The Besthoff Foundation

Project idea

Hi everyone, I am Abdalla. I want to introduce you to my proposal for the Besthoff Foundation in magazine st, new orleans. Before starting , I would like to position myself within the history of the Architecture. I was always curious about the evolution of the architecture through eras. From the renaissance period and giving an example on that is St peter basilica in the Vatican ,moving towards modernism with Miesvanderohe buildings that defined modernism as this office in Chicago , and then reaching an era of contemporary architecture and looking at one of my favourites architects that I really studied his work and ethos this semester and his most notable works that always not being interested in design itself but rather than that questioning the nature of already existing architectural elements and re exploring them critically as his project in Bahrain pavilion And that’s where I position my approach My approach mainly started with a field trip to the context and observing the atmosphere,the importance and the main features of such a context ,the warehouse district and its history. My first thought was the idea of the contrast between the historical architecture and the contemporary expression. As you can see , I simplified the historical skyline of the warehouse façade into the simplest and most contemporary line, a straight line as a base and a box as a vessel for my functions floating above the historical warehouse façade. But how can I make this box float? That was my question? The structure was my answer , and what is structure was the question that I kept trying to answer during the last 15 weeks. How can structure evolves from as it has already did through history but also be part of the enhancement of the architecture. So my proposal for the besthoff Foundation, is based on a thesis that I developed to position my intervention as a contemporary intervention within a historical context like the warehouse district. Combining circulation, openings, spaces , structures and even places for ducts and maintanince, all in one element that acts as the backbone of the proposal. Exploring slopes , angles, spans and relation of the slabs to these elements for both functionality of spaces and possibility of structural integrity was the solution to my previous question. What is structure? This was my first attempt in designing in the existing context, and to just start I actually dropped bunch of those elements with an intent to connect between the historical context and the contemporary intervention. I had 2 weeks to develop from this stage till the mid review and that’s what I reached . I can say this was what I was imagining inside my head but however , you can see in both section and plan that there was a lot of these elements that it became complicated and not complex to me to solve clean spaces that serves the functions of the program. Another critic , I give to the proposal in this stage was the absences of hierarchy in the scale and proportions of these elements like tubes where they were all the same size and proportions. Moving from the mid review phase with a clear understanding of what I need to do and I can say that this was the most crucial stage in the design. Remove all the elements and solve the plans and the space without putting them in but ofcourse after 7 weeks with a more clear understanding of where they will be re introduced but not randomly anymore, just to support as a structure and enhance the quality inside the spaces And then after re introducing them again, with careful positioning , and understanding of how they can support and enhance the space that was the result . Now you can see in the ground floor plan. Only 3 main pillars are placed as a main support. And placed in relation to the already solved clean spaces. You can see they start from the outdoor to reach a certain height that can be accessible below when they enter the building. Like for example the audiotrium The auditorium , people would be moving in those elements see the auditorium and this huge sort of a beam holding the slab of the auitorium And then you come to the main floor of the exhibit and galleries, I call it the 3 galleries space. With 3 off grid oriented galleries that showcases special and unique sculptures and artworks And at the same time they are overlooked by the library on their roofs. Having this sort of double height spaces with floating boxes And then comes the final floor that has the library and the study rooms on top of the slabs of the 3 galleries below Till you reach the roof where you have an accessible open roof you can host open outdoor exhibition with the views to the city Not revealing whats inside just a trace of the movement through the translucency of the material in contrast with the roughness of the concrete This section shows the overall picture and the relation of these elements to the slabs , but how do the movement inside them looks like and how light falls on these and enters through those fenestrations And finally , my most favourite section, always the smallest cross section that show the clear idea. The old loft building functioning as the artists residency with a direct accessibility from the outdoor and overlooking the workspace and gallery of the artists raised and hanged at the corner of magazine and st joseph

Project description

The proposed Besthoff Foundation intervention reimagines circulation not as a passive connector, but as the generative force of architecture itself. Inspired by the idea of reducing architecture to its most essential elements and reconfiguring their potentials, this project makes the ramp - a device of movement - into the structure, the form, and the light-giving core of the building. Their dynamic trajectories make circulation a performative experience, echoing the Besthoff vision of making art universally accessible - no longer confined, but spatially unfolding as an open journey.The program is carefully nested along this system of ramps. The galleries are suspended between ramp segments, their volumes illuminated by shafts of light channeled through tubular voids created by the circulation itself. The artists’ residences, more secluded yet directly plugged into the ramp structure, maintain a spatial dialogue with the exhibition spaces. The ramps themselves serve not only as arteries of movement but as the structural skeleton, distributing loads and giving coherence to the ensemble.

Technical information

Through this circulation-as-structure, the project constructs a living organism where public and private, old and new, stability and impossibility coexist symbiotically. Light, access, and structure converge into one architectural gesture. By foregrounding movement as the foundation of spatial experience, the Besthoff Foundation becomes a radical expression of openness—where every step taken is both a passage through art and an act of inhabiting architecture.A series of interwoven ramps emerges from the public realm, extending from the exterior plaza into the heart of the historic warehouse fabric. These ramps pierce through the old walls, glide past the new interventions, and cantilever into seemingly impossible voids, at moments suspended in air as if leading to nowhere. Made of concrete and steel for the cantilevers outside of the box is the main structure system.