The design for the San Jose State University Art Museum represents a method of creative achievement; an artistic energy to symbolize the agitation and unfolding of thoughts and ideas that are the benchmark of the artistic process. The building, as a body, moves and thinks like the artist. As the spaces shift and move and open up onto each other they are stitched together by the movement of a circulation path, proposing a relationship between the physical artistic gesture and the mental clarity that directs the creative journey. From a geological perspective, the museum seeks an origin as well, again proposing a relationship between the earth's energy and that of the artist.

A limestone wall begins by carving out the basement space, releasing the earth's energy to form the building above. The wall lifts up to reveal the museum entry, drawing in the visitor. It is sliced, punctured, twisted, and folded as it attempts to contain the forces within.

The lecture hall and 'experimental gallery' are housed within smooth clad metal forms that are thrust into the limestone shroud. A ribbon-like series of monumental stairs links the various galleries on four levels. While the stairs are seemingly light and airy, they are clad in fine terra cotta, as if they are pulled from the earth below.

The stairs terminate at the 'experimental gallery' that leaps out of the limestone enclosure. The metal box peels away to reveal a translucent inner surface that can showcase digital media on both the interior and exterior facades. The ribbon of terra cotta exlodes through the roof of the 'experimental gallery', forming an occupiable space of both earth and sky.