Prism Marquee

A gallery’s pliant facade enhances movement and views of the iconic Sunset Strip 

Prism, a three-story contemporary art gallery located at the heart of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, has been lauded as a cornerstone of artistic experimentation. With exhibitions featuring Barry McGee, Os Gêmeos, and Mario Testino and reviewed in such publications as Time Out and Hyperallergic, it also has become known for celebrity sightings. Alongside the exhibition space is bookstore with a curated selection of texts and products. The project was an extensive conversion of an old house, maximizing its volume while maintaining its original footprint.

The envelope of the building is designed to create subtle sensations by inducing a physical and optical dynamism that both challenges and enhances movement along the iconic Sunset Strip. Deeply inspired by the supple forms, streamlined detailing and plastic finishes of automotive design, it is the first facade in the nation to be constructed entirely out of a resin-based composite polycarbonate. The facade has a dual aesthetic performance associated with plastic materiality and responsive to its lively context: it behaves as a reflectively glossy surface during the day and as a viscously translucent skin when lit from inside at night. These surfaces dramatically open the interior while suspending the building mass over the strip, hence projecting a sense of weightlessness for pedestrian and vehicular traffic approaching from the west.