The Boston Institute of Contemporary Art redefines itself through architecture, becoming a gem among asphalt and salt water.

Come for the art, stay for the view. As the new Institute of Contemporary Art building nears completion on the Fan Pier of South Boston, the bar for provocative architecture is being raised. Designed by the avant-garde team of Diller + Scofidio + Renfo, the new ICA is the largest commission to date for the firm. There are a lot of firsts for this project: the first new building for the ICA, the first project for the redevelopment of Fan Pier, and the first standalone building for the architects. And much like a first time, it left this reviewer feeling anxious, thrilled, and a little let down. On a cool spring afternoon I joined a work-in-progress tour of the museum with several eager journalists. Due to open on September 17, the museum is in a frantic home stretch to deadline; construction noise nearly drowned out presentations by ICA Director Jill Medvedow and architect Liz Diller. But even behind the scaffolding and caution tape, there was clearly a spectacle nearing completion. And even at this early stage, the new museum feels surprisingly one-sided. Approaching the site from the harbor walk presents a visually stunning work of contemporary architecture. Imagine a pliable wooden boardwalk breaking free from the ground to shift and form spaces, stairs, and a giant shelf. An exterior staircase, beginning at the water’s edge, winds upward from the pedestrian path and passes through a glass wall. This path then continues upward to create an indoor theater on the second level. The form eventually doubles on itself, returning toward the water as a heroic cantilevered box. The gallery spaces reside within this floating cube. For all of this dynamic energy occurring on the water’s edge, the museum’s entrance is located on the flatter, city-facing elevation. Something begins to fade.

One has to traverse a sea of parking-lot asphalt to enter the lobby. Inside, the museum experience begins with what will be a glass-enclosed lobby where the ceiling slowly dips toward the water’s edge: It coordinates with the slope of the theater seating on the second level and the exterior stair along the harbor walk. At the triangular crevice where the ceiling and the floor meet, the lobby dips down four feet to house a future bookstore and gift shop. To the right of the lobby, a passage leads to the learning center for children, a restaurant, and an open shaft for a giant glass elevator, which will transport patrons to the galleries and theater housed on the upper floors.

Entering the top floor of the ICA, the vastness of the galleries comes into focus. Taking advantage of steel super-trusses quietly tucked behind plaster walls, the two galleries are columnless. Multiple rows of zigzag skylights are somewhat reminiscent of an airplane hangar. Walking toward the doorway that hovers over the riverfront, an immense glass-walled hallway, stretching the width of the building, comes into view. This corridor connects the two galleries that are separated by the elevator/stair core, and it acts as a smaller, light-filled third gallery space.

The highlight of the top floor is an anteroom behind the glass-walled corridor, dubbed the mediatheque. This room is actually a bump-out in the building’s cantilever that creates six tiers of stadium seating looking down to a tilted window. Due to the pitch of the floor and the angle of the glass, a horizonless view of water fills the window frame. This surreal room will include laptops to access museum archives and video installations.

What inspired this unique building form? Diller explained that she and her colleagues drew the typology as an extrusion of the harbor walk; the voids between this wooden path become interior space such as the lobby and theater. Since the harbor walk inspired the architects as a form generator, it seems ironic to find the museum lobby’s only entrance on the city side of the building. The future restaurant will spill out on the harbor walk with a series of sliding doors, but this is not intended for museum access.

With its relocation to the sparsely occupied South Boston wharf, the ICA must become a destination in itself, without the aid of an active urban street. In time, the remaining open spaces of Fan Pier will be developed into a mixed-use neighborhood of businesses and residences. Creating a dynamic street presence prior to an actual street is a tough assignment. The comparatively dull ‘rear’ entrance of the ICA leaves the urban definition to future buildings, and it feels like a missed opportunity. In some ways this parallels the problem of single-family American homes, where one enters the house through a cluttered and unfinished garage rather than through the symbolic front door.

This discrepancy between the symbolic orientation of the new ICA versus the reality of public access is the weakest link in an otherwise uplifting architectural experience. Diller + Scofidio + Renfro have the talent to create beautiful, contemplative spaces. If we could briefly turn their gaze from the water’s edge back to the city, we might get a building that works as a dynamic space on all fronts.

The Boston Institute of Contemporary Art takes a bold step to redefine itself through architecture

By: BRYAN BIESER

Come for the art; stay for the view. As the new ICA museum building nears completion on the Fan Pier of South Boston, the bar for provocative architecture is being raised. Designed by the avant-garde team of Diller + Scofidio (now Diller Scofidio + Renfo) the new ICA is the largest commission to date for the firm. There are a lot of firsts for this project; the first new building for the ICA, the first project for the redevelopment of Fan Pier and the first stand alone building for Diller + Scofidio. And much like a first time, it left this reviewer feeling anxious, thrilled and a little let down.

On a cool spring afternoon I joined a works-in-progress tour of the museum with several eagerly awaiting journalists. Due to open on September 17th of this year, the frantic pace to meet the autumn deadline was strikingly clear; the construction noise nearly drowned out presentations by ICA Director Jill Medvedow and architect Liz Diller. And behind the scaffolding and caution tape what was developing on that cold, windswept pier? In terms of the basic aspirations for the new ICA, I would say that yes, this building is quite spectacular.

Approaching the site from the harbor walk presents a visually stunning work of contemporary architecture. Imagine a pliable wooden boardwalk breaking free from the ground to shift and form spaces, stairs and a giant shelf. An exterior staircase beginning at the water’s edge moves up from the pedestrian path and passes through a glass wall. This path then continues upward to create an indoor theater on the second level. The form eventually doubles on itself, returning towards the water as a heroic cantilevered box. The gallery spaces reside within this floating cube. And yet for all of this dynamic energy occurring on the water’s edge, something begins to fade on the city side of the structure. Moving away from the river walk the new museum feels surprisingly one sided.

Upon entering the museum the experience begins with a yet-to-be glass enclosed lobby where the ceiling slowly dips down towards the waters edge. The ceiling mimics the slope of the theater seating on the second level and the exterior stair along the harbor walk. At the triangular crevice where the ceiling and the floor meet, the lobby floor dips down four feet to house a future bookstore and gift shop. To the right of the lobby is a passage to the learning center for children, a restaurant and an open shaft to house a future glass elevator. With the galleries and theater housed on the upper floors of the museum, logic dictated that a large lift would best transport patrons to the “beginning” of the collection.

Entering the top floor of the ICA, the vastness of the galleries comes into focus. Taking advantage of steel super-trusses quietly tucked behind plaster walls, the two galleries are columnless. Multiple rows of zigzag skylights are somewhat reminiscent of an airplane hanger. Walking towards the doorway along the water’s edge, an immense glass-walled hallway stretches the width of the building. This corridor connects the two galleries separate from the elevator/stair hallway and acts as a smaller, light filled third gallery space.

The highlight of the top floor, hands down, is an anteroom behind the glass walled corridor titled the “mediatheque.” This room is actually a bump out in the building’s cantilever that creates six tiers of stadium seating looking down to a tilted window. Due to the pitch of the floor and the angle of the glass, a horizonless view of water fills the window frame. This surreal room will have laptops on counters to access museum archives and video installations.

With such bold geometries, the question arises of where this unique building form comes from. As explained by Diller + Scofidio, the form is drawn from an extrusion of the harbor walk. The voids between this wooden path become interior space such as the lobby and theater. Since the harbor walk inspired the architects as a form generator it seems ironic to find no entrance to the museum lobby from the water’s edge. The future restaurant will spill out on the harbor walk with a series of sliding doors, but this opening is not intended for museum access. Though the structural footprint is modest, it feels counterintuitive walking to the “reverse” side of the museum to reach the entrance.

Diller + Scofidio also use a folding technique to create prescribed views of Boston Harbor. In fact, any other view but those directed by the architects are almost visually prohibitive. One enters the lobby heading towards the water. The theater space looks over the water. The principle passage between the galleries looks over the water. At its best, this emphasis on the forced view can create a beautiful reflective space such as the mediatheque. At its worst, the view begins to feel like an architectural one liner; especially if the spaces are passed through in quick succession.

With its relocation to the sparsely occupied South Boston wharf, the ICA must become a destination in of itself without the aid of an active urban street. In time, the remaining open spaces of Fan Pier will be developed into a mixed use neighborhood of businesses and residences. Creating a dynamic street presence prior to an actual street is a tough assignment; but leaving the urban definition to future buildings feels like a missed opportunity. This dilemma is highlighted by the discrepancy of the entrance. If patrons are required to enter the building from the city side then why is this façade so flat? In some ways this is parallel the problem of single family American homes where one enters the house through a cluttered and unfinished garage rather than through the symbolic front door.

This discrepancy between the symbolic orientation of the new ICA vs. the reality of public access to the museum is the weakest link in an otherwise uplifting architectural experience. Diller + Scofidio have the talent to create beautiful, contemplative spaces; if we could briefly turn their gaze from the water’s edge back to the city we might get a building that works as a dynamic space on all fronts.