Affirmation Arts
New York, NY
Affirmation Arts, an emerging arts foundation, proposes an optimal “creative stage” where freedom balances with constraint to inspire diverse creative endeavors. Cardinal forces north to south and east to west are understood as to two distinct overlapping contextual fields defined by key landmarks— one urban and ordered, the other expressive of natural freedom. Located between the Javits Center and Times Square, on a site that is both urban and ruggedly naturalistic, Affirmation Arts gives expression to balancing forces, both in relation to the arts program and engaging the Hudson Yards District context.
A broad mission of diverse media calls for flexible spaces with optimal natural light for traditional studio arts or complete room darkening for video display or photographic studio work. Day-lighting design informed glass specifications and shading of all exterior exposures, to optimize natural and artificial lighting. The program divides between exhibition galleries with supporting offices, and event support functions on the lower levels, and more private studio spaces on the upper levels, where the building reorients laterally for views west towards the Hudson River. The ivy-trellis diptych panel on the street façade actively incorporates nature into a mix of ordered and episodic narrative elements. Inspired by digital-age dialectics, the center-line of the façade provides an organizing spine, that charges the visitor’s experience, sometimes displaced from the center, and at other times, allowed to regain the center.