Читать книгу Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm - Patrick MacLeamy - Страница 11

I began to think about interviewing with Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), a young firm in St. Louis. In architecture school my professors required me to select and critique a modern building, and I chose the James S. McDonnell Planetarium in St. Louis, designed by Gyo Obata of HOK and completed in 1963. I had visited the planetarium several times and was fascinated by the elegance of the design.

The defining form of any planetarium is the dome under which images of the night sky are projected. However, in most planetariums, the dome is almost invisible after adding the lobby, restrooms, exhibition spaces, and offices. Instead, Obata placed the McDonnell Planetarium dome as a freestanding element inside a thin-shelled concrete hyperboloid, a graceful curved shape that tapers in from the base to a narrow waist before increasing toward the top. The hyperboloid is light, elegant, and appears to float above its prominent site in a corner of Forest Park.

Inside, an open lobby and exhibit space surround the planetarium, allowing unobstructed views of the dome. A working observatory is located within the open top of the hyperboloid shielded from city lights, making live observations of the sky possible. As I reflected on the brilliance of the McDonnell Planetarium design, I began to think it would be a great experience to work with Gyo Obata.

James S. McDonnell Planetarium, St. Louis, Missouri.

Source: Photo by Robert Pettus. Photo Courtesy of HOK.

Bill Voelker, one of my friends from my undergraduate days at Illinois, was working at HOK as a designer under Obata, and I called him for advice. “How did you get to HOK?” I asked Bill. “What's it like?” “HOK is a great place, like a big family, and we're doing dynamic work,” said Bill. “I can get you an interview with Obata.” By now it was May, and I was on the verge of graduating. I got back in the VW and this time drove the short distance to the HOK office in St. Louis.