Porosity is program, circulation, light, views, scale, occupation. Autonomy is sculpture, logic, container, shelter, indifference. The contemporary public institution must be porous and autonomous. While this goal has never been fully realized in representational architecture, it is a potent impetus for inquiry into the relationship between the public and its institutions.

Porous Autonomous is one continuous scaffold--one continuous party wall--in the aims of a robust, fully functioning institution perforated by a thriving onlooking public. The institution is allowed to function autonomously and taps into the power of the cohabiting public at decisive moments. The architecture is robustly expressive, announcing the arrival of a new public institution.