The Museum of Vanishing Arts

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Alexander Lamoureux

Abstract or Description

The Museum of Vanishing Arts, located in the Arts District of Fort Worth, TX, acts as a sanctuary for the endangered and vanishing arts. Vanishing arts refers to crafts, skills, or human creative activities that have, or are starting to, become obsolete. The vanishing arts are more often referred to as "dead art." This title would not be a correct name for these arts. While it is true that some of these art forms are genuinely dead, many are still being practiced by a small number of individuals in many communities around the world. A revival then occurs by bringing attention to the apparent endangerment of these arts. The cyclical life that these vanishing arts go through is akin to 'Samsara⁠' — a fundamental belief of Buddhism and Hinduism. The Museum of Vanishing Arts aims to educate visitors on the 'Samsara of Arts'—the life cycle that arts take on. The form of the museum emulates the vanishing arts — drawing inspiration from the Caddo hut, a vanishing art practiced by the local Native Americans, for the museum's generic spatial module. Traditional settlements of Native Americans inspire the spatial organization of the design modules. The cylindrical spatial modules are clustered together to form a premise that evokes the expression of a craft village. The museum's construction, facade, and materiality convey the skills the vanishing arts require, creating a crafted space that engages and educates visitors through a progressive gallery experience.

Mentor

Dr. Kapila D. Silva