Dia reopened in Chelsea, after a two-year renovation Photo: Elizabeth Felicella, courtesy of Dia
In 1987, when the Dia Foundation established an outpost for art in what was then a low-slung spread of taxi garages and auto repair shops, the Chelsea of today was unimaginable. At five storeys, Dia’s building was one of the tallest in the area, which felt remote from the dozens of galleries, bars, shops and high concentration of artists in SoHo. That lack of distraction was perfect for Dia, which carved space out of time for the long, slow absorption of its commissioned, year-long exhibitions.
Yet in a scenario that has been repeated so frequently it seems to have been ordained by an unnamed master of the universe, art made a wilderness safe for development. Dia sold its building when structural repairs proved more expensive than building anew, which it only did in Beacon, but it held onto three other properties on West 22nd Street. Unfortunately, succeeding may
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Once upon a time, you could stand on the roof of 548 West 22nd Street, up among the water towers of Manhattan, with views out over the Hudson to New Jersey, and watch the city shimmer and reflect on the surfaces of one of Dan Graham’s glass pavilions. It was a New York moment. You could go downstairs, following the blue and green glow of a Dan Flavin light sculpture lining the stairwell, and see shows by leaders in contemporary European and American art reaching back to the 1960s. The galleries here, at Dia Center for the Arts, were some of the first to display Richard Serra’s
Re-emerging as a force in Chelsea
after a two-year, $20m renovation, the Dia Art Foundation’s space there will reopen on Friday (16 April) with a renewed purpose: to champion under-recognised artists and to serve as an information hub for all 11 of Dia’s long-term art sites.
The foundation’s Chelsea renovation unites its three contiguous buildings on West 22nd Street and underlines its gritty history of inventively revitalising existing structures. The 32,500 sq. ft project, which includes 20,000 sq. ft for exhibitions and other programming, embraces the neighbourhood’s traditional character and architectural vernacular, with wide-open industrial-style spaces, exposed brick, wooden ceiling beams and rehabilitated skylights that allow natural light to pour in and illuminate the art. It also reasserts the foundation’s importance in championing long-term art installations that flood the senses.
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Miriam Dreiblatt, architectural designer. The Restorative Justice Community Center in Middletown, CT. The community center serves Middletown residents in addition to providing space for Restorative Justice practice, an alternative to the traditional judicial system where crime victims and perpetrators participate in mediated conflict resolution. In development with local advocacy organizations, the layered design embeds the circle process and support rooms within the public space to expose community members to Restorative Justice; yet, ensures the participants’ privacy by obscuring the rooms’ entryways and orienting the view toward the outside. The building reinterprets Middletow