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Weisner Building

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Artist/Creator (1)	Noland, Kenneth (1924-2010)
Artist/Creator (1).Nationality	American
Artist/Creator (1).Role	artist
Artist/Creator (2)	Pei, I. M.
Artist/Creator (2).Nationality	American (born in China, naturalized U.S. citizen in 1948)
Artist/Creator (2).Role	architect
Artist/Creator (3)	Fleischner, Richard (born 1944)
Artist/Creator (3).Nationality	American
Artist/Creator (3).Role	artist
Artist/Creator (4)	Burton, Scott (1939-1989 )
Artist/Creator (4).Nationality	American
Artist/Creator (4).Role	artist
Title/Caption	Weisner Building
Variant Title/Caption	Center for Arts and Media Technology; Weisner Arts and Media Center
Larger Work/Entity	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Site/Creative Center	Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States)
Date of Work	1984-1985
Description of View	Interior. Detail view of portion of Kenneth Noland's wall treatment showing three-dimensional features
Notes	Project Title: M.I.T. Collaboration. Project Description: Six artists were invited, in 1979, to participate in a collaborative project with I.M. Pei & Partners, to design the Weisner Building at M.I.T. By 1985, when the project was dedicated, artists James Turrell, Dan Flavin and Alan Shields had dropped out of the effort, in an atmosphere which was often tense and sometimes lacking in communication between the architect, M.I.T. representatives and the artists. The challenge of true artist integration in the design process was tested when a key decision to change the scale and design of the project had not involved the artists. While the architects and artists have collaborated before in history, the M.I.T. project represents a new departure. The remaining artists -- Noland, Fleischner and Burton -- have artistic interests that overlap with those of landscape design and architecture. Despite the tension, and perhaps because of it, the project has received much justified praise in the design world. The Weisner Building is a three-story structure shaped like a square box. There are few windows and very little pretense of openness about it. The grid surface of the exterior wall, which resembles graph paper, could be all that suggests what is going on inside. The building relates well to the other surrounding structures, including the Health Services Building designed by Gruzers & Partners & Mitchell/Giurgola. It is well situated on its site and in scale with surrounding buildings. Artist Richard Fleischner's treatment of the exterior courtyard complements the design of these buildings. Fleischner had to work with a sharply changing grade, the requirements for heavy pedestrian traffic through the middle of the site, and many competing architectural styles. Fleischner designed the entire courtyard. He determined which areas would be paved and which would be used for lawn and plantings, where seating would be located, and how light would affect this environment. His plan called for granite paving in the major pedestrian axis with a chess board pattern. This pattern mimics in design the patterns of the Weisner Building itself and the Health Services Building. Artist Scott Burton participated in the design of the atrium opening in the building interior. He designed the stairway and railing which descends to the ground level and several benches and chairs. The 'settee', located on the main level, allows the user to observe both entrances and the elevator at the same time by turning slightly. The benches, settee and railings were designed as an integrated work. Artist [Kenneth] Noland's contribution to this project involves the building's interior and exterior surfaces. He began with the idea that three basic colors -- yellow, red and black -- would be used. The grid-like aluminum panels, on the building interior and parts of the exterior, are separated by lines or 'slits' of these basic colors. Each color was painted in varying lengths and increasing in color intensity as they move along the building surface. The frequent color changes create a flickering effect as the eye moves over the surface, integrating square tinted panels and changing 'hits' of color. [Note: the information supplied by the vendor Art On File incorrectly gives the artist Kenneth Noland's first name as 'Richard.]
Technique/Process	architecture, interior design, furniture design
Century	20th Century
Related Persons	Artist/Creator (2) name also appears as Pei, Ieoh Ming; Pei, Yu-Ming; Bei, Yuming.
Subject	Architecture, American Architecture, 20th Century Universities (buildings) Public art Murals (any medium)
Publisher	ART on FILE
Publisher.Location	ART on FILE. 1837 East Shelby St. Seattle, Washington 98112 (United States). www.artonfile.com
Set/Project Title	New Directions in Public Art: Part I
Set/Project Author(s)	ART on FILE, 2000
Reference Number	Art on File PAI-19(9)-5
Collection Title	Architecture (Art and Art History Department images)
Collection Information	Collection administered by Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library (402) 472-1193
Copyright Information	http://contentdm.unl.edu/ah_copyright.html

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