Nearing completion
Eric Owen Moss Architects
Art Tower
Los Angeles, California
... a kinetic overlapping of both vertical and horizontal space...
Eric Owen Moss
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
The Art Tower is an information tower, constructed at the corner of Hayden Avenue and National Boulevard; the primary entry point into the re-developed zone of Culver City.
Image courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Conceptually, the tower has both introverted and extroverted planning objectives. Internal to the burgeoning site area of new media companies, graphic designers, and general office tenants, the tower will symbolize the advent of this important new urban development. The tower will provide a changing art display for local viewing, and offer a variety of graphic content and data on its five screens, concerning coming events and current achievements of the tenants who occupy that part of the city.
Image courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Image courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
With all the buildings in the immediate area governed by a 56 foot height limit, the 72 feet high Art Tower is an important exception to the local height rule. The project includes an open-air, excavated, concrete seating and staging space at its base that begins at minus 12 feet, and housing for all the electronic and media related equipment for the Tower.
The tower consists of five circular steel rings, approximately 30 feet in diameter. The rings are stacked vertically at 12 foot floor to floor intervals, and, as the height increases, the rings are staggered in plan, back and forth – to the north, east, south, and west – in order to establish proximity and viewing angles for various levels at various heights.
Projection screens at each floor are to be seen from cars on surrounding surface streets, from freeways, by passengers at train stops, from on-board the moving trains, and from area pedestrians at a variety of key walking and viewing points. Between each pair of staggered horizontal circular steel plains, the curving, conical projection screens are installed. Behind the screens, hung from the tower floors are a number of digital projectors, 12 in all, that will rear-project onto the translucent acrylic screens.
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Image courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
The tower is fabricated of standard structural steel sections - wide flange beams and columns, and channels – with panelized walls made of inch thick steel plate. All the shapes and components will are shop fabricated, and delivered to the site for erection.
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Because of earthquake design constraints, the tower is supported on a deep foundation of concrete piles with a continuous grade beam tying the piles together.
Drawing courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Site Plan
Sketch courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Sketch
Sketch courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Sketch
Sketch courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Sketch
Model photo courtesy Eric Owen Moss Architects
Model
Total area: 1,486 square feet
Total height: 72 feet
Estimated completion: 2009
Client: Samitaur Constructs
Architect: Eric Owen Moss Architects
Principal: Eric Owen Moss
Dolan Daggett
Pegah Sadr
Eric McNevin
Jose Herrasti
Vanessa Jauregui
Amy Drezne
Structural Engineer: Arup, Los Angeles
Bruce Danziger
Steel Fabricator: CHAMP Steel
Projection Screens: Plexiglas® Hi-Def™ Acrylic Screen
Eric Owen Moss Architects arcspace features
June 22, 2009