the new public face of the Pratt Design Center, posted Victoria Meyers architect
original entrance DeKalb Avenue
Victoria Meyers architect is pleased to present new images of Pratt Pavilion, a free-standing pavilion designed by hMa, opened in 2007. Pratt Pavilion unites two existing studio and classroom buildings on the Pratt Campus, and is the public face for the new Pratt Design Center. Pratt Design Center is the first academic center in the United States uniting Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Interior Design, and Graphic Design, under one roof. Pratt Pavilion links these programs through a bridge that sits to the south of the new Pratt Pavilion.
Pratt Pavilion is a floating stainless steel volume (see photos below) with custom steel panels provided by Milgo Bufkin metal fabricators. The pavilion houses a gallery for Pratt student and faculty work on its second floor, and is used regularly as a campus gathering space. The ground floor entry reveals the existing edges of the two original brick loft buildings that the pavilion joins together. The walls were cut and excavated to make room for the new pavilion. The area south of the glass entry is a new ‘Green Court’, designed by hMa to generate passive cooling and ventilation within the new Design Center. The Green Court makes a central focal point and gathering space for the new Center, and brings natural light to all classrooms.
Pratt Pavilion : a floating stainless steel volume on the Pratt Institute Campus. Post: Victoria Meyers architect
"Suspended" (1977) by Menashe Kadishman at Storm King Art Center
Pratt Pavilion was designed to feel like a free-floating mass that visitors pass below to enter the Pratt Design Center. Above: a broken steel beam at Storm King Art Center, studied as a prototype for Pratt Pavilion.
view of the new 'Green Court' courtyard : Pratt Pavilion, posted Victoria Meyers architect, hMa
The Courtyard as it appears today, above, and as it appeared at the time of the project, below. Pratt Pavilion was the first building in an overall Master Plan for the Pratt Institute Campus, which hMa also participated in. The Master Plan developed strategies to reorient buildings toward the Campus, move builidng entries from the surrounding streets, and to create a public image for Pratt buildings.
orginal conditions of the courtyard area
