maurer united architects: full half moon

contemplating the void: interventions in the guggenheim museum
solomon r. guggenheim museum, new york
on now april 28th, 2010

the 'contemplating the void: interventions in the guggenheim museum' exhibition invites
artists, architects and designers to imagine their dream visions within frank lloyd wright's
guggenheim museum rotunda.



maurer united architects (MUA), maastrict
full half moon, 2009
digital print, 96.2 x 68.9 cm
artwork © maurer united architects (MUA)

for dutch architecture firm maurer united architects (MUA), the sculpted void of the guggenheim
reminds one of the plastic effect created by the first picture of the first footprint on the moon.
their vision for the museum's rotunda is 'full half moon' in which MUA would place a
half full moon suspended within the space. the installation would consist of a glass ball measuring
12 meters in diameter and filled with moon dust. the lower half of the 'moon' is reflective,
generating a convex picture of the concave void.


maurer united architects (MUA), maastrict
full half moon, 2009
digital print, 96.2 x 68.9 cm
artwork © maurer united architects (MUA)


maurer united architects (MUA), maastrict
full half moon, 2009
digital print, 96.2 x 68.9 cm
artwork © maurer united architects (MUA)


the starting point for MUA - a picture of the first footprint on the moon



josiah mcelheny, boston
panopticon, 2009
digital print 75.9 x 50.8 cm
1/1, 1 A.P.
artwork © josia mcelheny

american contemporary artist and sculptor josia mcelheny has a similar proposal with 'panopticon',
a large reflective sphere which would hang above the void.
panopticon - the museum looks back at us.



amanda levete architects, london
untitled, 2009
digital print
96.4 x 68.6 cm
artwork © amanda levete architects

london-based amanda levete architects contemplates the void by also reflecting it.
instead of interrupting the purity of wright's atrium, they have chosen to create a spatial experience
to amplify its power and impact on visitors. they propose a fractured skin of identical mirrored pixels,
wrapping the spiral balustrades of the guggenheim. from every point within the museum,
the void would be magnified and reflected back on itself, echoing its visual presence through
a multiplicity of complex views.