MILLIØNS pays deference to I.M. Pei with new café space for the Everson Museum

2024-08-07T15:00:00-04:00

A new café space from MILLIØNS at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, meant to showcase a 4,000-object donation from its namesake, Louise Rosenfield, is up and running inside I.M. Pei’s 54-year-old Brutalist masterwork.

Image: Iwan Baan

The project’s commission was won after an international competition organized by Syracuse University School of Architecture dean Michael A. Speaks in 2019. Coming out of the pandemic, the institution was looking to increase public access to its collection overall while finding an appropriate use for Rosenfield's ceramics collection gift. The rare bequest stipulated it would be made available for use by visitors in a reversal of museum policy.

Image: Iwan Baan

The Los Angeles-based studio’s intervention entailed adding a pair of triple-height glass towers that double as a visible collections storage facility and display cases to the building’s East Wing Mather Court area. The incorporation of these definitive 'curatorial' elements works t...

I.M. Pei's first museum scheme, the Everson in Syracuse, turns 50

2018-10-02T15:43:00-04:00

The Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, was renowned architect I.M. Pei's first museum design. Opening in 1968 to rave reviews, the architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable described at the time that the structure was "the architecture of today as art history will eventually record it...it does its own thing."

The 60,000 square foot facility is constructed out of concrete blended with local granite—an example of American brutalism that achieved a level of refinement and luxury sometimes lacking in the attitude of its peers. Pei's plans for the small-museum were quite unique at the time; his obsession over small details and his iconic circular staircase helped to make it a success.

Take a look at the landmark building.

Courtesy of the Everson Museum.

Archinect - News

MILLIØNS pays deference to I.M. Pei with new café space for the Everson Museum

I.M. Pei's first museum scheme, the Everson in Syracuse, turns 50