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Olson Kundig is chosen to design The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa

Folk architecture

Olson Kundig is chosen to design The Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa

Conceptual rendering of The Bob Dylan Center (Courtesy Olson Kundig)

 

The George Kaiser Family Foundation has just announced Seattle-based design practice Olson Kundig as the lead architect and exhibit designer for The Bob Dylan Center, a new exhibition space dedicated to the works of renowned singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It will be located on Martin Luther King Boulevard southeast of the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The center will be the public venue for The Bob Dylan Archive, and is expected to break ground in 2019 and open in 2021. According to the center’s website, it will be home to a collection of more than 100,000 objects such as “handwritten manuscripts, notebooks and correspondence; films, videos, photographs and artwork; memorabilia and ephemera; personal documents and effects; unreleased studio and concert recordings; musical instruments and many other elements.”

Olson Kundig won first place in the international competition for the job. In a rendering of the entrance released by the Foundation, an exuberantly colored painting by Dylan named The Beaten Path is printed on the wall. Curtain walls on the side introduce ample daylight to the seating area.

In a rendering of the semi-outdoor exhibition space, one of Dylan’s quotes from Chronicles, Volume One is printed on the ceiling. People can slide into wall indentations and read, text, or quietly indulge in Dylan’s music. In an interior rendering, light boxes containing Dylan’s personal items float above the ground. Olson Kundig is partnering with Tulsa-based Lilly Architects, the architect of record for the project. Plains of Yonder will be the partner for audio and multimedia experiences for the building.


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