The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), a $112 million project that opened in late January, is a mix of old and new.
One part is an adaptive reuse of an Art Deco printing plant from 1939. Interdisciplinary design firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, along with executive architect EHDD, transformed the former printing plant into the primary gallery spaces of the museum.
While the Press Building has as classical look, a sleek new silver structure was added onto it. The new addition houses a film theater, library, study center, and a cafe.
The components total more than 83,000 sf, and a stainless steel ribbon wraps itself around the older structure, providing a visual link.
“The parts and pieces are intended to contrast with each other, but also to work together,” DS+R principal Charles Renfro said, according to the BAMPFA website.
The University of California at Berkeley museum has eight galleries with 25,000-sf of space, a theater, and an art lab. It holds 19,000 works of art and 17,500 films and videos.
The project is DS+R’s third building to open in California over the last year. The firm also designed The Broad Museum in Los Angeles and the McMurtry Art and Art History Building at Stanford University.
The museum's main entrance. Photo: Iwan Baan.
Ground floor gallery. Photo: Elizabeth Daniels.
Corridor above the ground floor gallery. Photo: Elizabeth Daniels.
Aerial view of the BAMPFA. Photo: Iwan Baan.
Related Stories
Museums | Oct 11, 2016
Santiago Calatrava-designed Museum of Tomorrow awarded 'Best New Museum of the Year – Central/South America' by Leading Culture Destinations
The museum opened in 2015 in Rio de Janeiro’s Porto Maravilha
Museums | Oct 10, 2016
New, larger Statue of Liberty Museum being built on Liberty Island
The museum will look to complement the Statue of Liberty without drawing attention away from it
Museums | Sep 21, 2016
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
Specialty Buildings Column Series, Part 2 of 6 [Click Here to Part 1]
Museums | Sep 19, 2016
Museums refine their mission in the digital age
Preserving history is still their core function, but museums are using fresh approaches to engage an easily distracted public.
Museums | Sep 14, 2016
Architectural model museum opens in Japan
The museum includes models from Japanese architects including Shingeru Ban, Kengo Kuma, and Riken Yamamoto.
Museums | Sep 14, 2016
Finnish government halts plans for Guggenheim Helsinki
Construction of the museum relied heavily on state funding, which has officially been denied.
Museums | Jun 17, 2016
Construction begins on new and expanded International Spy Museum in Washington D.C.
The building will have a glass veil that surrounds an enclosed black box, a setup that the museum hopes will add vibrancy to its new L’Enfant Plaza location.
Education Facilities | Jun 1, 2016
Gensler reveals designs for 35-acre AltaSea Campus at the Port of Los Angeles
New and renovated facilities will help researchers, educators, and visitors better understand the ocean.
Museums | May 26, 2016
Napur Architect wins design contest for Budapest’s Museum of Ethnography
The Museum of Ethnography’s new home will be part of a large museum complex in Budapest’s City Park
Museums | May 2, 2016
Rippled facade defines Snøhetta’s San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion design
The museum will have three times as much gallery space as before, along with a new theater, atrium, and living wall.
