Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron has revealed its second redesign for a new building at the Vancouver Art Gallery after the project was pledged a nine-figure donation from a property developer.
The architecture firm has revised the massing and facade of the proposed building, opting for a copper-coloured woven metal covering the wooden soffits and structural elements underneath.
Horizontal bands of perforated copper-toned metal would be intertwined with shaped vertical rods to produce an effect similar to weaving fibres.
Herzog & de Meuron has released renders of a second redesign for the gallery
"Both wood and copper are equally present and visible," said Simon Demeuse, partner at Herzog & de Meuron.
"The copper skin has a veil-like quality; a texture and lightness which, like traditionally woven textiles, changes its appearance depending on the vantage point of the observer and the time of the day, creating a dynamic visual experience." This "textured human-scaled facade" will help to make the large structure, set to stand 68 metres tall with 45,000 square metres of floor space, "approachable", he added.
The studio is proposing to use intertwined copper to resemble woven fabric
Conversations with local artists led to the idea of using copper, the studio said, with the metal significant to First Nations peoples in British Columbia.
Skwetsimeltxw Willard 'Buddy' Joseph, one of four Indigenous artists who have been working a...