Museum architecture

The Old Ashmolean building in Oxford, an early example of purpose-built museum architecture.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and opened in 1959.

Museum architecture^[1] has been of increasing importance over the centuries, especially more recently.^[2][3]

A challenge for museum architecture is the differing purposes of the building.^[4] The museum collection must be preserved, but it also needs to be made accessible to the public. Climate control may be very important for the objects in the collection.

History

An early example of architecture for a purpose-built museum is the Museum of the History of Science building in Oxford, England, originally built to house the Ashmolean Museum.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, USA (opened in 1959), by Frank Lloyd Wright is an important architectural landmark and icon of the 20th century. Another classic 20th century example of iconic museum architecture is the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain by Frank Gehry (opened in 1997). Gehry has undertaken many major museum architecture projects, including the Experience Music Project in Seattle, USA, the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, USA, the Vitra Design Museum and MARTa Museum in Germany, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada.

Successful examples of modern architecture being married with existing museum buildings include the Louvre Pyramid by I. M. Pei in Paris, France (1989), and more recently the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court by Norman Foster at the British Museum, London, England (2000).

David Chipperfield designed many notable museums, including the award-winning River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, England, in 1997.^[5] This won in 1999 the RIBA Architecture in Arts and Leisure Award and the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust/British Sky Broadcasting Best Building Award (England).^[6] Further museum architecture projects by Chipperfield include the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, USA (2005), the Museum of Modern Literature in Marbach, Germany (2006), and the reconstructed Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany (2009).

Museum architecture sometimes involves the conversion of old buildings that have outlived their usefulness but that are still of historic interest. A notable example is the conversion of the Bankside Power Station designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott into the Tate Modern in 2000, based on design by Herzog & de Meuron.^[7] Information about the conversion was the basis for a 2008 documentary Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern.^[8]

Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc, an architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, established in 1962, has undertaken museum architecture projects including Ellis Island National Monument and Museum^[9] (Associated Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects) and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Associated Architects with Pei Cobb Freed & Partners).

Architects

As well as the architects mentioned above, other architects notable for their contributions to museum architecture include:

• Philip Freelon (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, 2003, USA; the Museum of the African Diaspora, 2005, USA)
• Leonard Jacobson (East Building of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978, USA; West Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, 1981, USA; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, 1982, USA; the Louvre, 1980s/90s, Paris, France)
• Kengo Kuma (Kitakami Canal Museum, Tokyo, 1994, Japan; Suntory Museum of Art, 2007, Japan; V&A at Dundee^[10], Dundee, 2010, Scotland)
• Akira Kuryu (Uemura Naomi Memorial Museum, 1994, Japan; Okazaki Mindscape Museum, 1996, Japan)
• Katayama Tōkuma (Nara National Museum, 1894, Japan; Kyoto Imperial Museum, 1895, now the Kyoto National Museum, Japan)
• Stanton Williams (Grand Musée d'Art,^[11] 2011, Nantes, France)
• Mei Ping Wu (Silk Route Museum, 2009, China)

Gallery

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  The Louvre Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris (1989).

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  The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 1997.

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  The River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, designed by David Chipperfield and opened in 1997.

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  The Tate Modern in London, converted by Herzog & de Meuron in 2000.

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  The Great Court at the British Museum, London (2000).

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  The Macao Science Center in Macau, designed by Pei Partnership Architects in association with I. M. Pei (2009).

References

1. ^ Giebelhausen, Michaela, ed (2003). The Architecture of the Museum: Symbolic Structures, Urban Contexts. Critical Perspectives in Art History. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0719056109. 
2. ^ Francis, Richard L. (2006). "The Explosion of Museum Architecture". Global Province. http://www.globalprovince.com/museumarchitecture.htm. Retrieved October 14, 2011. 
3. ^ Filler, Martin (November 2005). "Museums and the Maecenas Touch". Architectural Record (McGraw Hill). 
4. ^ "What is Museum Architecture?". wiseGEEK. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-museum-architecture.htm. Retrieved October 14, 2011. 
5. ^ Richards, Ivor (23 February 2011). "AR 1997 January — David Chipperfield's River and Rowing Museum". The Architectural Review. http://www.architectural-review.com/home/ar-archive/ar-1997-january-david-chipperfields-river-and-rowing-museum/8611738.article. 
6. ^ "David Chipperfield". Wakefield Council, UK. http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/74906CDF-4437-45C1-8470-4208CCD7901B/0/David_Chipperfield_CV.pdf. Retrieved October 14, 2011. 
7. ^ "Tate Modern". Carillion PLC. http://www.carillionplc.com/sectors/sectors_leisure_tate.asp. Retrieved October 14, 2011. 
8. ^ "Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern". Google Video. 2008. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2483168510674278477. Retrieved October 14, 2011. 
9. ^ STLI Service 2 Description, National Parks Service, US Government, USA.
10. ^ Morkis, Stefan (28 March 2011). "V&A museum architect Kengo Kuma to give Dundee lecture". The Courier (Dundee, Scotland). http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Dundee/article/12285/v-and-a-museum-architect-kengo-kuma-to-give-dundee-lecture.html. Retrieved October 30, 2011. 
11. ^ Stanton Williams Architects, e-architect, UK.