Archinect - News

OMA's new Toranomon Hills Station Tower opens in Tokyo

2023-10-27T13:48:00-04:00

OMA and Partner Shohei Shigematsu have shared new photos of their just-completed work on the Toranomon Hills Station Tower project for developer Mori Building Co. in Tokyo.

The first high-rise to be completed inside the studio’s larger Toranomon Hills mixed-use district overlooks the terminus of Shintora-dori Avenue, whose axis is extended through a split base containing a Metro station and shopping area. This creates an interface between city and the building that the architects say is essential to their design’s public character, an element that culminates in a top-level cultural center called TOKYO NODE.

Photo: Mori Building Co., Ltd, courtesy of OMA

Photo: Tomoyuki Kusunose, courtesy of OMA

In between the public elements, the total 873-foot tower contains 32 levels of office spaces, a hotel, and two restaurants. Users will approach via an elevated T-Deck pedestrian walkway that connects the site to the surrounding development. Base-level activities are extended vertically in a ban...

Explore photos of OMA and Cooper Robertson's newly opened Buffalo AKG Art Museum expansion

2023-06-23T13:58:00-04:00

OMA has shared photos of the newly-reopened Buffalo AKG ARt Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Gallery) following a special ribbon-cutting ceremony that was held on June 12 in Buffalo, New York.

The culmination of more than three years of construction yielded the renovation of two existing structures and the addition of a new glass-canopied Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building and Ralph Wilson Town Square designed by Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson.

The Buffalo AKG campus looking east along Elmwood Avenue. Image © Marco Cappelletti.

Overall, the renovations add an additional 50,000-square-feet of exhibition space, five studio classrooms, a restaurant, and 350-seat auditorium. The project was funded by a $230 million capital campaign said to be the largest in the region’s history. New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul, who was born and raised in Buffalo, said "The new building and campus are a dramatic work of art that will attract visitors and support the regional touri...

Final design for Discovery Partners Institute headquarters presented to Chicago Plan Commission

2023-06-05T19:25:00-04:00

The Chicago Plan Commission was presented the final design for the Discovery Partners Institute’s new headquarters at the 78 as the development looks to get final site plan approval.

The OMA and Jacobs-designed project is proposed for a one-acre parcel anchoring the south end of the upcoming The 78 mega-development, a mixed-use innovation district set to rise along a 62-acre stretch of disused rail yards. The headquarters is expected to be the first building to begin construction at the development. Standing eight stories and spanning approximately 213,000 square feet, the scheme will feature office, classroom, lab, and event spaces for the University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and its partners.

Previously on Archinect: OMA/Jacobs selected to design the University of Illinois' new DPI innovation hub in Chicago

The building will be composed of a series of stacked volumes enclosed with a dome-like glass and steel form. The atrium, described by OMA as an “active collision zone,” will serve as a central gathering space. The ground floor is designed to be open to the public, with a café, auditorium, and multipurpose rooms. The new headquar...

OMA completes renovation of Tiffany & Co. Manhattan flagship with rooftop extension

2023-05-19T17:02:00-04:00

OMA has completed its transformation of Tiffany & Co.’s 5th Avenue flagship in New York City. The updated store now features a three-story rooftop addition designed by OMA and interiors by Peter Marino.

Image credit: floto+warner

The project marks the first significant renovation of the store since its opening in 1940. Now known as ‘The Landmark,’ the store “invites visitors to discover the history and range of Tiffany & Co. goods in a redefined flagship environment of displays and shared experiences,” according to OMA.

Image credit: floto+warner

The interior of the existing limestone building sees a central core reorganized to create a clear elevator lobby and improved visitor flow. Atop the building, a new three-story volume houses a dedicated gallery, exhibition, and event space.

Image credit: floto+warner

The first two floors of the volume are stacked into a clear box for exhibitions and events, with a double-height, column-free s...

OMA’s first Tokyo tower takes a step closer to completion

2023-02-02T11:48:00-05:00

OMA has taken a step closer to the completion of its first tower in Tokyo, following the announcement that the Toranomon Hills Station Tower will open in the Fall of 2023. Part of the wider Toranomon Hills development, the mixed-use tower will reach 873 feet in height, and will hold offices, commercial spaces, hotels, and an interactive events facility named TOKYO NODE.

Image credit: OMA NY / Mori Building Co., Ltd.

The lower section of the tower is imagined as a “large funnel” designed to draw the public inward. The dominant architectural element of the tower’s base is the T-DECK, a large-scale pedestrian bridge that links the building to the broader development, and creates two public zones. The lower zone, dubbed the ‘Station Atrium,’ manifests as a three-story concourse which the design team believes “provides an exciting sense of arrival.”

Image credit: OMA NY / Mori Building Co., Ltd.

Above the base, the tower’s form is angled from several vantage points to create new sightlines...

OMA and Cooper Robertson's Buffalo AKG Museum will officially reopen in May 2023

2022-11-24T12:00:00-05:00

An opening date has been set for the restored Buffalo AKG Art Museum following the announcement of the additional $20 million in funding to complete the three-year OMA and Cooper Robertson-led project.

Since Archinect's reporting of the museum's design was shared back in June 2018, the formerly named Albright-Knox Art Gallery will officially open its doors on May 25, 2023. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed off on the remaining monies made necessary by pandemic-related overruns to what she called a “transformative project that will provide a significant boost to Buffalo’s future.”

When it opens, visitors will be enthralled by Shohei Shigematsu’s glass curtain design for the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach building that connects via a transparent pedestrian bridge to the refurbished 117-year-old Elisabeth Wilmers Building, designed in the neoclassical style by influential local architect...

OMA's Harajuku Quest center performs an urban balancing act in Tokyo

2022-11-03T13:30:00-04:00

Construction has begun on the OMA-designed Harajuku Quest project in Tokyo. The 84,000-square-foot mixed-use scheme will contain commercial and cultural functions set within a building form shaped by two differing urban contexts that interact with the site.

Concept diagram. Image credit: OMA

To the south, the Harajuku Quest site is bound by Omotesando, an imposing axial thoroughfare defined by wide tree-lined sidewalks, and a string of flagship retail stores occupied by global brands. In response, OMA’s scheme addresses the street with a “monolithic, transparent face” where a setback towards the top brings light to the interior, and a setback at the ground encourages pedestrian movement through the site.

Concept diagram. Image credit: OMA

Section diagram. Image credit: OMA

To the north, meanwhile, the site addresses Oku-Harajuku, a more intimate “village” townscape defined by tight, organic streets and smaller-scale buildings occupied by independen...

OMA/Jacobs selected to design the University of Illinois' new DPI innovation hub in Chicago

2022-09-23T17:14:00-04:00

A joint team of OMA and Jacobs has been selected to design a new 200,000-square-foot headquarters for the University of Illinois System's Discovery Partners Institute in Chicago, the state and Governor J.B. Pritzker announced on Thursday.

The multi-year project will transform a disused 62-acre former yard site as the first construction in the larger The 78 Innovation District that is meant to provide a high-tech connection between Chinatown to the South Loop.

Image courtesy OMA and Lucian R

Pritzker says its “futuristic design” matches the state’s ambition to create a hub for innovation downtown on land donated to the state by Related Companies’ Midwest operation. Beyond the typical economic stimulus components provided by the project, the development will support a host of K-12 education and entrepreneurship programs, continued wastewater monitoring, and a hodgepodge of other collaborative business ventures geared toward the tech industry.

Image courtesy OMA and bloomimages.de

Image ...

OMA's Audrey Imas Pavilion makes its long-awaited debut on Wilshire Boulevard

2022-01-04T18:38:00-05:00

The wait is over for one of the most hotly-anticipated editions to the cultural landscape of Los Angeles in recent memory.

OMA has announced the official completion of its much-heralded Audrey Irmas Pavilion for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Koreatown.

The new building offers a unique center for aging in addition to a rooftop terrace and sunken garden that connect through a series of small meeting rooms that provide users the chance to gather in the topmost example of three distinct voids defined by their separate sacred and public meeting spaces wrapped in gray GFRC panels which form a hexagonal motif geometric facade.

Image by Jason O'Rear, courtesy of OMA New York

Back in September, OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu referred to the project as a potential catalyst for a return to mass-scale social interactions, stating that its completion “comes at a time when we hope to come together again,” and that the pavilion “can be a platform to reinstate the importance of gathering, exchange, an...

OMA takes exhibition design to new levels at the reopened Denver Art Museum

2021-10-26T17:06:00-04:00

As part of the newly reopened Denver Art Museum renovation project, OMA has transformed the design galleries of the iconic Martin Building in order to better display, exhibit, and communicate the museum’s robust holdings in architecture and design.

The remade space features two new galleries and an educational studio named for designer and art collector Ellen Bruss.

Photography by James Florio

OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu described the opportunity to work within Ponti’s seminal work as “an exciting exercise,” offering his opinion that “Much like his design philosophy, the role of design seems to grow and diversify exponentially. A direct consequence of design ubiquity is accessibility and literacy, and we wanted the galleries to react to these changes.”

Photography by James Florio

“The three spaces pose new ways of seeing as well as interacting with objects and materials,” he continued. “They present different spatial and programmatic identities but work collectively as a platform for s...

OMA's first office development in Japan is now complete

2021-10-11T18:15:00-04:00

Thirty years after their first project in the Japanese city of Fukuoka, OMA has announced the completion of its plan for the Tenjin Business Center development that will bring a “new urban lifestyle” to the country’s seventh-largest city.

The Tenjin Business Center's pixellated corner facade. Photography by Tomoyuki Kusunose.

The center is the first realized part of the Tenjin Big Bang Initiative, which will create a sprawling, multi-use hub that’s meant to serve as a catalyst for Fukuoka’s transformation into a high-tech startup capital.

The Tenjin Business Center's activated lower corner soffit lighting. Courtesy Fukuoka Jisho.

“It’s been a remarkable experience to build in my hometown where the city’s unique culture and identity are held close by its community, but in a moment of transformation catalyzed by an openness to new ideas and people,” OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu, who is a native of Fukuoka, said in a statement.

Located at the intersection of two of the...

OMA's new pedestrian bridge aims to lead the Mexican city of Jojutla on a path to the future

2021-09-23T19:48:00-04:00

Four years removed from one of the worst natural disasters in Mexico’s history, one small city in the state of Morelos is ready to bridge the chasm between past tragedy and future optimism thanks to the efforts of one New York firm.

Image courtesy of OMA New York

OMA has announced that it will be developing a new pedestrian bridge for the city of Jojutla to coincide with the anniversary of the devastating 2017 earthquake that left much of the city in shambles, and many of its residents to question the viability of the community long term.

Image courtesy of OMA New York

The project is the latest addition to OMA’s ongoing public space and resiliency push that includes a comprehensive post-Hurricane Sandy water use strategy for Hoboken, New Jersey, and the 11th Street Bridge Park development in Washington, DC.

Image courtesy of OMA New York/CCA, Model and Photography by CCA

The new bridge represents OMA New York’s contribution to the region’s ambitious recovery effort. Jojutla has beco...

OMA’s Audrey Irmas Pavilion nears completion, their first religious building

2021-09-01T16:01:00-04:00

OMA New York have released an update on their Audrey Irmas Pavilion taking shape in Los Angeles, California. The scheme, designed for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, is OMA’s first cultural building in California, and the first religious institution building in the firm’s portfolio.

Image by Jason O'Rear, courtesy of OMA New York

Having been selected for the scheme’s design in 2015, OMA have progressed construction of the scheme through the COVID-19 pandemic. “The making of the Audrey Irmas Pavilion sustained forward momentum through the COVID-19 Pandemic, a period in which the act of human interaction was questioned and contemplated,” explains Shohei Shigematsu, the OMA Partner in charge of the project. “Its completion comes at a time where we hope to come together again, and this building can be a platform to reinstate the importance of gathering, exchange, and communal spirit.”

Image by Jason O'Rear, courtesy of OMA New York

The 55,000-square-foot pavilion sits adjacent to the cent...

Steel-frame construction tops out for OMA's Albright-Knox museum expansion

2021-07-23T17:01:00-04:00

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has reached a major milestone in its ongoing $160 million expansion project overseen by Shohei Shigematsu and OMA in cooperation with Cooper Robertson.

Construction has topped out on the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building on the soon-to-be renamed museum’s Buffalo, New York campus, clearing the way for a 2022 reopening that will significantly improve the gallery’s historic footprint.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery Expansion, plaza view. Image courtesy OMA.

“This is a remarkable moment,” director Dr. Janne Siren said at a ceremony observing the occasion Wednesday. “We are about one year from the completion of this project that will make Buffalo and our community so proud, will create jobs and prosperity for the people who live here and will be an attraction for people from all across the world who will want to come and visit us,”

With the steel frame now in place, contractors will soon begin the concrete pour for the building with a glass-wall curtain installa...

OMA's Audrey Irmas Pavilion at Wilshire Boulevard Temple is taking shape

2021-03-19T15:19:00-04:00

After breaking ground in late 2018 and topping out nearly one year later, the OMA/Shohei Shigematsu-designed Audrey Irmas Pavilion at Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles is increasingly taking shape.

The $75 million expansion — OMA's first building in the city — will house a chapel and terrace, a grand ballroom, meeting rooms, performance spaces, and a rooftop sky garden.

Rendering of the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion next to the historic 1929 temple building on Wilshire Boulevard in L.A.'s Koreatown neighborhood. Image courtesy of OMA New York.

Gruen Associates is the executive architect, Studio-MLA designed the sunken garden, and Arup is the structural and facade engineer on the project.

The new building is expected to open in early 2022.

Photographer Hunter Kerhart has shared a few more recent construction photos over at Urbanize LA.

Shohei Shigematsu of OMA reveals Miami Beach's first underwater sculptural park and artificial reef, The ReefLine

2020-11-20T13:50:00-05:00

Shohei Shigematsu of OMA announces the firm's upcoming project, the ReefLine, in collaboration with cultural placemaker Ximena Caminos. Leading the project's masterplan and structural design will be Shigematsu and his team, while Caminos will lead as its artistic director.

Known for its high-end coastal amenities and luxury living, the project seems like a fitting attraction to add to Miami's growing list of "must-sees" aiming to entertain as well as inform.

Image courtesy of OMA

The first of its kind in Miami Beach, the 7-mile park and artificial reef aims to "protect and serve Miami's marine life and coastal resilience efforts." Set to be completed in phases, the design team plans for the project's first mile to open in December 2021.

The first phase will open with permanent installations by Argentine conceptual artist Leandro Erlich (b. 1973) and Shohei Shigematsu/OMA. Image and text courtesy of OMA

"Erlich will create an underwater incarnation of his popular sand-sculpted “tra...

OMA to bring double-skinned glass addition to Tiffany& Co. flagship store in Manhattan

2020-08-25T15:56:00-04:00

A substantial renovation and expansion of the Tiffany & Co. flagship retail and office tower in Manhattan is currently under construction by OMA New York. The project, which broke ground earlier this year, will bring a new two-story addition to the 10-story building's uppermost levels, replacing an earlier addition made to the structure in the 1980s.

Originally built in 1940 by neoclassical architects Cross & Cross, the building renovation is set to include new exhibition, event, and "clienteling" spaces to help the building keep pace with "the growing and diverse program needs of the brand," according to a press release. According to project text, OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu and OMA Associate Jake Forster are the main designers for the project at OMA New York.

The project will lend a clearly defined circulation plan to the building as well as new energy efficient amenity and retail spaces along upper levels. The two-story addition is set to include a double-skinned glass facade ...

Steel frame of OMA's Audrey Irmas Pavilion for Wilshire Boulevard Temple tops out

2019-08-01T14:35:00-04:00

After breaking ground last November, the steel frame of the $75-million Audrey Irmas Pavilion has quickly taken shape in Koreatown. Located at the corner of Wilshire and Harvard Boulevard, the expansion to the Wilshire Boulevard Temple will house cultural, religious and community events. The three-story, 55,000-square-foot structure will consist of a chapel and terrace, a grand ballroom, a catering kitchen, meeting rooms, performance spaces and a rooftop sky garden.

The OMA/Shohei Shigematsu-designed Wilshire Boulevard Temple expansion in Los Angeles recently celebrated the topping out of its steel structure.

Conceptual model. Image courtesy of OMA New York

On its website, OMA explains that the "structural frame, weighing about 700 tons, is composed of steel beams and columns with buckling restrained braces to resist earthquake loads. The steel framing is designed economically to resist its own weight under gravity, with three sloped elevations. The long transfer girders supporting the upper level columns will accommodate an open, clear-span ground floor event space."

View of the historic 1929 temple building with the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion from across Wilshire Boulevard. Image courtesy of OMA New York

OMA's collaborators on the Audrey Irmas Pavilion project are executive architect Gruen Associates, landscape architect Studio-MLA, and engineers Arup. Completion is scheduled for late 2020.

To get a clearer picture of the current progress, head...

John King reviews OMA's Avery Tower in San Francisco

2019-07-20T11:00:00-04:00

As much as any single new building downtown, the tower dubbed the Avery embodies the grand, often clashing ambitions of today’s San Francisco.

John King, urban design critic for The San Francisco Chronicle, has weighed in on the recently-completed Avery tower complex, a 55-story high-rise block designed by Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) for the city's bustling Transbay neighborhood.

King writes, "What sets the Avery apart is the extent to which its creators try to fill a blank slate with nuanced urbanism—modern in looks but with an old-school desire to make passersby feel at home." The project, created for developer Related California, includes a mid-rise affordable housing complex designed by Fougeron Architecture that "helps frame the courtyard and passage that slices through the block" to positive, "cozy" effect, according to King.

A conceptual model highlighting the massing approach for the project's mid-block passageway. Image courtesy of OMA.

King praises the materiality of Fougeron's contextual apartment blocks, referring to their brick-clad articulation as "a satisfying gesture of deference to the modes...

OMA unveils a bigger, newer New Museum for NYC

2019-06-26T18:19:00-04:00

The Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has unveiled a faceted, prismatic design for the firm’s proposed expansion to the SANAA-designed New Museum in New York City.

Designed by OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, the 60,000-square-foot addition marks OMA’s first public building in New York. According to a press release announcing the project, the wedge-shaped addition is designed to “complement and respect the integrity” of the flagship museum, which opened in 2007.

Though the New Museum does not maintain a permanent collection of its own, the institution has been remarkably popular since its opening. Annual attendance at the museum has skyrocketed from roughly 60,000 visitors to over 400,000 patrons in recent years, while the museum’s staff has quintupled to 150 workers, according to The New York Times.

Rendering depicting the facade of the proposed OMA addition. Image courtesy of OMA and Bloom.

The project will help the New Museum soothe...

A First look at OMA's Avery Tower

2019-06-14T13:41:00-04:00

The Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has nearly completed work on their new 56-story residential tower in San Francisco, The Avery. To celebrate, the firm has unveiled a series of new photographs of the spaces that have so far been completed, including the tower's exterior, amenity areas, and penthouse.

The project, undertaken with Fougeron Architecture, HKS, Clodaugh Design, Y.A. studio, and Jay Jeffers, will bring 548 residential units to San Francisco's bustling Transbay district. Designed as a tower-and-podium scheme, the development includes a mid-block paseo that has been carved out of the site's buildable area. The walking street is overlooked by Fourgeron's contextual, apartment-wrapped podium designs. The new mid-block shopping area includes trees, native vegetation, and public open spaces, and is overlooked by apartments wrapped in industrial materials like brick and tooled stone.

Included in the project are 118 condominiums, 280 market-rate rentals, and 150 affo...

See new views of OMA’s first NYC building, with 'prismatic' details

2019-05-30T18:02:00-04:00

The new L-shaped residential building at 121 East 22nd Street represents Rem Koolhaas's architecture firm OMA‘s first ground-up Manhattan project; developers Toll Brothers City Living have released new photos of the eye-catching structure on the border between the Gramercy and Madison Square Park neighborhoods, highlighting its unique design. The new condominium residence is comprised of two blocks that straddle an existing tower, the 11-story School of the Future, constructed in 1915. The building’s north tower has two interlocking planes that meet to form a distinct, three-dimensional corner. The 13-story south tower features an “undulating grid of punched windows” overlooking 22nd Street.

Photo by Laurian Ghinitoiu for OMA

According to the architects, the building’s three street fronts and presence in two neighborhoods presented an opportunity for multiple viewpoints that referenced Cubist artwork. The north tower in particular shows the meeting o...

Today Sotheby's unveils its newly expanded and redesigned New York galleries by OMA

2019-05-03T19:15:00-04:00

Today Sotheby's unveils its redesigned and newly-expanded gallery located in their global headquarters in New York. In collaboration with Sotheby's by Shohei Shigematsu and OMA, the redesign features updated exhibition spaces that provide optimal spatial layouts for their vast art collections. Comprised of 40 public galleries and nine private sales salons, the new space has become the premier location for art exhibitions in terms of scale, quality, flexibility, and scope. Able to accommodate a wide range of art at varying scales, the new space increases Sotheby's exhibition size from 67,000 to more than 90,000 square feet, which is an expansion equivalent to two acres.

CEO of Sotheby's Tad Smith shares, "Our ambition was to co...

OMA reorganizes Sotheby’s New York City HQ as a four-story art department store with 40 galleries

2019-02-22T14:23:00-05:00

The art market is rapidly changing, and even the big players aren't immune to the need for adjustment: auction power house Sotheby's today revealed a few conceptual glimpses into a dramatic reorganization and expansion of its NYC headquarters at 1334 York Avenue.

The redesign, led by OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu and Associate Christy Cheng, optimizes the currently inefficient, sprawling distribution of locations of employee, client-serving and back of house spaces throughout the massive building; increasing the available exhibition space from 67,000 to more than 90,000 square feet—the equivalent of two acres.

Aerial sketch. Credit: OMA New York.

"Our conceptual proposal clarifies the overall flow through the building by restacking and consolidating complementary programs while freeing up space for improved connectivity and openness—new retail, gallery and client spaces span the first four floors to better engage clients and visitors," explains the project description.

F1 Lobby. Cr...

OMA dazzles in Denver as it creates Dior's first retrospective in the United States

2018-11-19T15:39:00-05:00

The Denver Art Museum is featuring: Dior: From Paris to the World, an exhibition featuring the history and design evolution of one of the world's renowned fashion houses. Now open to the public, the museum is to showcase over 200 couture garments, artworks, artifacts, accessories, jewelry, photographs, and more. With the exhibition being the fashion house's first retrospective in the United States, the design team at OMA and Shohei Shigematsu develop a visual timeline of Dior's iconic work that can be shared with its American audience.

OMA’s exhibition was designed to create a visual narrative of Dior's ethos and its long history of creativity and materiality. Spatial organization was key for the overall interiority of the space. Much influence was taken from the natural forms and contemporary design of the Hamilton Building. The museum pathways and display armature are complimentary of the building's ...

Construction on OMA's Audrey Irmas Pavilion kicks off in Los Angeles

2018-11-12T13:59:00-05:00

The oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, broke ground on its anticipated $75 million OMA-designed expansion over the weekend.

Named after the project's lead donor, the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion will rise right next to the Temple's historic sanctuary and will house spaces for multi-use cultural and religious purposes.

Image courtesy of OMA New York

The expansion effort is led by OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas as Partner-in-collaboration. Gruen Associates is the executive architect, Studio-MLA oversees the landscape architecture, and Arup is the engineering partner on the project.

View from across Wilshire Boulevard. Image courtesy of OMA New York

“Focusing on communicating the energy of gathering and exchange, the pavilion is an active gesture, shaped by respectful moves away from the surrounding historic buildings, reaching out onto Wilshire Boulevard to create a new presence," said Shohei Shigematsu. "We are thrilled to break ground ...

OMA's Audrey Irmas Pavilion to break ground next month along Wilshire Boulevard

2018-10-26T15:57:00-04:00

The Wilshire Boulevard Temple's high-profile expansion will break ground next month, according to Urbanize.LA. Designed by OMA New York, the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion will include a main event space, a smaller multi-purpose room, and a sunken garden designed by LA-based Mia Lehrer, with whom OMA is also collaborating on a park design in downtown LA.

Renderings for the landmark's expansion were released earlier this year, showing a contemporary design that leans away from the historic building, in terms of both aesthetics and positioning. "The pavilion is an active gesture, shaped by respectful moves away from the surrounding historic buildings, reaching out onto Wilshire Boulevard to create a new presence," said OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu back when details of the project were released.

The $75 million expansion is expected to complete in 2020. Most of the funding has come from the project's lead donor for whom the pavilion will be named after. Back in 2015, Audrey Irmas, a lon...

First designs of OMA/Shigematsu-lead Albright-Knox Art Gallery Expansion revealed

2018-06-26T14:38:00-04:00

In June 2016, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo chose OMA/Shohei Shigematsu to design its ambitious $155 million AK360 Campus Development and Expansion project. Today, two years later, the first set of preliminary schematic designs was released, showing a freestanding building that will add 29,000 square feet of exhibition space.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, overview. Image courtesy OMA.

"In addition to the new North Building, OMA will work on preservation and improvements to the existing campus," reads the gallery's announcement. "Changes include creating a new education wing in the lower level of the 1962 building, transforming a surface parking lot into a green landscape and gathering place, adding a new point of entry and exist on the east façade of the museum’s 1962 building and creating new education wing in the lower level of the 1962 building. A scenic bridge weaving through Olmsted Park will connect the North Building with the 1905 building along with a new roof enclosu...

First glimpse: OMA's Audrey Irmas Pavilion design for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple

2018-04-02T13:31:00-04:00

Late last week, the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles revealed one rendering so far of the new Audrey Irmas Pavilion by OMA New York, who won the design competition for the building back in 2015. As an addition to the Temple's Erika J. Glazer Family Campus, the Pavilion is OMA's first commission from a religious institution and their first cultural building in California.

Designed by OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu with Associate Jake Forster and Executive Architect Gruen Associates, the Pavilion was named after its lead donor Audrey Irmas, a longtime congregant who gave $30 million to the Wilshire Boulevard Temple after she auctioned off a Cy Twombly painting in November 2015.

Expected to break ground later this year, the slanted building will include a main event space, a smaller multi-purpose room, and a sunken garden. The three spaces are interlocked and stacked on top of each other to create vantage points and framed views.

“We wanted to focus on communicating the energy...

OMA embarks on first Boston commission with 88 Seaport mixed-use building

2017-05-31T13:14:00-04:00

OMA unveiled a rendering of their design for a mixed-use office tower along Boston's 88 Seaport Boulevard, marking the firm's first commission in the city. With OMA Partner Shohei Shigematsu as design lead, the “sliced” building comprises 18 floors with almost 425,000 square-feet of office space, about 60,000 sq.ft. of retail on the first two floors, and 5,000 sq.ft. for civic/cultural functions. The exterior features a series of cascading terraces that slope down toward Fan Pier Green and the Seaport waterfront.

“Our design for 88 Seaport slices the building into two volumes, creating distinct responses for each urban scale of old and new, while also accommodating diverse office typologies for diverse industries with demands for traditional and alternative floorplates,” Shigematsu said in a statement. “The slice also generates an opportunity to draw in the district’s public domains, linking the waterfront and Fan Pier Green with a continuous landscape.”

As part of WS Development's la...