Robert Bateman is a celerated canadian artist and naturalist. Many of his works are inspired by his travels and his interest in different landscape and ecosystems. He holds a keen observational eye that brings his subjects to life, anything as small as the sheen on the eyelashes of water buffalo or the morning dew on a leaf, nothing goes unnoticed in an effort to bring these scenes to a wider audience.This museum is meant to honour his wide catalogue of artwork and his humanitarian and activism efforts to help preserve the natural world. His artwork “Thinking like a mountain” largely influenced the design of this museum.
The site is located beside St. Andrew’s playground, with many shorter buildings around it. Condominiums are likely to replace these in the near future, with the building directly behind the site at this time sold to a developer. The design was trying to create a mountain-like exterior, in that mountains protect and fortify. Sustainability and preserving the existing playground/ park was a focus.
The wall is highly insulated and made so that there are heat gains during the winter. No extensive amount of glazing was used in order to preserve the condition of the paintings, where the medium used is oil a lot of the times. This concentrates views inward, as the site, except towards St. Andrew’s playground, does not offer plentiful views.
Captivity is compartmentalizing nature, placing living things into jars and cages, and showing the public the collection. This is the thesis of Robert Bateman’s work and writing.
Classroom teaching space
Subterranean space
