Akron Art Museum Extension

Related people

DeSimone Consulting Engineers (was created by)
Bollinger + Grohmann (engineer)
Westlake Reed Leskosky (was created by)
Coop Himmelblau (architect)

Date

Original building: 1899; Extension competition: (1st prize) 2001; Design development: 2002; Construction: 2004-2006

Location

North and Central America->United States->Ohio->Summit (county)->Akron

Description

The existing Akron Art Museum structure was a former post office building built in 1899. Westlake Reed and Leskosky adapted the former post office building to create the present museum. The extension by Coop Himmelblau has tripled the museum's gallery space from 8,000 to 20,000 square-feet. The outdoor space for public events and sculpture has increased from 14,000 to over 20,000 square-feet. This was the first constructed Coop Himmelblau building in the United States.
"The museum of today is no longer just the storage of knowledge, it is an urban concept. The museum of the future is a three-dimensional sign in the city, which transports the content of our visual world. The building is broken up into 3 parts: the Crystal, the Gallery-Box, and the Roof Cloud. The Crystal signifies the main entry and operates as a space for orientation and accessing public functions in the new and existing buildings such as the auditorium, classrooms, library, cafe and bookstore. Similarly, the Gallery-Box is a simultaneous space, operating both as a large, flexible exhibition space and as an expansive, flowing urban Sculpture Park. The Roof Cloud hovers above the building, creating a blurred envelope for the museum. It encloses interior space, provides shade in exterior spaces, and also operates as a horizontal landmark in the city." -- http://www.coop-himmelblau.at

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