The new building, which construction will begin this fall, will be only Hadid's second construction in the United States - after the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003).
The new building will have almost 4,000 sq. m area, of which 1.6 thousand square meters. m will occupy exhibition halls. The Museum of Michigan State University specializes in contemporary art, including photography and its current genres, but some of the galleries will also be used to display works created before 1945.
The building will have three levels, including a basement. It will be built of concrete, and its facades will be faced with glass and metal panels. On the east side, where the height of the building decreases, an extensive sculpture park will be adjacent to it.
The building project was created by Zaha Hadid based on the study of various directions of movement, intersecting at the site selected for him. These "vectors" are reflected in the volume of the building as deep sharp folds. The whole structure seems to be leaning towards the west - towards the main stream of cars and pedestrians. At this point, its height reaches 12 m, then lowering to 8 m from the east, where the park adjoins the museum.
There, the composition of the building forms a courtyard closed on three sides - a transitional space between the natural environment and the halls.
Metal perforated panels and glazed "cladding" openings form a complex play of light and shadow inside the museum. Each gallery will receive its own special lighting mode, in accordance with the works exhibited there. The "trapezoidal" outlines of the premises will create spatial effects unexpected for visitors.
Hadid emphasized the need to use natural light inside the museum: "The horizontality of America, its wide sky, the light here is amazing, I have always been impressed by the light in North America, and it was very important to bring it inside [the building]."
Simultaneously with the news of Hadid's victory in Michigan, her project for the Lilium Tower for Warsaw was presented to the public. This is an elite residential building combined with an apart-hotel. It will be built next to the high-rise of the Palace of Culture and Science of the 1950s and skyscrapers that have appeared in the city center in recent years. With the height of the new building of 240 m, a minimum amount of materials will be spent on its construction, including due to its complex curvilinear shape (in the plan, the tower resembles a flower). At ground level, the building will open two shopping centers and a restaurant, and a new public space will emerge around it.
