Christo &
Jeanne-Claude's
Gallery
This design reimagines Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s signature draping by transforming it into a permanent architectural gesture—glass flowing over geometric forms like a frozen veil. The façade itself becomes a living tribute, blurring the line between art and architecture.
Details
Dialogue Between Structures
The addition unfolds within PAMM’s architecture, where suspended glass and light engage in conversation with the museum’s rhythm and transparency.
- Date : 04.2023
- Client : FUI School of Architecture
- Status : Completed
- Location : Pérez Art Museum, Miami
Project Info
The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Gallery proposes an architectural dialogue between ephemerality and permanence. Inspired by the artists’ transformative use of fabric, the project translates their temporary installations into a lasting architectural experience—where glass replaces textile, and the act of wrapping becomes a sculptural language of light, reflection, and movement. The design invites visitors to experience architecture as an unfolding artwork—both revealed and concealed through the shimmering veil of glass that defines its form.
The Brief
The project draws from the monumental works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose temporary fabric interventions reshaped the way we perceive space and form. Their practice of wrapping—concealing structures to reveal new meaning—inspired a reinterpretation in architectural terms. Here, glass becomes the medium of transformation, embodying both the delicacy of drapery and the strength of structure.
Replacing fabric with glass transforms the temporal softness of the artists’ installations into a lasting architectural surface. The cascading glass planes are designed to catch and diffuse Miami’s abundant sunlight, creating ever-changing reflections that echo the movement of water and sky. This interplay of light and transparency evokes the ethereal quality of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work, translating it into a dynamic architectural experience.
Visitors encounter the gallery as both sculpture and space. The geometric core of the building anchors the design in permanence, while the flowing glass surfaces invite movement and discovery. From within, filtered light creates an atmosphere of serenity and reverence—an environment that blurs boundaries between art, architecture, and landscape, extending the museum’s connection to its waterfront setting.
The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Gallery celebrates the enduring impact of two artists who taught the world to see the familiar anew. By freezing the motion of fabric in glass, the project captures a moment of transformation—turning transience into timelessness. It stands as both homage and evolution, inviting reflection on how architecture can translate the ephemeral into the eternal.
