Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center in Seattle, Washington by Olson Kundig

Article source: Olson Kundig 

The vision behind the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center is to educate, inspire, and motivate people through storytelling—sharing the work of others who are focused on improving the lives of people around the globe. Through interactive exhibits, visitors can investigate some of the challenges facing the world, learn how people are tackling those problems, and explore their own ideas and solutions to challenges that matter to them.

Image Courtesy © Benjamin Benschneider

• Architects: Olson Kundig
• Project: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center
• Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
• Photography: Benjamin Benschneider, Kevin Scott, Premiere Pro, Chris Burnside, Lara Swimmer, Fergus Knox
• Design Principal: Alan Maskin
  
• Principal: Stephen Yamada-Heidner
  
• Project Manager: Marlene Chen
  
• Project Architect (TI): Michael Picard
  
• Project Architect (Exhibit Design): Blair Payson
  
• Interior Designer: Charlie Hellstern
  
• Staff: Bryan Berkas Simon Clews Misun Chung Gerrick Todd MatthesKevin Scott Megan Zimmerman
  
• Design Principal: Alan Maskin
• Principal: Stephen Yamada-Heidner

Image Courtesy © Kevin Scott

The experience begins outside the building on the sidewalk with provocations and informational exhibits stretching along the glazed street façade of the building. Views into the building reveal exhibits situated along a ramp that parallels the sidewalk, which in turn, opens to the galleries beyond.

Alan Maskin Design Principal

Image Courtesy © Kevin Scott

Image Courtesy © Kevin Scott

Inside, a series of five galleries lead the visitor through an exploration of the foundation’s history and interactive investigations (mechanical and digital) designed to inspire action: the galleries include the Voices Gallery, Family & Foundation Gallery, Partnerships Gallery, a theater, and the Innovation & Inspiration Gallery.

Image Courtesy © Kevin Scott

Image Courtesy © Benjamin Benschneider

The galleries and exhibits are organized through a system of large, free-standing steel armatures; exhibits plug into the armature framework unifying the aesthetic throughout the exhibit and facilitating the potential for future change.

Image Courtesy © Benjamin Benschneider

Image Courtesy © Benjamin Benschneider

Each gallery tells a chapter of the foundation’s story through hands-on experiences. In the Family & Foundation gallery an interactive time line describes efforts to date, with a portion left blank for future endeavors. Visitors can also spin a wooden globe to see the foundation’s geographical reach appear on a digital world map. They can even design their own foundations: they type in ideas, which are then displayed on a digital wall as permanent part of the exhibition.

Image Courtesy © Benjamin Benschneider

Image Courtesy © Lara Swimmer

By integrating a hierarchy of scale, space and material into the exhibits, the design brings dimensionality and attention to the many people and partners touched by the foundation in discrete, easily understood segments. With an emphasis on ideas—the design seeks to create a personal relationship between the visitor and the mission and work of the foundation and those it supports.

Image Courtesy © Lara Swimmer

Image Courtesy © Lara Swimmer

Image Courtesy © Lara Swimmer

Image Courtesy © Fergus Knox

Tags: USA, Washington

Category: Visitor Center

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