Building
The building was the first free-standing glass and steel frame structure of its type to be built in the United States. Construction took place from 1928-1931, when Higgins hired Boston architect Joseph D. Leland to design the new home for his collection. It was so innovative that Leland was instructed to build a one-story prototype to prove that the building would stand. The distinctive L-shaped, four-story facility is an extremely rare example of steel frame Art Deco architecture.
The interior walls of the main galleries were constructed of plaster on metal lathe, formed to resemble the stone Gothic arches of a medieval castle. In the spring of 1992, construction of an auditorium with state-of-the-art media capacity, a museum-quality climate-controlled special exhibits gallery, and fully equipped classrooms and education offices was completed. A central HVAC system was also installed to provide the proper environmental climate.
Read more about this topic: Higgins Armory Museum
Famous quotes containing the word building:
“Writing a book I have found to be like building a house. A man forms a plan, and collects materials. He thinks he has enough to raise a large and stately edifice; but after he has arranged, compacted and polished, his work turns out to be a very small performance. The authour however like the builder, knows how much labour his work has cost him; and therefore estimates it at a higher rate than other people think it deserves,”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“And no less firmly do I hold that we shall one day recognize in Freud’s life-work the cornerstone for the building of a new anthropology and therewith of a new structure, to which many stones are being brought up today, which shall be the future dwelling of a wiser and freer humanity.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“Little Bill Daggett: I don’t deserve this. To die like this. I was building a house.
Will Munny: Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”
—David Webb Peoples, screenwriter. Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman)