An array of deep green glazed terracotta tiles embellish a mysterious façade – In the new age, we see contemporary art manifesting into an exotic and abstract language. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art oblige a legacy, a lineage of the circus entrepreneur and art collector John Ringling and his wife, Mable. Architect Machado Silvetti steps in to carve a new edifice, a jewel in the ring, for the Asian Art Center on the historic sixty-six-acre estate.
As you stroll along with the site, it stretches with a gothic mansion, residence, learning centre, theatre and a conservation building tallying to the estate’s golden charm. Silvetti’s Asian Art Study Center exposes a beguiling composition to the West Wing galleries on the museum’s southwest corner, with an arresting contrast to the historical architecture.
At first glance, the jewellery symbolism seizes every gaze to hold the magnificence, sprinting our curiosity and exploratory mind. The renovated building sweeps 18,000 square feet of existing gallery space from temporary exhibition space to permanent galleries for the museum’s mounting Asian collection. A new gallery and a multipurpose lecture hall ascribe 7,500 square-foot in the new building. The Asian Art Study Center also incorporates innovative study and storage areas tagging and seminar rooms for scholars, researchers and students.
The façade’s monumentality instils its vision from the natural environment, relating to the extensive landscape that scores into the chiseled profile and colour, reminiscent of the Cà d’Zan mansion’s ceramic detailing. Machado Silvetti and his bright team closely worked with Boston Valley Terra Cotta to develop the panels’ colour, form, and installation technique. The collaboration brought over 3,000 high-performance tiles, visually enchanting the building envelope, redefining functionality and activating the existing courtyard by addressing circulation and infrastructure necessities.
Ringling Museum of Art was ahead of its time visualized as one of the most comprehensive art museums globally, assembling a significant collection of Asian Art. Machado Silvetti’s enigmatic design have curated something beyond structure and form and enlightening sculpture in itself… an artwork worth showcasing among the ancient.
Project Details:
Architects: Machado Silvetti
Area: 25500 ft²
Photographs: Anton Grassl / Esto
Manufacturers: Boston Valley Terra Cotta, Draper, Architex International, OlympiaTile+Stone, Bentley Systems
Architect of Record: Machado Silvetti
Civil Engineers: AM Engineering, Inc.
Landscape Architects: DWY Landscape Architects
Lighting Design: Lam Partners Inc
Structural Engineers: Stirling and Wilbur Engineering Group
Project Client: Florida State University, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Local Consultant Architect: Sweet Sparkman Architects
Geotechnical Engineers: Universal Engineering Sciences
MEP/FP/AV/IT/SEC: TLC Engineering for Architecture
Specifications: Kalin Associates
Code Consultants: RJA Associates
Exterior Envelope: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
City: Sarasota
Country: United States
