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.
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 tourism economy for decades to come.”
Site-specific installations from Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann’s Studio Other Spaces also take up residency in the Town Square, helping to activate the Frederick Law Olmsted–designed Delaware Park while augmenting three new entry points that are in line with the project’s mission to “radically increase the accessibility of its facilities and engage all members of its community with an inclusive, interactive, and porous campus.”
“Creating a space for one of the greatest collections of modern and contemporary art, in a historic park and campus, informed a design centered around dialogue amongst three generations of buildings; and art, park, and city [...] Clad in a glass veil, the building is radically transparent, capturing the campus history and nature from the inside and exposing the internal activities to the outside. The space created in between the veil and gallery becomes an enclosed terrace for diverse activities," explained Shigematsu.
"A set of new and restored elements visually and physically link the campus together to create a true arts campus—the edifice and plinth form provides architectural continuity; the scenic bridge immerses architecture, art, and people in nature; the restored historic stair and great lawn opens the campus to the city. Together, the building and campus reflect a collective ambition to push the museum typology toward a more open future,” the architect added.
The new Gundlach Building opens to the public on July 20th. Additional images of the completed project can be viewed in the gallery below.
25 Comments
It would be nice to learn more about the idea behind this addition. I don't mean to be rude, but Shogematsu's blurb, (or Kathy Hochul's for that matter), reads as very platitudinous. Isn't it the task of the architectural press to explain the parti / concept and analyze if the design lives up to the stated claims?
Pretty much all of OMA's claims about this project are pure bullshit. They vandalized SOM's outdoor courtyard out of existence and plonked a pretty unsympathetic new building in the front yard.
We cannot preserve our institutions into a state of paralysis. Healthy institutions grow and evolve with the community that they serve. The Bunshaft courtyard was sculpturally beautiful but nearly useless as public space. I preferred OMA's earlier proposal that concentrated the expansion above the courtyard. The final scheme was a compromise that responded to hardline preservationist demands to not impact the Bunshaft structure.
OMA's mistakes here extend well beyond just the approach taken to the SOM work on the campus. The non-relationship of the new building and the neoclassical building is terrible also.
Have you visited this building in person?
"The non-relationship of the new building and the neoclassical building is terrible also."
The relationship of the OMA building and the EB Green building define the lawn that replaced a large parking lot.
Yes, been there many times.
From what I can tell they replaced a parking lot, not a sculpture garden? Agree the text is filled with grating platitudes. The design itself is handsome. A reasonable building for car culture - ie, big box decorated shed. To me not so interesting as a model, mostly because it does not connect to site except by saying glass is transparent, and otherwise relies on its shapeliness. That all said, it is a nice design, polished and compact, with many exceptional moments that set it aside from the average museum. Where it falls down is its landscape. It's just a sheet of grass - there is no play between building and ground, and almost nothing between the old and new. Maybe that was in the original design mentioned in the comments? FWIW, Shohei Shigematsu is still young and finding his own voice. This is a pretty good project for an office just gaining its feet...
"The new building and campus are a dramatic work of art that will attract visitors and support the regional tourism economy for decades to come.”
This is the major motive for so much cultural design now, and it's hard not to wonder where it will lead. It is mindless.
And I don't know that the OMA is that much of a crowd pleaser anyway.
UGLY BUILDING. Shows no knowledge of harmonious form or harmonious relationship to existing structures. Egotistical and non-aesthetic.
OMA NY has not been the same since the REX team left.
Rendering from a previous post.
the building is radically transparent, capturing the campus history and nature
It isn't transparent. This thing is monstrous from any angle. It obstructs everything, the landscape and other buildings, and doesn't fit in with anything. The old building is trivialized by its mass and scale.
It is one thing to adapt to the times and try to reach a larger audience, but quite another to become another roadside attraction. There is no plan or thought here, or any conception of how they understand the present or where they see the culture going. It feels like desperation.
I can't believe they couldn't have broken its functions up and spread them around in a meaningful and varied coordinated complex. They have the space. Maybe some of the newer buildings could have been enlarged.
And while we're at it, I don't see what's gained by reducing the name to initials. This is branding. Cf. KFC.
"roadside attraction"? You cannot be serious. It is a museum! It is the most important investment in culture that has been made in Buffalo probably since the last Albright Knox expansion. Are you really expecting museum architecture to be boring, invisible, and inconsequential? Where is this kind of conservatism and self-loathing coming from? Why do major global cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles get to build large and highly visible culture buildings, but Buffalo must abide by some code of extreme modesty? This is absurd and the fear to engage in global culture in the way that larger global cities (and smaller cities in Europe and Asia) holds back smaller American cities.
I expect something intelligent and distinctive that recognizes type and site and encourages me to think about art and architecture in meaningful and new ways, which in fact, could be quite exciting. This just blobs out and, in fact, is boring.
To clarify, the Ralph Wilson Town Square with Common Sky, a cover for an existing courtyard, is just right of the old gallery in the photo above, glass-edged with black perimeter, which should separately be discussed on its own merits.
"I expect something intelligent and distinctive that recognizes type and site and encourages me to think about art and architecture in meaningful and new ways, which in fact, could be quite exciting. This just blobs out and, in fact, is boring."
But I do think that this design is intelligent, distinctive, and responsive to the site. If you find it boring, that might have to do with your own preferences. I also have slight issues with the aesthetic, but I realize that it is a very personal take. Growing up in Buffalo, I've heard and disagreed with many people over the years describe Bunshaft's 1963 addition as merely a dull box. And yet, some of my favorite art-viewing experiences have been in simple, well-detailed boxes around the world. Like the Piano's Whitney Museum in NYC, or Gehry's addition to the OGA in Toronto, or SANAA's 21st Century Museum in Kanazawa, I bet there are many moments when the relationship between the interior of the museums and the surrounding landscape are establish through views and through the use of open space on the campus. Keep in mind that this OMA design restored the stairs on the 1905 building and it put parking underground and replaced the parking lot with a brand new public space.
"I expect something intelligent and distinctive that recognizes type and site and encourages me to think about art and architecture in meaningful and new ways, which in fact, could be quite exciting. This just blobs out and, in fact, is boring."
But I think that this design *is* intelligent, distinctive, and responsive to the site. If you find it boring, that might have to do with your own preferences. I also have slight issues with the aesthetic, but I realize that it is a very personal take. Growing up in Buffalo, I've heard and disagreed with many people over the years describe Bunshaft's 1963 addition as merely a dull box. And yet, some of my favorite art-viewing experiences have been in simple, well-detailed boxes around the world. Like the Piano's Whitney Museum in NYC, or Gehry's addition to the OGA in Toronto, or SANAA's 21st Century Museum in Kanazawa, I bet there are many moments when the relationship between the interior of the museums and the surrounding landscape are establish through views and through the use of open space on the campus. Keep in mind that this OMA design restored the stairs on the 1905 building and it put parking underground and replaced the parking lot with a brand new public space.
Havent checked out the Whitney in NY and cant speak to that comparison. 21c by Sejima is close to my family home and the AGO is close to where I live in Toronto, so I see them both quite often. They are both very good at connecting to the surroundings and truly engage with the city. You are in the museum simply by being on the street next to them. AGO works better than Sejima I think because it had the benefit of a better site and can engage directly with a crowded street as well as a park. Maybe Whitney is the same? This project doesnt do that job so well, and probably cannot because of its location. Oddly, OMA claims this is a site between urban and arcadian, but it doesnt read as either. Was Olmsted's design cut up by roads here, or is this really the original design? It would be nice if the addition engaged more with the world around it, either way. FWIW the upgrade to the existing building looks great.
KFC flagship store in Helsinki.
Perfect.
Having visited the AKG a number of times I find this addition horrific.
It is out of scale with the existing structures and site.
This like a student project gone bad.
Yuck
I can’t put my finger on it, but this seems like it belongs there. It’s not something that I particularly like, it’s geometry is a little weird, but I personally think it works as an object in that spot. Not sure about the gallery spaces. Maybe I’m just being wooed by the clever use of the marble that matches the adjacent classical building. Idk.
With all deference to davvid and the other fine people of Buffalo—
A large part of the criticism should be directed towards the powers that be at AKG (see? I'm starting to do this). They created the program, and OMA fulfilled it—and likely made compromises they would have avoided. It looks to be bald attempt to bring in crowds and gain status, in my view at the expense of art and its mission. And we're seeing similar moves all over.
Yes, agreed. Again, institutional criticism is a good angle here. I admit the only building I saw there is Sullivan's Guaranty Building. Also agree that "art compounds" is a popular cultural development model these days. It is a good building trying to adjust the scale anyway they could (pulling back the second floor and creating a covered sculpture park with trees and all. It has a value in changing public perception of new architecture.
I should add, "art compounds with luxury housing attached."
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