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
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 115 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2023
Stantec, HDR, Page, HOK, and Arcadis North America top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
2023 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
A record 552 AEC firms submitted data for BD+C's 2023 Giants 400 Report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 175 Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HKS, Perkins&Will, Corgan, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Standards | Jun 26, 2023
New Wi-Fi standard boosts indoor navigation, tracking accuracy in buildings
The recently released Wi-Fi standard, IEEE 802.11az enables more refined and accurate indoor location capabilities. As technology manufacturers incorporate the new standard in various devices, it will enable buildings, including malls, arenas, and stadiums, to provide new wayfinding and tracking features.
Museums | Jun 6, 2023
New wing of Natural History Museums of Los Angeles to be a destination and portal
NHM Commons, a new wing and community hub under construction at The Natural History Museums (NHM) of Los Angeles County, was designed to be both a destination and a portal into the building and to the surrounding grounds.
Architects | Jun 6, 2023
Taking storytelling to a new level in building design, with Gensler's Bob Weis and Andy Cohen
Bob Weis, formerly the head of Disney Imagineering, was recently hired by Gensler as its Global Immersive Experience Design Leader. He joins the firm's co-CEO Andy Cohen to discuss how Gensler will focus on storytelling to connect people to its projects.
Museums | Feb 22, 2023
David Chipperfield's 'subterranean' design wins competition for National Archaeological Museum in Athens
Berlin-based David Chipperfield Architects was selected as the winner of the design competition for the new National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The project will modernize and expand the original neoclassical museum designed by Ludwig Lange and Ernst Ziller (1866-1874) with new spaces that follow the existing topography of the site. It will add approximately 20,000 sm of space to the existing museum, as well as a rooftop park that will be open to the public.
Museums | Feb 17, 2023
First Americans Museum uses design metaphors of natural elements to honor native worldview
First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City honors the 39 tribes in Oklahoma today, reflecting their history through design metaphors of nature’s elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. The design concept includes multiple circles suggested by arcs, reflecting the native tradition of a circular worldview that encompasses the cycle of life, the seasons, and the rotation of the earth.
Museums | Feb 12, 2023
A new museum will be a central piece within the University of Notre Dame's expanding arts district
Next November, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana is scheduled to open the first phase of Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, a 70,000-sf cultural facility that will eventually replace the campus’ venerable Snite Museum of Art and double the exhibit space available for Notre Dame’s 31,000-item art collection.
Giants 400 | Feb 9, 2023
New Giants 400 download: Get the complete at-a-glance 2022 Giants 400 rankings in Excel
See how your architecture, engineering, or construction firm stacks up against the nation's AEC Giants. For more than 45 years, the editors of Building Design+Construction have surveyed the largest AEC firms in the U.S./Canada to create the annual Giants 400 report. This year, a record 519 firms participated in the Giants 400 report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.