Project Details
- Project Name
- Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention
- Location
- FL
- Architect
- GWWO Architects
- Client/Owner
- Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention
- Project Types
- Cultural
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 26,000 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2018
- Shared by
- GWWO Inc./Architects
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
Conceived as a metaphor for the human brain, the design of the new Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention was inspired by a passage from Tennyson's Ulysses: "I am part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades forever when I move."
Just as experience fosters creativity, and creativity leads to invention, neurons in the brain grow and make new connections, in new and different ways, with every new experience. Like some of history’s greatest inventions that became platforms for future inventions, such as the world wide web making the creation of social networks and file sharing sites possible, the brain is where experiences are reformulated to create new ideas that in turn influence others—leading to invention.
Like Ulysses in Tennyson's poem, the central main hall is part of all spaces in the museum. An oculus to the sky—symbolic of Tennyson's "arch"—opens the space to the universe and all experiences beyond the museum. The main hall’s distinguishable exterior form draws visitors in from Main Street with views into and through the museum, while individual galleries grow organically from its core – together they form a vortex of creative energy. The Fibonacci sequence, ever present in nature and science, was also a key inspiration for the museum’s organization and proportions. The building unwinds as does a Fibonacci spiral, similar to leaves on a stem or curves of a shell.
The new facility features interactive exhibits, including “Neuroscience of Creativity”, “The Story of Gatorade”, “Highlights of American Innovation” and “Contemporary Inventors in our Community”, as well as a traveling exhibit area, classrooms and a multi-purpose room, invention laboratory, catering kitchen, gift shop, offices, support spaces and outdoor terraces, and gathering spaces for teaching and events. The project was designed to be constructed in multiple phases to allow time for fundraising. The recently completed first phase is fully-functional, while the second phase—which will grow organically from the building’s core—will incorporate additional gallery space and classrooms. Due to the success of the first phase, the client is already moving forward with the second.