Austin, Texas, USA
2021 American Prize for Architecture laureate, Victor F. Trahan III and his design team of Trahan Architects transformed the entrance experience and added new welcome pavilions to The Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria – Arrival Garden and Moody Pavilions for The Contemporary Austin.
The new pavilions enhance the entrance experience into the sculpture garden and beyond, where visitors discover works of art framed by the vibrant natural landscape.
As the first phase of a much larger and broader Master Plan, the new Arrival Garden with its Moody Pavilions establishes a new public face for the institution and clarifies a dedicated pedestrian entry from West 35th Street just south of the historic gate.
For its comprehensive design integrating with nature, The Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria – Arrival Garden and Moody Pavilions has recently been awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Here, architecture and landscape are conceived as an integrated and unified experience.
A series of vertical steel planes and steel and glass pavilions draw visitors into the park through a sequence of shady outdoor spaces.
The composition of structures, walls, and gardens is organized along a central walk covered by shade canopies.
Concrete site walls, stone dust paving, and lush plantings further enclose two outdoor courts for patrons to gather and linger while taking in views of the property’s mature live oak canopy, 100-year old Italianate villa, and compelling works of art.
The Pavilions house a welcome center, an outdoor cafe, and a museum retail shop—amenities that never existed on site before.
A modern material palette of weathered steel, plate glass, and concrete is carefully detailed and scaled to defer to the site’s landscape and existing historic structures.
Project: The Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria – Arrival Garden and Moody Pavilions
Architects: Trahan Architects
Lead Architect: Victor F. Trahan, III
Design Team: Leigh Breslau, Brad McWhirter, Conner Bryan, Shelby Downs, Sarah Cancienne, Drew Hutcheson, and Robbie Eleazer
Contractor: The Beck Group
Client: The Contemporary Austin
Photographers: Leonid Furmansky
