the property is one of the most unique features of the entire center.
International environmental and installation artist James Turrell was commissioned to create a freestanding "skyspace," which appears at first glance to be a simple black granite structure.

A closer inspection of the work - titled Tending, (Blue) - reveals a climate-controlled space with seating capacity for up to 25, topped by a special skylight that offers the viewers with an ever-changing display.

"This will be our only site-specific work for the sculpture center," Nasher said. "(Turrell) is one of the most exciting and creative artists at work today."

Steven Nash, director of the Nasher Sculpture Center, added, "There is a very important group of artists who have worked over the past couple of decades with light and projected imagery. This is the first piece by any of those artists in the Nasher collection."

Designed through the collaborative efforts of design architect Piano and Berkeley, Calif., landscape architect Peter Walker, the garden is adorned with several different types of flora, including bamboo and crepe myrtles among the more than 140 trees. A large reflecting pool spanning nearly the entire width of the garden is situated between the Terrell display and the museum building. It will feature an imported wooden boardwalk in the middle.

Construction was essentially completed for the facility last month. While several private events are scheduled, the official public opening for the sculpture center is Oct. 20.

USEFUL SOURCES

For additional information regarding this project, check these sources: