Steve Chambers: Compares and Contrasts Historic and Modern Louisiana Architecture
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Steve Chambers, AIA, studying stairwell of new museumBuilt in 1967, the university’s first art center was designed by A. Hays Town modeled after the 1812 Hermitage Plantation, an antebellum building in Darrow, Louisiana. The building is completely surrounded by 24 Doric columns, laid in the Greek Revival manner with bricks covered by plaster, the columns narrowing slightly toward the top.
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| Town Museum in front of new Hilliard Museum |
Originally, this building was a pale pink, an authentic reproduction of a color popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in colonial Louisiana, made by crushing old bricks and mixing the dust with paint. A. Hays Town used bricks salvaged from Martin Hall, the university’s administration building demolished in 1963, for the costruction of the Art Center, as well as its color. Mr. Town also utilized the ‘embodied energy’ of the Martin Hall staircase railing and newel post, as well as recycling cypress flooring from a New Orleans convent and slate tiles used as ballast in New Orleans sailing ships for use in the Center. Whether or not this effort in sustainability was intentional, it was certainly a cutting-edge design decision by Mr. Town.
 Original museum reflected in the new museum's exterior glass wall |
Contrasting with its predecessor is a modern response designed by Eskew + Dumez + Ripple Architects. The new building is a steel-frame structure with precast-concrete walls on three sides and a glass curtain wall on the side facing the original Art Center. Depending on time of day and angle from which it is viewed, the glass alternates between reflective and transparent. Sometimes the viewer sees the old antebellum building in the glass; other times, we see the contemporary ‘bones’ and art of the new museum.
Of particular interest to me on my recent visit there was the stairwell of the new building. As one ascends to the contemporary art of the second floor, perforated metal walls and cathode tubing cast clean, white light and strobing images. From public spaces on the second floor, visitors can see the outdoor water feature and sculpture garden, as well as the original museum from an unusual vantage point.
When visitors look back at the old building they see the roots of Louisiana’s past. In the new design, they see the creativity and possibilities of its future. Both A. Hays Town and architecture firm of Eskew + Dumez + Ripple are to be commended for their vision and gift to Lafayette’s diverse cultural landscape. While the two buildings differ radically, they enhance rather ignore each other.
Town's original museum as seen from second floor of new museum
Eastern exterior view between old and new museums
Outdoor waterwall as seen from inside new museum gift shop
Second floor glass and metal corridor in new museum allows unusual vantage point to view antebellum museum from overhead
About Steve Chambers
Steve Chambers AIA, Residential Architects, Dallas TX. Steve is a Residential Architect and a licensed interior designer. He achieves unique styles by enquiring into what his clients think would be their ideal home and building a home that meets their stylistic aspirations while centering the design of their home around their daily habits.
Visit his portfolio or contact Public Relations Director, Stephanie Chambers.
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