dumontjanks

The arts district master plan for the High Mountain campus of Utah State University envisioned a phased composition that integrates visual and fine arts and an expanded museum program with regeneration and performing arts academic programs and performance venues. The district’s initial project, a 450-seat recital hall and arrival court, was supported by a donor family’s extraordinary gift. The plan unites a performance program, stunning lobby foyer, and the exterior arrival court with a singular idea synthesizing artist, architect, and landscape architect. The project’s interior, exterior, and landscape integrate materials to form a connected whole. The lobby’s three-dimensional aluminum “origami” wall parallels the building’s zinc geometric exterior. The design strategy brings the beautifully crafted concrete lobby floor through a lower-level curtain wall to the adjacent exterior arrival court. Flush lighting in the arrival and foyer flooring minimizes impact on the overall serene composition. Simple groves of ginkgo trees organize the exterior space, consisting of pea stone courts and a uniting mosaic of concrete walks that tie the arts district back to the campus.