CABLE TRUSS ENCLOSURE
courtyards of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

date: 2002
(with Foster and Partners)

My primary project at Foster and Partners involved the enclosure of the main public spaces of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. At its final stage, this had evolved into the glazed cable truss structures shown below. Structurally, these represent an unusual solution to the problem of achieving maximum transparency and lightness: rather than the usual heirarchy of primary structural members supporting secondary and then tertiary, the diagonal mesh of trusses forms the necessary bracing for the vertical supports on which it is hung. The set of elements is integrally woven together in a seamless fabric to keep the structure stable, and to allow each member to be as thin as possible by eliminating redundancy of material.

The resulting courtyard enclosures form the unifying gesture of the new masterplan for the museum. Linking together new and old building elements, and providing the varying natural light conditions required in the various galleries.