<» .L_ LAGUNA GLORIA ART MUSEUM Presented to Robert Lima Assistant Professor Division of Architecture Texas Tech University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Bachelor of Architecture Degree Jaye Stephens December 10, 1982 T^ Table of Contents r 1 PROJECT STATEMENT 3 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 4 BACKGROUND History 5 Recreation 8 Performing and Visual Arts 9 Economic Situation 18 Footnotes 23 25 ACTIVITY ANANLYSIS Museums in General 26 Composition of the Art Audience 28 Behavioral Patterns 30 Laguna Gloria Art Museum Jk Art-Viewer Activities 4o Reception Activities 4? Logistic Activities 50 Coordination Activities 53 Footnotes 57 59 SITE ANALYSIS Demographic Analysis 60 Natural Features^ 63 Soil Conditions 66 Climatic Data 68 Urban Micro-Climate 71 Land Use 73 Growth of the City 75 Vehicular Traffic 79 Pedestrian Traffic 90 Existing Elements 95 Footnotes 105 106 SPACE SUMMARY General Public Services 108 Administration 110 Art Handling 112 Service II3 Summary II3 114 DETAILED SPACE LIST General Public Services 116 Adrainistration l47 Art Handling 170 Education 178 Service 181 186 SYSTEMS PERFORIVIANCE CRITERIA 203 COST ANALYSIS 208 APPENDIX List of Figures 209 List of Tables 210 Bibliography 211 Data Survey 2l4 Case Studies 221 Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin has occupied since 1960 a Meditterranean style villa on Lake Austin built in 1916 by Clara Driscoll Sevier as a vacation home for her- self and her husband. "^he loc£.tion is one Stephen F. Aus- tin had intended for his home, on the Colorado Piver at the foot of Mount Bonnell. Although the site ^s beauti-ful, to get to it, one must follow west 38th Street to the very r^.ri., winding up in th'S secluciedl, remote spot. The road is ^ot by any means an easily accessible or well-trave]ed artery. Indeed, it is surrounded by residential developments and acroF^s the street is Austin Country Club. The need to move was first identified when ther^ was no more room for the exhibits, much less the very srrall per inan- ent collection to be shown, and they had to move some of t].r exhibits to the First Federal Savings and Loan in the central business district to 14,000 square feet of space the Sav'ngs and Loan donated temporarily. They had to rent the UOC-5CO seat auditorium at the United Bank in downtown Austin to show their film series. This non-building alternative is not sat- isfactory. It breaks up the collections and does not encourage the donations that the muoeum needs. Laguna Gloria Art Museum has approximately 5.000 squa^^ feet of gallery space in it's home on Lake Austin, which is highly unusual for a mur^eum with a larger budget than any non-state funded museum in 3 Austin. The Laguna Gloria Art Museum has the oppo^tunity to become a strong, integral part of the city and population of Austin, given the right location and enough room for it's activities. GOAL: * to provide a pleasing, appropriate environment for display- ing modern and regional art in Austin that will be easily accessible to its audience OBJECTIVES: * design appropriate space with the required environment for art, flexibly designed in order to create a variety of spacial arrangements, with theft and fire-proof systems. * take advantage of the pedestrian traffic going by the site, figure out people's phychological aesthetic understanding of building forms * arrange interior spaôés sô activities can be Conveniently . accomplished and design exterior spaces for public use * take advantage of good views í An TMA J t "1 APT" AUSTIN /-|.i\i TÍ;XAS ' 1 'viuacuivi I I 1 ^ ^ r HISTORY- Travis County Travis County was formed in 1840 from Bastrop County and was formally organized in 1843. It was named for William B. Travis, the commander of the Texans at the Alamo. Settlement had actually begun about ten years earlier and by 1839 Austin had been laid out and the first capitol of Texas built. Indian raids, buffalo hunts, and the establishment of state govern'^ent were of primary interest at that time. Most parts of the county were settled on the prairies around Manor, Pflugerville, Cele, Elroy and Littig between 1850 and I894. They settled in the hill country in the vicin- ity of Bee Caves, Oak Hill, Cedar Valley and Manchaca between I867 and 1882. Some settled in the bottom lands of the Color- ado River in the vicinity of Webberville and Garfield by I837. See Figum 1. CeAojrVoii^ ui^Hj, A*fsnH • Mounor \. / YA^c)f\c^oi>^» mSiWo>f T'I^A^/IS COUKTY Fig. 1 HISTORY- The City The city of Austin was a product of a young and somewhat unstable Republic of Texas. Named for St«=phen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas," it had earlier been established by Gen. Ed- ward Burleson in 1835 as the town of Waterloo, viith Jacob Har- rell's trading post on the northern bank of the Colorado form- ing the nucleus of the tiny settlement. While hunting buffalo with Mr. Harrell, Mirabeau Lamar became favorably impressed with the area, citing it's "well-watered" climate and the ava:l- ability of buiiding materials as two of it's more advantageous features. By 1839 Austin had been declared the capitol of the Republic by an act of Congress. President Lamar appointed Judge Edwin Waller, later the first mayor of Austin, to oversee the surveyino- of Austin and the construction of its first building. Setting up camps around Waller Creek, Waller's surveying teams worked under the threat of Indian raids, and two of his men were scalped in such an at- tack. The men were buried on the east side of 7/aller Creek be- tween 9th and lOth Streets, the city's first cemetary. Waller superimposed a grid over the hills of Austin, laying out the city between Shoal and Waller Creeks, withthe Colorado River as its southern and 15th Street as its northern boundaries He stipulated that all the north-south streets be named for Texas rivers and all the east-west streets for Texas trees. Lots were auctioned off in 1839. with the highest blds going for land at 6th and Congress.-'See Figure 2, next page. 3D 1839 MAP OF AUSTIN ET ^ffi T -rl»//// 1 Fig. ^ Plan of Tf e CÍXy oT Austin. IÔ39. source: Heritage Society of Austin, Inc. RSCREA ION Lake Austin and Town Lake are part of a stairway of '50 miles of seven r^esevoirs formed by the darn'ning of the Colorado River. These two lakes are a combined twenty-seven miles long and completely contained within the city of Austin. Much of the land alon,? these lakes is city-owned and is used for recre- ational and leisure activities. On Town Lake canoes and sail- boats oan be rented by the hoúr, motorboats are allowed on Lake Austin. Along these lakes and their tributaries are over twehty miles of iogging paths and hiking trails. Austin was /among -^hQ first municipalities in the r'tion to provide a recreation tra?l when Civilian Conser^vation Corps workers 7 laid out a "walking trail" along Shoal Creek ^n 1933« B.^kmg Is extremely popular in Austin. Trails have been laid out and bike commuting systems studied by the Urban Tmnsportation Dep- o artment. The extensive recreational activities in Austin that are run by the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) include: 137 parks, 21 free neighborhood swimroing pools, 7 municipal pools, 4 golf courses, 4 tennis court?, 12 recrea- tion centers, 14 senior citizen centers, the Austin ^^ature cen- 9 ter and the Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farm. From the abundance of facilities for reor^at^on available, it is clear that Austin is a city with definite values for leisure time. 8 PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS More than thirty viable, private, non-profit arts agencies and organizations exist in Austin. They vary in size, purpose, budp;et, length of existence, and audiences. Some are very spe- cialized, others multi-disciplinary, but the entire spectrum of artistic disciplines is represented. ( See Table 1.) Major problems include inadequate affordable spaces, esp- ecially for performing arts rehersals and for visual ants exhibits; a market glut of professional artists, virtually non-existant linkage between the arts and business; the absence of "big money support for the arts in Austin," 11 terr— itorialism on the part of the arts groups themselves, the need for public education about the arts, poor media coverage and poor ooordination of effort between the groups. Budget con- straints have been significantly reduced by the city council's decision to commit 1% of the hotel occupancy tax to arts contract funding. Applications for these contracts are reviewed by the Austin Arts Commission which then makes fundlng recommendations to the city council. At present, there is no Council for the Arts in Austin; however, various disciplines are organizing under umbrella groups which probably will increasingly perform many council 12 type functions. Existing iTiuseums in .^ustin include a natural science rauseum and a combination natural science and history museum, two docur,ents museums, seven h'storic site museums, and four art museums. Of the four art museums, three are on the Univ- 9 Mtiot Gfouw Providlna Peffonnlnq and Vl8u«l Aft Funetioni in Amtin Driif tnd Theitof Zachify Scott Theeter Canter Stage Thetter Gaillght Theeter Ptranount Theeter Auetin Repertory Thaeter Plna Artf Dance Comoanlea/Orqanizatlont Americtn Deaf Oance Company Auatin Ballet Theatar Auitin Civic Ballet Auttin Repertory Dancart Dancert Contemparary Co./BaUat Eatt Dance Thetter Deborah Hay and Co. Invíilble Inc. Muticiant Auttin Syinphony Orchettra Auttin Fsderation of Muticiant KKFA - Claitical FM Larjon Inttitute of Hittorical Inttrument Tachnology Mutic Umbrella of Auttln Drama Afro American Playert Table 1.