Buildings
Pei, Cobb, Freed Designing NASCAR in Charlotte
(archrecord.construction.com - 04/20/2006)
By Alan
G. Brake
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| Images courtesy
Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners |
Charlotte, North Carolina, is hoping
to capitalize on the popularity of NASCAR by attaching a new
museum dedicated to stock car racing to its convention center.
The city worked with Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners (PCF)
to prepare a preliminary design for their city’s bid.
The $150.5 million, 200,000-square-foot
project will include a hall of fame and a new ballroom. A
parabolic form, which wraps the building, dominates the design.
According to Yvonne Szeto, a design
partner with PCF, the curving form “expresses the speed
and spectacle of the sport.” Szeto and others attended
several races and were impressed with the steeply angled tracks.
“It was a fascinating topic for us to learn about,”
she says. “We were struck by the banking of the track.
It is nearly thirty degrees in some places, which makes it
hard to walk across. You really have to be moving fast.”
Szeto says that PCF is looking at how
the project can include both the entertainment aspects of
the sport using virtual rides and simulators, as well as making
tributes to racing figures. “Cooperstown is the cathedral
for baseball,” she says. “We are looking for an
appropriate expression for NASCAR.”
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