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.

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.  

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 to connect the public functions of the atrium with the upper-level café's functions in a move the museum's President and CEO Elizabeth Dunbar compared favorably to Pei's famous 1989 glass pyramid addition at the Louvre. 

She and her colleagues were reportedly impressed by the design team's hybrid "third space" concept and expanded scope when compared to the original brief. A new research library was added to the renovated staff areas, and the facade's concrete was cleaned to restore the original pink hue.

Finishing touches include a specially made furniture range from Jonathan Olivares of Knoll. Lighting designer Derek Porter was also a key inclusion for the delivery of the project's vision. MILLIØNS also created special concrete planters that are placed throughout the museum to further bring Pei's original creativity to life. 

You can hear founding partners John May and Zeina Koreitem talk about their approach to practice from their Studio Snapshot interview with Archinect here.