Dug - Out
Precast Cast Museum | Ithaca, NY
Cornell is responsible for one the United States’ largest plaster cast collection. These casts are currently neglected, either dispersed around campus without context or hidden away in storage. The museum we propose aims to restore the dignity of these ”copies” and to inspire a renewed appreciation for the art of casting.
The museum is a cast itself, using the landscape as the mold for the system of retaining walls that house both the casts and the museum’s programs. Sunken deep into the ground, the architecture becomes an alternative pathway through the site, with its own potential to deviate and curate a processional viewing of the collection. The museum becomes a space where the collection can be experienced in its entirety, from restoration to display.
Spring 2015, Cornell University
Professor George Hascup
Collaboration with Jeremy Bilotti, B.Arch ‘18
