The Art Preserve of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, a 50,000-sf, three-story building in Sheboygan, Wisc., will be the world’s first museum dedicated to artist-built environments. Artist-built environments are an art form created by people who transform their homes and yards into multifaceted works of art.
The Art Preserve is located within the natural setting of a 160 acre nature preserve on Sheboygan’s west side. The building will provide exhibition space, visible storage, and preservation of more than 35,000 works of art by over 30 artists. Also included are an education area, a library, a study collection, and other spaces that will provide access to the collection for researchers, tour groups, and the public. Exhibition spaces will present artists’ work in a variety of ways with the goal to be as true to the artists and show as much of the collection a possible.
With a design that embraces the collection’s connection to nature while balancing the need to preserve the work, the building is constructed out of materials prevalent on the site such as rocks, sticks, and earth. The concrete structure is comprised primarily of regional river rock, providing the space with a large thermal mass to balance interior temperatures. The asymmetric shape of the building climbs the hillside and connects the lower entry meadow to the upper secret meadow by bridging the wooded hillside.
Embedding the building in the hillside helps it to maintain a constant temperature, moderating the heating and cooling load of the building. It also helps in creating a different feel for each of the floors as the visitor makes their way up and down the structure. Level 1 feels of the earth with its heavy river rock walls whereas level 3 opens to the sky, has views out to the tree canopies beyond, and allows access to the upper meadows of the site.
Visitors enter the main entry through a forest of timbers that serve three purposes: they assist with solar shading of the museum’s largest southern windows, they echo the hillside trees in rhythm and stance, and they create a procession through the woods into the museum.
Arup collaborated with Tres Birds to design optimal environments for art preservation while keeping sustainability and patron experience in mind. These environments include:
• A lighting scheme with motion-sensing LEDs designed to protect artwork, save energy, and make the space more inviting for patrons
• Sound absorbing treatments to enhance acoustic experience and mitigate noise, especially during lively hours or docent tours
• Tightly controlled environment for air quality to prevent mold or corrosion and preserve the artworks
• High-performing building envelope, including careful window placement and a sunken northern façade, as well as energy efficient mechanical systems to endure the cold Wisconsin winters while conserving energy.
The museum opened to the public on June 26.
Related Stories
Museums | Mar 24, 2016
Aquarium of the Pacific unveils whale of a project
Designed by EHDD, the 18,000-sf, whale-shaped Pacific Visions will have gathering spots, galleries, and a theater with a large, curved screen.
Museums | Mar 3, 2016
How museums engage visitors in a digital age
Digital technologies are opening up new dimensions of the museum experience and turning passive audiences into active content generators, as Gensler's Marina Bianchi examines.
Museums | Feb 12, 2016
Construction begins on Foster + Partners’ Norton Museum of Art expansion project
The Florida museum is adding gallery space, an auditorium, great hall, and a 20,000-sf garden.
Architects | Feb 11, 2016
Stantec agrees to acquire VOA Associates
This deal reflects an industry where consolidation is a strategic necessity for more firms.
Museums | Feb 5, 2016
Diller Scofidio + Renfro transforms old Art Deco building into a museum at UC Berkeley
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, which opened in late January, contains a theater, lab, and galleries. It was once a printing plant.
Museums | Jan 22, 2016
Canadian Canoe Museum selects Heneghan Peng Architects’ design for new location
The single-story structure is designed for sustainability as well as function.
Architects | Jan 15, 2016
Best in Architecture: 18 projects named AIA Institute Honor Award winners
Morphosis' Perot Museum and Studio Gang's WMS Boathouse are among the projects to win AIA's highest honor for architecture.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
Museums | Dec 18, 2015
Santiago Calatrava-designed museum with skeletal roof opens in Rio
The Museu do Amanhã addresses the future of the planet and has an inventive, futuristic design itself.
Museums | Dec 16, 2015
Gluckman Tang-designed museums could stimulate economy in North Adams, Mass.
The goal is to create a “cultural corridor” between North Adams and Williamstown, Mass.