The Southwest Museum was designed in 1914 by Sumner P. Hunt and Silas Reese Burns Architects. The power of the original architectural scheme lies in the purity of a volume being imposed on a pristine hill. Throughout the years, a significant portion of the hill was carved to allow for parking.
As a site strategy we propose to revitalize the community’s connection to the site through renewal of original trails from Museum Dr. as a new landscaped path and garden, to expand the existing courtyard into a plaza, and to ‘bring back the hill’ by filling in the void of the existing hill with a new landscaped parking structure.
– Scheme A extends the existing courtyard offering framed views of the city to the northeast and southwest. The new building creates an architectural dialog between the Historic Building and the modern interpretation of its architectural style and massing.
– Scheme B places the new building across the valley from neighboring houses on the hill. The new building relates to the massing and orientation of the neighborhood blending in with the community context. A Native American pottery pattern is overlaid on the land originating a plaza interwoven with natural landscape.
– Scheme C reinforces the original design as built in 1914 with the building sitting unaccompanied on a pristine hill. To preserve this order the new building is ‘hidden’ underground with large openings that bring in natural light.