Rob Mothershed [Architects]

When buildings become fragile, new demands are required. This Arts District structure wanted not only a modern facelift, but desired that a creation relate to it fabric. The Garment district was a nearby industry that suggested an overly covering. The template form made a clean and defined edge. The independent exterior mask was to allow window apertures to align and mis-align with a certain attitude of compliance and contraction. The conditioned skin presented a ironic fragment for fabricating a new vocabulary. The new signage adopted a programmable LED “daktronics” board to people near the highway could see the new activated sphere of new building energy. The disharmony between new and existing created a uncertain volume metric complexity that promoted and warranted a new skin.