This Fall, PAYETTE had the honor of presenting our recent work at the Roger Williams University School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation. The exhibit ran from October 23rd to December 2nd, 2019.
On the opening date of the exhibition, Principal Leon Drachman gave a lecture titled Program, People, Place and Performance. The lecture provided a great opportunity for interaction between the dozens of students and faculty in attendance and the presentation gave rise to lively discussion.
“In order to shed additional light on the designs and artifacts presented in the exhibit, I used the lecture to provide a brief overview of the firm’s work and culture, as seen today from my particular perspective. I presented some of our current designs -both recently completed and on the boards- in the context of the fundamental values that underpin our work, and reviewed some of the tools, techniques and research initiatives that make it possible.”
Leon Drachman
The gallery at the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation gets abundant daylight through its expansive glass walls. To take advantage of this inviting space, we displayed over twenty models of varying scales and showcased fourteen projects that were designed not only to accommodate the space, but to engage the academic audience.
As the only firm in United States that has won four COTE Top Ten Awards over the past four years, we chose to feature three of these recognized projects on large display panels: the New Science Center at Amherst College, the Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex at Northeastern University and the Milken School of Public Health at George Washington University. Each panel had large scale photographs on one side and project descriptions and diagrams on the other. The panels were accompanied by large scale models as well, creating a fully immersive experience for the viewer.
On the back wall of the gallery space we presented some of our other award winning projects on large panels, with a corresponding model between each of the panels. For each project, we showcased the design process of iteration, craft and how we think about architecture through drawings, models, and finished photography; all on a single panel.
At the Exhibition, by revealing and sharing the ways in which spaces are designed from concept to execution, viewers experienced how our projects integrate nature and evolve from the synthesis of taming complex programs and problems while demanding high-performance – resulting in beautiful buildings that perform beautifully.
