Figge Art Museum

The centre of Davenport, located on the banks of the Mississippi on Iowa’s eastern border, suffers from many of the problems endemic to a number of American cities. Over the years the area has witnessed the departure of much of its residential and business community, leaving downtown Davenport with little of the vibrancy normally associated with urban life. In an attempt to reinvigorate this area, and recreate a connection to the river, the city identified the relocation and re-housing of the Davenport Museum of Art (renamed the Figge Art Museum) as the catalyst in a programme of urban regeneration.

Identifying a wish to create some kind of emblematic building for the new city, the design of the Figge Art Museum was conceived as a monolithic glass structure that would powerfully yet simply landmark Davenport’s redeveloped waterfront. Its architecture is based around the idea of a simple volumetric block enveloped by opaque, transparent, and translucent surfaces. These glass surfaces are fritted with horizontal banding that varies in density so as to define each of the museum’s formal elements. In urban terms, the design looks to support the old city grid by filling one half of a previously empty city block.