BIG Wins Kimball Art Center Competition

An international architecture competition has been underway this season, with a batch of top-flight firms vying to design a new home for the

Kimball Art Center

in Park City, Utah.

Brooks + Skarpa

and

Sparano + Mooney

were just two of the large-scale practices jockeying for the commission; now, with all the submissions in, and after extensive review by the Kimball jury, Copenhagen-based firm

BIG

has carried the day, with the near-ubiquitous office of Danish phenom

Bjarke Ingels

getting the nod for the new complex in collaboration with local practice

Architectural Nexus

. “It was hard for the jury to choose between the five excellent finalists,” said one member of the panel, Maurice Cox. “BIG won the competition by proposing an iconic building that honors the spirit of Park City’s past and looks ahead into the 21st century.”

Balancing contextual sensitivity with contemporary flair, the BIG proposal will be shooting for LEED Platinum rating for energy efficiency. The centerpiece of the design, a helictical staircase that spans the entire height of the building, prompts its strikingly iconic, twisting facade, rendered in striated building components that make it look like a skewed pile of Lincoln logs. The jury’s high opinion was shared by a fair segment of the Kimball-going public, whose opinion was solicited through an online poll.

Renderings courtesy of BIG and Kimball Art Center.