Dia Beacon is one of my favorite places anywhere. And the building itself is a large part of my fascination with and love for the place.
One bit i like in the video is Robert Irwin’s considering that Grand Central is the front door to the experience. That’s always been an important part of it for me, and is for sure the right way to do it.
Details from the youtube page:
On May 18, 2003, Dia Art Foundation opened Dia Beacon on the banks of the Hudson River in Beacon, New York, in a former Nabisco box printing factory.
Twenty years later, on the occasion of Dia Beacon’s anniversary, Dia presents a film about Robert Irwin’s transformation of the former factory. Conceiving of Dia Beacon as a work of art in and of itself, Irwin made subtle interventions into the building’s lighting and developed a symmetrical floorplan to ensure that the galleries are given equal importance and presented without a single overarching historical or chronological narrative.
The original building had many key design elements that made it an appealing site for contemporary art, including broad spans between supporting columns and more than 34,000-square-feet of skylights. Today these skylights provide natural light in the galleries and have uniquely established Dia Beacon as a “daylight museum.” Irwin also designed seasonally changing gardens throughout the surrounding landscape. Following the renovation, Dia Beacon was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Video: SandenWolff — Interviews: Rachel Wolff and Jonathan Sanden — Story editing: Rachel Wolff — Filming: Noah Therrien and Jonathan Sanden — Editing: Stephen Parnigoni — Music: roeaudionews, courtesy of Jamendo
Photo: Richard Barnes/Dia Art Foundation
