The August Wilson Center

The August Wilson Center

Location

Pittsburgh, PA

Date

2009

People

Allison Grace Williams

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture

This energetic, urban infill building is a transformative first-voice cultural Center that celebrates the contributions of African Americans to American culture, art, music, and theatre in the region and globally…past, present and future. The two-story, 64,500 GSF facility includes a 486-seat proscenium theatre, 11,000 GSF of exhibit galleries, a flexible studio, a music café and an education center. Named in honor of a native son world-renown playwright, this forward-looking one-of-a-kind hybrid institution, engages the broad and complex diversity of this culture in Pittsburgh and beyond.

Strategically composed on a tight triangular site, the building exploits the moment where two city grids converge and the Cultural, Convention and Downtown Districts overlap forming a gateway intersection. The Center celebrates the corner with a robust curvilinear form inspired by the full sails of the how, the majestic sailing ships that transported Swahili culture from East Africa. In a context of heavier, more opaque buildings, the curve breaks the norm and anchors the corner as urban art. The building is a composition of highly controlled programmatically specific volumes and flexible public space. At both levels, flexible uses are organized behind the north facing glassy façade that extends 328 linear feet along Liberty Avenue. With optimum solar orientation, this transparency invites the surrounding historic context in to enrich the interior experience and engage the place in the city. The building is a giant picture window framing the constant transformation, evolution and influence of this Culture, active and glowing proudly from within, at nighttime, this is most profound.

Conceptual Sketch: Here we see the main design elements shown, the long rectilinear building, the curved facade that matches the center's logo, and the fenestration.

Conceptual Sketch: Here we see the main design elements shown, the long rectilinear building, the curved facade that matches the center's logo, and the fenestration.

© Allison Grace Williams

The space accommodates a 490 seat theater, dance studio, and over 10,000 square feet of gallery space and meeting rooms. The August Wilson Cultural Center has an annual Jazz Festival, that’s currently just had it’s 9th cycle.  It’s seen as a signature program of the Cultural Center, which is a full event featuring free outdoor concerts and ticketed shows inside the center.  Other events at the Cultural Center are “Seats of Power” an exhibition that pays tribute to “prominent and unsung heroes, mentors, and sources of inspiration that echo stories of the past, present, and future,” as well as “Race and Revolution: Still Separate — Still Unequal,” a new art exhibition that examines racial and economic divides in U.S. public schools.

The project originated as an “urban in-fill” project that added to Downtown Pittsburgh’s cultural legacy by honoring Pittsburgh native, Playwright August Wilson.

A comparative view: on the left an aerial shot from above, showing how the building merges with the urban grid and on the right an eye-level view of the center where materiality and form create a dynamic composition of stone, glass and metal.

A comparative view: on the left an aerial shot from above, showing how the building merges with the urban grid and on the right an eye-level view of the center where materiality and form create a dynamic composition of stone, glass and metal.

Photography provided by Allison Grace Williams

The curved faced bends away from the street intersection revealing a central column of windows that allow views of the inside.

The curved faced bends away from the street intersection revealing a central column of windows that allow views of the inside.

Photo: Steinkamp Photography

Inside & Out: Tall floor to ceiling windows create a partition between the building interior and the street.

Inside & Out: Tall floor to ceiling windows create a partition between the building interior and the street.

Photography provided by Allison Grace Williams

The Center at Night: The building's large windows open it up to the street, the glints of light from inside the center draw the pedestrian's attention and the gathering crowd inside suggests there's on-going programming occurring.

The Center at Night: The building's large windows open it up to the street, the glints of light from inside the center draw the pedestrian's attention and the gathering crowd inside suggests there's on-going programming occurring.

To acknowledge the significance of the street as common space and as a stage for urban life, the sidewalk slides into the building connecting the street level uses. Open ceilings with linear baffles, ceiling rigging, graphic scrims and sealed concrete floors establish a functional theatrical aesthetic. The second level overlooks the street, porch-like, and two large pivot doors subdivide the long space yet allow crowds to move fluidly between spaces during events. The highly controlled exhibition galleries absorb the triangular site geometry and are situated between William Penn and the sloped stone wall illuminated at night and glowing with abundant indirect north light during the day. The formal stair moves against the stone wall and is the zipper between the galleries and flexible spaces that extend along Liberty Avenue. The south east facing William Penn façade is windowless activated with a glowing light strip and processional banners. The regal purple drum-shaped theater dowels the two floors together.

​The commission was awarded in an invited design competition, achieved LEED Certification and was delivered for $22,500,000 in 2010.

​

​by Allison G. Williams FAIA while Design Principal with Ai

Sources

ArchDaily.com

aiapgh.org