Weisman Art Museum University of Minnesota

An avant-garde building with a reflective metal facade stands against a clear sky as the sun casts warm glows on its lower panels. Its unconventional, deconstructivist architectural style is composed of jutting angles and disjointed forms, giving it a dynamic and unique appearance. I used a dramatic tone filter to bring out the light, colors and textures of the building. The Weisman Art Museum was designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry with MSR Design as architect of record and completed in November 1993. It is one of the major landmarks on the University of Minnesota campus, located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River at the east end of the Washington Avenue Bridge. The abstract structure is considered highly significant because it was built prior to the widespread use of computer aided design in architecture. The building presents two faces, depending on which side it is viewed from. To the south and east, it presents a brick facade that blends with the historic buildings along Northrop Mall. To the north and west, it is an abstraction of a fish and waterfall in curving and angular brushed steel sheets. The stainless steel skin was fabricated and installed by the A. Zahner Company, a frequent collaborator with Gehry's office