The Color Inside | Overland Partners + James Turrell Skyspace

Commissioned by the University of Texas, Austin’s Landmarks public art program in response to the student body’s desire for a peaceful retreat in the Student Activity Center, internationally acclaimed “light and space” artist James James Turrell Skyspace designed The Color Inside, one of his characteristic inhabitable artworks that use an oculus open to the sky as the focal point for communal, meditative contemplation.  Overland’s task was to bring this vision to life.

photography by  © Florian Holzherr

When the students at The University of Texas at Austin requested a meditation space for their busy Student Activity Center, the head of the university’s public art program immediately thought of commissioning artist James Turrell to create one of his signature Skyspaces. A pioneer of the California “light and space” movement of the 1960s, Turrell is recognized worldwide for installations that use light and color to heighten perception of our surroundings and of ourselves.

photography by © Florian Holzherr

James Turrell Skyspace has stated that “light is not so much something that reveals as it is the revelation,” meaning that light can be an inspiring art form in itself, rather than just a tool to illuminate something else. He often likens his work to the Quaker practices of his youth, in which engaging in silent prayer is described as “going inside to greet the light.”
In taking on the assignment of building The Color Inside, Overland recognized that their primary challenges had to do with relationships and technology.

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Addressing the first concern, they made a commitment to maintaining the absolute integrity of the artist’s vision, while also fulfilling the wishes of the students and the university. To better understand Turrell’s work, the Overland team toured his Skyspaces around the country and visited Roden Crater, an extinct volcanic cinder cone in Arizona that the artist has been converting into a natural observatory since 1979. To understand the needs of their clients and involve them in their process, they organized several workshops where students discussed the programmatic functions of the student center with Turrell and Overland Partners.

After reviewing James Turrell Skyspace specifications for The Color Inside, Overland Partners realized that achieving the desired effects would not be easy, due to the nature of the materials required to build the structure and to keep it air conditioned. In searching for ways to avoid potential problems such as water and moisture accumulation or the propensity of plaster to crack, the team enlisted outside expertise from NASA.

Approaching The Color Inside is like a pilgrimage, in that visitor’s exit the noisy student center by taking an elevator to the third floor, move through a long corridor, and enter a rooftop boardwalk to find the elliptical structure. Once inside the Skyspace, visitors can sit on a viewing bench attached to canted walls in a reclining position that directs one’s gaze to the oculus in the ceiling. For those wanting a daily ritual, they can visit at dusk and dawn, when computer-controlled LEED lights hidden in a light cover above the benches illuminate the ceiling area surrounding the Oculus with a sequence of changing colors.

Principal in Charge, Rick Archer, commented that a visit to the Skyspace is a “bonding experience with the people you meet there.” Busy at all times of day, it has become a popular spot for students and nonstudents alike to relax and share a perceptual experience that can be at once meditative and exhilarating.

Floor Plan

Architects: Overland Partners, James Turrell Skyspace
Location: The University of Texas at Austin, 2201 Speedway, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Architect in Charge: Rick Archer, FAIA, LEED AP
Design Team: James Lancaster, AIA, LEED AP; Michelle Stedman, LEED AP; Jim Taylor, AIA, LEED AP
Area: 520.0 ft2
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Florian Holzherr, Paul Bardagjy, Fernando Ortega
Consultants: Datum Gojer Engineers, LLC; HMG & Associates; Hughes Associates, Inc.; Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates; and Matthew Schreiber
Client: Landmarks, the public art program of the University of Texas at Austin