Projecting Out While Drawing In
Center for Architecture and Design
Center for Architecture and Design
The Center is a dynamic hub where Baltimore’s design professionals engage with the public, students, and each other. Located in a storefront in Baltimore’s central business district, The Center serves as the headquarters for AIA Baltimore and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation. Through an innovative partnership model, it also provides administrative and collaborative spaces for other design-oriented organizations.
The Center engages visitors and passers-by with large windows that provide views into the space and the activities within. Movable partitions, including mesh curtains and movable “project bars,” easily reconfigure and subdivide the large commons to support a variety of meetings and programs.
The two main goals – engaging the public and creating a dynamic hub for professionals, students, and the public – are accomplished in a clever way. The project is a testament to the creativity that can be found in architecture and is especially appropriate for this client.
Bringing the Design Professions Together
Partner organizations sharing the space include the Baltimore chapters of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA); the Maryland chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA); Baltimore Heritage; and the Charles Street Development Corporation.
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Updating Modernism
Modernist buildings like the one housing The Center (One Charles Center, designed by Mies van der Rohe) have been criticized as cold and uninviting. Our design takes a timeless approach to embrace Mies’ legacy, while addressing the social critique of exclusivity and rigidity associated with Modernism by being dynamic, open and flexible. The project serves as a catalyst for local involvement, environmental awareness and social awakening.
Project Bars
The moveable project bars glide easily across the floor, but they do much more than just divide the space. These interactive furniture elements provide pin-up boards, writable surfaces, and hidden storage for the meeting spaces they create.
Reinterpreted Materials
The green marble used for the reception desk and workspace countertop had been stored for years in the building’s basement following a renovation. Our team reimagined the marble: it is no longer a material to be admired from afar, but a work surface that brings people together in collaboration.
