The Arkansas Arts Center has a new name: the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. Leaders gathered [...] provide an update on its facility, which is being renovated and expanded. [...]
Designs for the additional $14 million in funds, Ramirez said, include new plans for 15% more gallery space than initially planned, added programming and “transforming even more of MacArthur Park into landscape space designed to host a variety or programs and events.”
— Arkansas Times
A new Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts building, designed by Studio Gang with landscape architects SCAPE and Little Rock-based Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, is already under construction in Little Rock's MacArthur Park.
"The central gesture of the new Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts — a folded, thin-plate structure running through the museum complex — lends AMFA a highly visible new architectural identity and connect its diverse programing spaces," explains the project description.
"This roofline spans the length of the museum from north to south, blossoming toward downtown Little Rock at the north and Historic MacArthur Park to the south. In concert with new construction, the design once again reveals the original 1937 limestone facade of the Museum of Fine Arts, a precursor to AMFA, as the main north entrance."
"Inside, the central stem opens up a new axis of pedestrian circulation through the building from Crescent Drive at the north and opening into a grand atrium at the south end of the building. Soaring clerestory windows fill the space with natural light. The curved structural lines of the ceiling wood paneling in the ceiling is echoed in the polished floor below with zinc inlay."
The new building, providing spaces for exhibitions, education, and performances, is scheduled to open to the public in 2022.
No Comments
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.