Amant Art Campus | Iwan BaanIn a city where density often dictates form, Amant, designed by SO IL, offers an alternative architectural proposition that privileges fragmentation over monumentality and permeability over enclosure. Located in the industrial periphery of North Brooklyn, this cultural campus occupies three separate blocks, threading itself into the fabric of a rapidly evolving neighborhood. Rather than asserting itself as a singular object, Amant is a spatial and civic strategy, a constellation of volumes and voids that test the role of the art institution in the contemporary city.Amant Art Campus Technical InformationArchitects1-15: SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Location: Brooklyn, New York, USAArea: 1,951m2 | 21,000 Sq. Ft.Project Year: 2014 2021Photographs: Iwan BaanCentral to Amants design is the idea of an urban oasis, a space where the pace of art-making can slow to allow experimentation and meaningful reflection. SOIL ArchitectsAmant Art Campus PhotographsAerial View | Iwan BaanStreet View | Iwan BaanStreet View | Iwan BaanRear Facade | Iwan BaanPatio | Iwan BaanEntrance | Iwan BaanWindow | Iwan BaanInterior | Iwan BaanInterior | Iwan BaanModel | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Urban Fragmentation and the Notion of Contextual DialogueAmant is not a buildingit is a distributed condition, a spatial field dispersed across a tight urban grid. Situated in a context marked by warehouses, garages, and traces of industrial infrastructure, the project engages in a dialogue with its surroundings by mimicking and adapting. The architects resist the traditional typology of the sealed cultural building. Instead, the project manifests as a sequence of volumes and open spaces, inserted between and around existing structures.This dispersed strategy enables Amant to act as a kind of urban filterporous to the neighborhood, yet specific in its interior functions. The insertion of multiple entry points, alleys, and interstitial courtyards creates opportunities for incidental encounters and unprogrammed use, softening the boundary between institution and public. In a context where privatization of urban space is the norm, Amants configuration feels generous and radical.Spatial Ethos and Curated MovementAt the heart of Amant is a spatial ethic oriented toward slowness and reflection. The project is not organized around a singular axis or procession but through a network of lateral connections and nested sequences. Movement through the site is non-linear, deliberately choreographed to encourage exploration rather than efficiency.The campus accommodates a hybrid programartist studios, exhibition galleries, a performance space, administrative offices, and a cafeach located in one of four primary buildings. Between these, courtyards and narrow passageways guide visitors in and out of light, sound, and social atmospheres. This interplay between architecture and experience allows the visitor to drift, fostering solitude and social exchange conditions. The architecture does not assert itself over the artwork or the visitor but facilitates a range of tempos, modes of engagement, and intensities of presence.Amant Art Campus Material LanguageSOILs material choices in Amant articulate a deliberate ambiguity, offering a subdued yet nuanced language that resists overt expression. The buildings are formed in cast-in-place concrete, shaped by profoundly textured form liners that animate otherwise blank surfaces. Bricks are subtly rotated out of plane, introducing a shadow play that recalls masonry traditions while abstracting them. Galvanized steel bars veil certain facades, filtering views and reflecting the changing sky. This material palette, while modest, lends the project a rich tactile dimension.From a distance, the buildings appear almost muteanonymity as urban camouflage. However, a different reading emerges upon approach: craft, detail, and attention to surface take precedence. This architectural language is not one of spectacle but of proximity and encounterit rewards the visitor who slows down. In this sense, materiality becomes a medium for contemplation, echoing the institutional mission to provide a space for unhurried artistic production and appreciation.Cultural Typology and Institutional FlexibilityAmant reconsiders the cultural campus as a non-hierarchical ensemble. Each building within the compound houses a distinct gallery, differentiated in scale, light quality, and infrastructural specificity. This strategy allows the campus to accommodate diverse artistic practices, from immersive installations to intimate screenings. More importantly, it invites a flexible curatorial approach, where programs evolve and spaces are reconfigured without compromising the coherence of the whole.Beyond programmatic adaptability, Amant is a test case in rethinking the cultural institutions relationship to the city. It challenges the image of the autonomous museum-as-object and instead proposes an embedded, open, and responsive typology. As an urban oasis, it provides a retreat not through isolation but through the careful modulation of exposure and shelter. In doing so, it contributes to an ongoing conversation about architectures role in fostering inclusive, experimental, and civic spaces for art.Amant Art Campus PlansFloor Plan | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Section | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Axonometric View | SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)Image GalleryAbout SOLID OBJECTIVES IDENBURG LIU (SOIL)SO IL (Solid Objectives Idenburg Liu) is an internationally recognized architecture and design firm based in New York City. Founded in 2008 by Dutch architect Florian Idenburg and Chinese architect Jing Liu, the firm has gained acclaim for its innovative and contextually responsive designs. Notable projects include the award-winning Kukje Gallery in Seoul and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California, Davis. SOILs work emphasizes creating structures that foster new cultures and institutions, engaging thoughtfully with local and global contexts. Credits and Additional NotesExecutive Team: Florian Idenburg, Jing Liu, Kevin Lamyuktseung, Ted BaabDesign Team: Pietro Pagliaro, Grace Lee, Sanger Clark, Lucia Sanchez-Ramirez, lvaro Gmez-Sells, Kristen Too, Sophie Nichols, Christopher Riley, Alexandre Hamlyn, Regina Teng, Etienne Vallat, Marisa Musing, Tyler Mauri, Julie Perrone, Mario Serrano, Diego Fernandez, Yuanjun Summer Liu, John ChowClient: Lonti EbersProject Management: Paratus GroupStructural Engineering: Silman AssociatesMEP Engineering: CES Engineering, Plus Group EngineeringLighting Design: Buro Happold EngineeringCladding Consultant: Simpson Gumpertz & HegerCivil Engineering: Bohler EngineeringExpediter: J. Callahan Consulting, Inc.Acoustics / AV / Security: Harvey Marshall Berling AssociatesConcrete Consultant: Reginald Hough AssociatesGeotechnical Engineering: Langan Engineering, PMT Laboratories, Inc.Landscape Design: Future GreenGraphic Design: Linked by Air