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The New Dali Museum Weaves Landscape Design with Surrealism06-01-11 | News

The New Dali Museum Weaves Landscape Design with Surrealism

Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture

The East Garden is a landscape reminiscent of Dali?EUR??,,????'?????<

The top-rated museum in the American South, according to the Michelin Guide, the jewel of Florida?EUR??,,????'?????<

The opening day parade led from the old Dali to the new building with impersonators of famous artist on hand (including ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The original Dali Museum, which opened in March 1982, encompassed 30,000 square feet. The new $36 million museum building with the intriguing ?EUR??,,????'?????<

To complement the unique building design, Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture turned to elements of the great artist?EUR??,,????'?????<

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From the third floor of the museum the eye is dazzled by the geometry and light of the Glass Enigma through which is viewed the east garden and Tampa Bay. The freestanding staircase is an architectural representation of Dali?EUR??,,????'?????<

The four basic elements of the site design are the entry and grotto experience, the gardens, the materials and the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The swooping arc walkway starts at the intersection of Bayshore and the southeast corner of the Dali property and loops all the way to the Center for the Arts Plaza Plaza and the Dali entry (Dali Grotto). Bollard lights (He Williams Lighting), some atop capstone plinths, accent the plaza. Each of the squared cast concrete seating areas is decorated with a medjool palm and two illuminated bollards. We glimpse Tube lights (LECOR fixture, Beacon Lighting) and Tivoli lights on the crepe myrtle bosk at the lower left.

The Entry and Grotto
The museum entry provides an enchanting foretaste to the surreal world of Dali. Visitors pass through stairs with massive, sliced boulders and cross over a floating walkway/bridge level with a small pond, into a jungle of tropical foliage. They experience a vertical green ?EUR??,,????'?????<

As visitors approach the museum enter they cross over a small pond on a floating walkway and into the Dali Grotto, a misty ?EUR??,,????'?????<

A 20-ft. tall man-made boulder supports one corner of the massive cubistic building with natural stone benches in the area. This iconic boulder, themed by the Valley Crest Landscape Development team (Tampa branch), as well as the living wall, has plants in pockets and flowing water that weeps out of crags and crannies. A misting system is integrated to give the whole area a mysterious and cooling effect before visitors enter the museum while helping to irrigate the plants. Showcased on the north side of the rock is a small historic fountain, celebrating the Fountain of Youth, which also appears in Dali?EUR??,,????'?????<

The 20-ft. tall man-made boulder appears to be holding up the corner of the building. The landscape architects collaborated with architect Yann Weymouth on this design, and Valley Crest Landscape Development constructed it. A ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Gardens
The landscaped area on the western face of the museum displays colorful, heavy-textured plant materials interspersed within the large natural boulders. The western face of the museum structure will be partially covered with creeping fig vine up the vertical face of the building. As the fig vine races upward to vegetate the 50-ft. building, it will be a striking contrast to the stark concrete of the building.

The east garden overlooks Tampa Bay with a sweeping view of the deep blue water and home basin for a bevy of sailboats. An elevated east garden terrace creates a perch above a large boulder revetment accented with coastal foliage, palms and Italian cypress trees. Locally grown specimen European olive trees (Olea europaea, 670 gallon and 16?EUR??,,????'?????<

Boulders 8-10 feet long were split in half and separated to align the stepped entry with the museum. LED lights were cored into the rock to illuminate the steps.

The garden also contains a dining area with extra-large 20?EUR??,,????'?????<

Sustainable Materials
High-quality, sustainable materials were incorporated into all aspects of the landscape design. Manufactured precast stone was used for terrace pavers; permeable crushed coquina shell for gathering areas and labyrinth pathways; and LED light fixtures used for accent and area lighting are just some of the long-lasting, low-maintenance materials used in the site design. Low-volume irrigation was used for all landscape plant bed areas, while excess fountain water at the grotto is recycled into the fountain basin and not wasted.

Seven-foot tall walls of solid podocarpus shrubs (pine ferns) make up the spiral labyrinth, which has a beginning and an end and one path to get to the 25-ft. Italian cypress at its center. An outdoor classroom area is adjacent to the large ficus trees (bottom left). The hardscape there and for the labyrinth pathways are permeable crushed-coquina shells.

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Discovery Moments
Like Dali?EUR??,,????'?????<

Precast pavers (DC Kerkhoff) are laid out in squares whose dimensions correspond to the beginning Fibonacci integer sequence of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21. The resultant Fibonacci spiral is here replicated in a stainless steel band that leads from a bronze plaque in the pavement and terminates at the center of the door leading to the East Garden. Two 20x20 ft. Bahama-brand umbrellas offer shade from the subtropical sun and make the outside dining at the museums caf????????(C) a more pleasant experience. A large specimen European olive tree sits in the paver field (bottom left).

Sliding garden gates disappear into huge boulders, while LED lighting within the pavers guide visitors along a garden path.

A facsimile of the Golden Rectangle and spiral, or Fibonacci sequence, discovered in ancient times and used by artists throughout the centuries as the most perfect of spatial ratios, is imbedded in the pavement of the East Garden.

Children delight in a winding labyrinth with seven-foot tall walls of solid podocarpus shrubs. Modeled after a labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France, parents enjoy listening to their children run and play through the labyrinth or joining in the fun themselves.

This view is from the Mahaffey Theater Plaza looking across to the Center for the Arts Plaza and the Dali Museum. Recessed LEDs illuminate the terraced Zoysia lawn. A ground cover of blueberry flax lily is in the foreground.

Another Dali-inspired focal point is a bench that morphs into his ?EUR??,,????'?????< Other benches, carved into natural stone boulders, provide casual seating.

Connecting the Salvador Dal?? Museum and neighboring entertainment center, the Mahaffey Theater, is a spaceGraham-Booth Landscape Architecture collaborated on with architect Robert Aude to link the visual and performing arts. A generous open green space, manicured terraces and a bosque of mature crape myrtle trees offer space for patrons of both venues to gather. Sleek, contemporary site furnishings, accent lighting and Tivoli lights in the trees make this area a dramatic setting for night performances and civic gatherings.

The Salvador Dali Museum, with the largest collection of the master artist?EUR??,,????'?????<

The aluminum cut gates with the Dali signature open by sliding into a rock pocket, a design collaboration of the architect (Yann Weymouth of HOK, Tampa) and Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture. At night the transparency of the Glass Enigma is fully realized.

About the Landscape Architects
Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture (formerly Phil Graham & Company, P.A.) has been in business for 43 years in St. Petersburg, Fla. The firm of award-winning landscape architect, planners and LEED accredited professionals specializes in forward-thinking design that contributes to spaces of exceptional beauty and function ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The facility promise to excite all your senses as you engage the building and the site. Dali would be very happy with this expression of celebrating his life?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Salvador Dali Project Team

Landscape Architect
Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Phil Graham Jr., FASLA, ACIP, LEED AP (Senior Principal); Hunter Booth, RLA, LEED AP (Principal, Project Manager); Phil Graham IV, ASLA (Principal)

Landscape/Hardscape Contractor
ValleyCrest Landscape Development (Tampa Branch)
Andy Johnson (Branch Manager)

Architect
HOK, Tampa, FL
Yann Weymouth (Principal, Project Design)

Civil Engineer
Wilson Miller, Stantec

General Contractor
HC Beck, LTD Tampa, FL Office

Owner Representative
Peter Edward Arendt, AIA

Owner/ Dali Executive Director
Dr. Charles Henry ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Photographer
All photos courtesy of Mike Rixon, Rixon Photography

Center for the Arts Plaza

Architect
Robert Aude and Associates, Clearwater, Fla.
Robert Aude, AIA, in collaboration with Graham-Booth Landscape Architecture

Owner
The city of St. Petersburg

Salvador Dali Vendors

Lighting
Design Plan
Kim Lighting
Lumascape
Winona

Grotto
GreenScreen

Paving
LM Scofield/ integral colored concrete
DC Kerkhoff/ Precast Pavers

SS Custom Fibonacci Curve
SECO South

Umbrellas
Bahama umbrella

Bike Racks
Landscape Forms

Irrigation
Rainbird and Netafim

Pond Supplier
Wesco Fountains

Center for the Arts Plaza

Lighting
Becon Products-Illuminated Bollards
Tokistar-Tivoli Lights
SPJ Lighting-Step Lights

Site Furnishings
Benches and Litter Recptacles- Landscape Forms
Tree Grates ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Irrigation
Netafim and Hunter Mp Rotators