Sint Lucas Art Academy
Griffiths, S., Jacob, S. and Holland, C. 2006. Sint Lucas Art Academy. Boxtel, Netherlands.
| Title | Sint Lucas Art Academy |
|---|---|
| Creators | Griffiths, S., Jacob, S. and Holland, C. |
| Description | This £3.5 million phased project creates a bold identity for a Dutch art school by rationalizing its spaces, both inside and outside. Griffiths was again FAT’s lead designer. The unremarkable 1960s buildings are given a strong, colourful and unusual new appearance through decorative screens, surface treatments and signage. These elements communicate the inner life of a creative educational institution and enhance the outdoor spaces between the existing buildings. The thrust of the interior proposal was to increase the sense of identity and legibility in the main circulation spaces. This was achieved by integrating communal activities, such as study rooms, dining facilities and exhibition spaces, into the main corridors. These become more like streets with activities along them, fostering greater activity and exchange. Circulation spaces were made more generous with connections made more obvious to everyday users and visitors alike, further enhanced by punchy signage. The key research issues in the Sint Lucas project were how to develop a novel image for a contemporary educational institution, and how to use contemporary building techniques in order to create expressive popular iconography which has been largely eroded by modernism. The resulting design for Sint Lucas Art Academy was extensively covered in architectural journals, including Building Design (26 January 2007, pp. 10-13); Architectural Review (March 2007, pp. 68-73); ArchitectuurNL (vol.62 no.2, 2007, pp. 16-19); etc. The project was nominated and shortlisted for the Mies Van der Rohe / European Union Prize for Architecture (2006), and won a highly prestigious RIBA European Design Award (2007). Griffiths has given nearly 50 public lectures on FAT’s work, focussing recently on the Sint Lucas project as the practice’s most complex piece of public design. These lectures include Yale University (January 2006), Royal College of Art (April 2006) and Tate Modern (May 2006 and June 2007). |
| Year | 10 Jun 2006 |
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| Completed | 10 Jun 2006 |
| Output media | Design |