By BRABBU
This actualty could be the work of some BRABBU’s designer, joining inspiration from one of the most iconic tribes in the world, Maori, with modern art. But it isn’t. Designed by the New Zealand Architects Pattersons, the recently inaugurated Len Lye Centre is not just a gleaming new landmark for New Zealand’s seaside city of New Plymouth; even though its shimmering mirror-effect steel facades ensure it states its presence with panache.
The new project is also the country’s very first museum dedicated to a single artist – pioneering Christchurch-born filmmaker and kinetic sculptor Len Lye.
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Len Lye’s philosophy that ‘great architecture goes 50/50 with great art’ provided key inspiration for Pattersons. By creating a dynamic, shiny and sinuous façade that brings to mind a moving theatre curtain, the architects hint at Lye’s kinetic art. The facades’ curves manipulate natural light to create a range of reflections, depending on the day and the season. At the same time, the skin – polished steel – ties the building with its locale, as it celebrates the pioneering steel works in the country’s Taranaki region.
Inside the gallery, daylight penetrates the façade through gaps on the external walls, creating an almost ethereal atmosphere. For the internal arrangement, Pattersons drew inspiration from the Maori ‘meeting house’ – the focal point of the traditional Maori community. At the same time, they loosely based the layout on a traditional temple, at the same time telling the story of the legendary Len Lye and his iconic body of work. The ‘adyton,’ the most sacred and private part of a temple (usually located far away from the entrance) is used in the museum to house Len Lye’s archive.
By adopting a temple-like internal arrangement for the museum’s programme, the architects created yet another tie-in with the artist’s approach. ‘Lye was fascinated with temples and the design uses principles from the classical world as well as Polynesian forms and ideas”, says design director Andrew Patterson. “These influenced Lye’s work and after all, he was the client.” Looking at the building’s outline from above, it creates a ‘koru’ form (a Maori spiral shape) – one more reference to the rich local Polynesian culture.
Now, below find how our team of designers used the inspiration from the Maori tribe to design mid century modern furniture pieces:
MAORI Armchair Rare Edition Red
MAORI Armchair Rare Edition Grey
To know more about our design inspiration, and our selection of rare edition accent chairs, click here.
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