坐落在休斯顿的Menil collection是由建筑师Renzo Piano设计的，在2013被选为美国建筑师协会25年大奖的获得者。考虑到建筑设计在持久性上的重要性。

25年大奖一般授予那些经历过25年到35年时间考验的卓越建筑设计方案。项目必须证明在形式上有突出性，与普遍类型有区分性，在创造性方面必须符合今天的标准。这个奖项将在六月在Denver举行的AIA年会中被颁发。

在1981年，Menil基金会的主席Dominique de Menil打算在休斯顿建造一座博物馆以便安置世界上最重要的收藏之一的原始非洲艺术以及超现代艺术。她最主要的要求是所有的展品必须在自然光下被展出，而且光线必须经过一系列的处理能够让参观者真实的感受到一天之内光线的连续变化，感受到当地的天气和季节。

她也想让这个博物馆可以有着广阔的内部空间但在外面看起来又显得不那么庞大。这个博物馆将成为这样的一个空间使得参观者和艺术展品本身达成一个直接而又轻松的联系，这样就形成了一个可变、围合的室内环境：完全与自然相关联。为了达到这样的目的，博物馆被计划同温室一起建造，而这个温室是由一个街区范围的，包含了大量用作社区活动的原有建筑组成的。这些街区和博物馆共同组成了一个博物馆小镇的环境。博物馆在这样一个环境里面集成了很多小建筑组成，为了达到减少噪音的作用，同时也采用了先进的气球框技术，在外表面以木墙作为装饰。

自然光和展览区域给了这个建筑自己的特色。这个决定有着一个重要的风险：直接的太阳光事实上将损坏那些艺术作品的本身。目标是在展览大厅提供一个光的间接扩散而不考虑对于外界气候的感知。所以，一个特质的太阳能机器被建造起来了，

目的就是提供对于不同纬度自然光特性的分析，对于多重折射的构建和对于紫外线辐射的保护。这个立面由一个个叫做叶子的基本构建组成，而每一片叶子都是由25毫米厚的水泥制造的。

在复制300次之后，这些叶子构成了建筑的表皮，也作为光线滤镜和隔热层使用。这些元素也是梁的一部分，提供了艺术品直接的太阳光照射，同时在提供基于外部天气环境的自然光的同时增加了这些艺术品的艺术性。
这致使了“宝库”的创建，坐落在博物馆的顶层，那里的艺术品是理想的气候条件下安全地存储。作品都在循环中被展出：被展出的作品周期性的回到宝库被保存，新到的作品被带下去到人民之家。在1992年，Dominique de Menil曾经要求Renzo Piano设计一个永久性的展览来防止她最喜欢的艺术家Cy Twombly的作品。这个给了Twombly Pavilion崛起的机会，现在在博物馆镇仍然能够被找到。

这个博物馆被分成了两个截然不同的区域。展览厅位于一楼，有近200的作品都围绕着一个纵向脊椎展出，或者说是150米长的“中央长廊”。另外，楼上的房间有博物馆大量的收藏和充足的空间，非常适合学者们的工作。在Menil博物馆，人们发现展出超过10000件展品是不现实的，如果它们想要被持续的展出，那就要确保它们都被正确的保存。

这致使了“宝库”的创建，坐落在博物馆的顶层，那里的艺术品是理想的气候条件下安全地存储。作品都在循环中被展出：被展出的作品周期性的回到宝库被保存，新到的作品被带下去到人民之家。在1992年，Dominique de Menil曾经要求Renzo Piano设计一个永久性的展览来防止她最喜欢的艺术家Cy Twombly的作品。这个给了Twombly Pavilion崛起的机会，现在在博物馆镇仍然能够被找到。

特别鸣谢翻译一组6号 俞路 提供的翻译，译稿版权归译者所有，转载请注明出处。

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for the 2013 AIA Twenty-five Year Award. Recognizing architectural design of enduring significance, the Twenty-five Year Award is conferred on a building that has stood the test of time for 25 to 35 years as an embodiment of architectural excellence. Projects must demonstrate excellence in function, in the distinguished execution of its original program, and in the creative aspects of its statement by today’s standards. The award will be presented this June at the AIA National Convention in Denver.

In 1981, Dominique de Menil, president of the Menil Foundation, decided to build a museum in Houston to house one of the world’s most significant collections of primitive African art and modern surrealist art. Her main request was that all of the works could be viewed under natural lighting, and that lighting be treated in such a way so that the visitors would be aware of its continuous variations according to the time of day, the season and the local climate. She also wanted a museum that would appear “large from the inside and small from the outside”. It was to be a space that would promote a direct and relaxed relationship between the visitor and the work of art itself, thus resulting in a non-monumental and domestic environment: one that would be in complete contact with nature. In order to achieve this last objective, it was decided to position the building within the greenery of a residential district that included a number of pre-existing residences used for activities that would complement those of the museum, thus resulting in a “museums village” environment. The museum’s integration within this environment of smaller buildings was sought out by articulating lower volumes and by adorning of the exterior walls with wood, using the “balloon frame” technique.


The natural lighting of the exhibition areas gives the building its character. This decision was one that involved a significant risk: direct sunlight, in fact, would be harmful to the artworks themselves. The goal was to provide a mediated diffusion of light within the exhibition halls, without losing the sense of the external climatic conditions. For this reason, a special “solar machine” was built to evaluate the behavior of the light at the various latitudes, the mechanics of the multiple refractions, and the protection offered against the ultraviolet rays. This evaluation resulted in the definition of a basic structural element, the so-called “leaf” made out of 25 mm-thick ferrocement. Having been replicated 300 times, these leaves serve as the building’s covering platform and act as both a light filter and heat shield. These elements, which are also an integral component of the beams themselves, prevent the direct sunlight from reaching the artworks on display, while at the same time enhancing the works of art by providing natural lighting based on the weather conditions outside.


The museum is divided into two distinct areas. The exhibition halls are located on the ground floor, where nearly 200 works are exhibited around a longitudinal spine, or rather the 150 meter long “central promenade”. The upper floor, on the other hand, houses the museum’s rich collections in spaces that are particularly well-suited to the work of scholars. In the case of the Menil Museum, it was found to be impossible to exhibit the more than 10,000 pieces of the collection at the same time, and above all to ensure their proper preservation if they were to be kept constantly on display. This resulted in the creation of the “treasure house”, located on the upper floor of the museum, where the artworks are securely stored under ideal climatic conditions. The works are exhibited in rotation: those which are on display periodically return to the “treasure house” and a new series of works are brought down to the “people house”. In 1992, Dominique de Menil once again turned to Renzo Piano for the creation of a permanent exhibit dedicated to the works of one of her favorite artists, Cy Twombly. This gave rise to the Twombly Pavilion, which today can also be found within the museum village.