Project Three, Part Two, Claudia Kwon

Guillermo Kuitca's Gallery in Downtwon Toronto

Section (Scale 1:100)

Plan (Scale 1:100)


Perspective Drawings (Scale 1:100)

Elevation (Scale 1:100)

Model (Scale 1:100)



Designer's Statement

My open gallery is designed and constructed to exhibit the work of Guillermo Kuitca; who is an Argentinean visual artist. He is a key figure in the history of Latin American art known for his map and architectural work. He has exhibited worldwide and his work is held in several major international collections, including MOMA and the Met. He usually emphasizes his interest in the capacity of cartographic and architectural diagrams to change our orientation to the social spaces we inhabit.

It is my pleasure to design this open-air gallery for him in heart of downtown Toronto. The site of this gallery locates at Adelaide and Richmond Center, right beside the main entrance. Although this site is very open to the public, it does not do any particular function for people so I thought it would be such a good location for placing an open-air gallery and exhibiting great works of Guillermo Kuitca. Because this site is located in the middle of financial district, most of business people do not have a time to go to gallery and enjoy good art works; however, by having such open-air gallery right beside of their work place will make them to visit and enjoy the great art works like Kuitca’s.

The design of gallery is a very simple composition while the chosen art piece represents a chaotic, acoustic feeling. I would like to have a contrast between space and art piece. Simple set of gallery divides into two sections: east part and west part. They are completely separated by the center wall but audience must enter from the west side. There are portals on each wall which leads a path for audience. However, once you step into each section, you will experience something a new each time because each section was designed to give audience a completely different perspectives of space. People can join into this amazing experience during their lunch time or on their way back home by visiting this gallery nearby their work. I think it would be a great idea to exhibit the rest of pieces from Acoustic Mass series in different places in city too.

Project Three Progress Report (Claudia Kwon)

Guillermo Kuitca's Gallery in Downtown Toronto



Site - In front of the Adelaide Richmond Center (colored in red)


Site Model (Scale 1:100)

the following images are initial plan and elevations

Exercise Seven: Claudia Kwon

Guillermo Kuitca

Acoustic Mass III (Covent Garden), 2005 mixed media on paper

(For more information of Guillermo Kuitca and his work, click here)

The title of book: Cartographies & Contemporary Voices

" Kuitca's speciality is maps, maps in the broadest sense of the term, maps as diagrams of both spatial and temporal relationships. He has painted family trees, the floor plans of stadiums, apartments and prisons, the seating arrangements of theaters, the street plans of cities (in one case creating a grid of city blocks composed of hypodermic syringes). He has transposed the topography of countries onto the hollow-pocked surfaces of mattresses and has tackled his theme with the broad-est possible range of painterly techniques. The results are often extremely handsome abstract paintings with a referential twist. Critics have insisted on discovering all manner of angst in these works- everything from elliptical references to the terror instituted by the military junta that ruled Argentina in the 70s, to suggestions of the anoymity and free-floating anxiety that attend modern urban existence."

(ArtScene, 1999, by Mario Cutajar)

Project Two, Part One (Claudia Kwon)

Richmond Adelaide Center
Adelaide Street
First Canadian Place Shopping Center

Exercise Five: Claudia Kwon

Bay Adelaide Centre (333 Bay Street, Toronto)

1. The Bay Adelaide Centre is a signature tower in downtown Toronto featuring two dramatic glass “sails” that extend above the structure´s façade. A pristine prism clad in clear glass, the project will feature a major public art contribution, integrated with the building architecture, by the world renowned lighting artist James Turrell.

2. While there are a number of development projects currently underway in the city, Bay Adelaide Center will be the only commercial tower in the financial core district built to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Standard.

3. Adhering to strict building efficiency guidelines, using environmentally friendly materials and practices, and ensuring maximum recycling of building materials, Bay Adelaide Centre West will also feature state-of-the-art operating and life safety systems.