Sited on the edge of suburban St. Louis and rural Missouri, Laumeier Sculpture Park is an icon of the arts in the St. Louis region and one the most prestigious open-air museums in the country.  In an effort to not only display artwork year-round in a controlled environment, but also enhance their ability to provide high-quality learning experiences for the greater St. Louis community and for visitors from all over the world, Trivers Associates was commissioned to design the new Adam Aronson Fine Arts Center (AAFAC), park entry plaza, and renovate the original Estate House into the Kranzberg Education Lab.
Photography: Sam Fentress
Currently limited by the residential scale, proportions and physical limitations of the Estate House or the unpredictability of weather and the outdoor environment, the addition will allow the park to display work in an unrestricted and protected environment, extending their ability to reach more patrons.
While the genesis of new building form itself evokes the spirit of the site’s past agricultural use, this typology provides a utilitarian function.  True to native agricultural styles, the simple volume of the space allows flexibility of the gallery, allowing for exciting explorations in art, yet to be imagined and for the park to host revenue-generating functions as well.  The inclusion of support spaces (art staging, art archive, and a catering kitchen) also provide desperately needed programmatic uses.
Photography: Sam Fentress
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