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It’s Amazeum! New Bentonville children’s museum is a good companion for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; series of similar projects aims to be forces of good. By Richard Massey Contributor
and zinc metal cladding were adopted to place the Amazeum in the Crystal Bridges design family. “Early focus groups with potential visitors and stake- holders provided a sense of what Northwest Arkansas people do, how they learn, how they view their com- munity, and how they think about their kids. In inter- preting those values to create learning experiences, it makes the Amazeum one of a kind. The experiences within the museum are a microcosm of Northwest Ar- kansas.” Haizlip Studio, a 10-person firm, designs children’s museums across the country. The company’s exten- sive portfolio includes the EdVenture Children’s Mu- seum in South Carolina, Glazer Children’s Museum in “What began as a museum-type for children to have a safe educational place to play has changed into a movement based on the importance of hands-on learning in childhood development and family recreation.”
T he Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville, Arkan- sas, might be one of a kind, but it still fits into a larger trend in children’s education that emphasizes discovery, science, technology, and hands-on learn- ing. Located on a 5.2-acre site on Museum Way, the gate- way to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Amazeum is the product of meticulous planning that took into account both the presence of the museum and input from leading members of the Northwest Ar- kansas community. Designed by Haizlip Studio (Memphis, TN) and built by Nabholz Construction (Conway, AR), the children’s museum features an interactive food market, art stu- dio, homestead cabin for role-play, a lift, load and haul area, and a canopy climber among other exhibits. Reb Haizlip, a partner at Haizlip Studio, explains how the 50,000-square-foot Amazeum took shape. “The building takes its cues of form and materials from Crystal Bridges,” he says. “The use of exposed concrete, curved laminated wood, glass curtain wall,
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