In a special exhibit to open this summer, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will display the comprehensive plan that Frank Gehry has created for the renovation and expansion of its home on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Museum officials recently released renderings of Gehry's final design, which reorganizes and expands the building, adding more than 169,000 sf of space. The project will ultimately transform the interior of one of the city’s most iconic buildings, enabling the museum to display much more of its world-renowned collection.
Gehry’s design focuses on the transformation of the interior of the Museum through the renovation of beloved spaces such as the Great Stair Hall and major improvements to how visitors will enter and move through the building. The design also calls for the creation of a significant amount of new space for expanded educational activities and the display of the museum’s extensive holdings of American, Asian, and modern and contemporary art in new galleries created both within the existing building and underneath the East Terrace.
"We began by studying the character of this wonderful building—its DNA, so to speak. It is rare to have the bones of the existing building show you the way to expand it," said Gehry. "From there, we used the significant assets that the original architects gave us to create a strong entry sequence and circulation pattern that connects the new galleries to the existing building in a way that makes the new galleries seem like they have always been there. My goal is to make the building feel like one coherent design statement."
A cross-section view showing the changes to existing interior spaces and the new underground galleries. Rendering: Gehry Partners
Given the prominence of the Museum’s main building as a landmark, minimal changes have been proposed for the exterior by Gehry Partners and OLIN, the noted Philadelphia firm specializing in landscape architecture, planning, and urban design. These changes include:
• The redesign of the plaza in front of the west entrance and the landscaping of a substantial portion of the area now used for parking on this side of the building.
• The integration of skylights and sunken gardens into the east terrace to bring natural light into the new galleries that have been proposed.
• The addition on the northeast and southeast corners of the building of stair enclosures that will be simple in form and clad in the same sandstone used on the exterior in order to be as unobtrusive as possible.
By contrast, many significant changes have been proposed for the interior, yielding an increase of 124,000 sf of public space, including 78,000 sf of gallery space throughout the building. Other changes address access and circulation through the varying “ground” levels of the facility.
Forum Gallery: The heart of the museum will be opened up, creating a clear sight line through the ground-floor and first-floor galleries that will greatly simplify wayfinding. Rendering: Gehry Partners
At present, visitors enter the museum on the first floor through the east entrance and the Great Stair Hall or on the slightly lower floor through the west entrance and Lenfest Hall. The Gehry design will open new spaces to explore, such as the Forum and new galleries under the East Terrace.
Among the interior changes are:
• The renovation of the two principal public entrance spaces in the museum: Lenfest Hall and the Great Stair Hall.
• The creation of a new public space, or Forum, immediately below the Great Stair Hall in the center of the U-shaped Museum building. The forum will dramatically improve circulation on this floor and open up the east-west axis at the center of the building, enabling visitors to reach the new galleries and adjacent public spaces that Gehry Partners have proposed be built below the East Terrace.
• The relocation of a variety of back-office functions to add nearly 23,000 sf of new gallery space within the existing building; the creation of a new 10,000-sf education center; and the development of new visitor amenities, including a restaurant, café, and spaces for the museum store.
• The creation of 55,000 sf of new space for the presentation of special exhibitions and works from the collection in galleries underneath the east terrace. Ranging in height from 24 to 28 feet, with a vaulted ceiling supported on slender columns, these new galleries will be among the largest and most spacious in the entire Museum. Open in plan and filled with natural light, they will provide an ideal setting for the display of modern and contemporary art.
• The reopening of a public entrance on the north side of the museum. Closed to the public since the 1970s, this monumental arched entrance adjacent to Kelly Drive will be renovated to provide access to a grand vaulted corridor—part of the original design of the building—that runs 640 feet from the north to the south side of the building. This walkway will provide access to the new galleries through a long, vaulted arcade and will intersect with the new Forum directly below the Great Stair Hall, thus providing access to the entire building for visitors entering on this level.
• A new 299-seat auditorium equipped for lectures, performances, and public events, to be located underneath the northwest terrace of the main building and directly accessible from the new public entrance facing Kelly Drive.
• The adaptation of the center portion of the top floor of the U-shaped Museum building to create meeting and event spaces, and the replacement of the brick in the pediments with glass to provide dramatic views of the city and Fairmount Park.
Level C Galleries: The new underground galleries will be lit in part by a skylight in the East Terrace. Rendering: Gehry Partners
“Given the ambitious scope of the plan, it has been designed in separate phases that can be implemented as funds become available," said Gail Harrity, the Museum’s President and COO. "This work must begin with—and be sustained by—an inspiring and persuasive vision of the future, recognizing that it will take years to implement the brilliant plan developed by Frank Gehry and his partners.”
The Building Team includes:
Architects: Gehry Partners, LLP, OLIN
Structural/civil engineer: Magnusson Klemenic Associates
MEP engineer: AltieriSeborWieber
BIM consultant: Gehry Technologies Inc.
Life safety/fire protection: Hughes Associates
Lighting consultant: L’Observatoire
Daylighting consultant: Loisos + Ubbelohde Associates
Theater/AV consultant: Auerbach Pollock Friedlander
Specification writer: CG Associates
Environmental design engineering: Atelier Ten
Waterproofing consultant: Henshell & Buccellato, Consulting Architects
Acoustical engineer: Cerami & Associates
IT/AV consultant: Shen Milsom & Wilke
Security consultant: Ducibella, Venter & Santore
Vertical transportation: Lerch Bates, Inc.
Exterior enclosure: Gordon H. Smith Corporation
Urban design: Urban Strategies Inc/JZTI
Historic preservation architect: Kelly/Maiello Inc.
Cost estimation: AECOM
Site survey: Pennoni Associates Inc.
Geotechnical engineering: Haley & Aldrich
Vaulted Walkway: The vaulted underground walkway, long closed to visitors, will become a space for art and events, with entrances at the north (Kelly Drive) and south (Schuylkill River) sides of the building. Rendering: Gehry Partners
West Terrace. Rendering: Gehry Partners
East Terrace with famed "Rocky steps." Rendering: Gehry Partners
PMA Rendered Plan, OLIN
Related Stories
| Dec 16, 2013
Is the metal building industry in a technology shift?
Automation is the future you can’t avoid, though you may try. Even within the metal building industry—which is made up of skilled tradesmen—automation has revolutionized, and will continue revolutionizing, how we work.
| Dec 16, 2013
Why employees don’t trust their leaders
Trust, one of the key elements to productive business relationships, is in short supply these days. An Associated Press-GfK poll discovered that only one-third of Americans say most people can be trusted and nearly two-thirds says “you can’t be too careful” in dealing with people.
| Dec 16, 2013
Construction materials prices remain stable in November
Overall, construction materials prices fell 0.5 percent in November and are up only 1.1 percent year over year, according to the Department of Labor’s Dec. 13 Producer Price Index.
| Dec 16, 2013
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, inaugurated 2014 AIA President
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, executive director of the Virginia Center for Architecture, was inaugurated as the 90th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 12th at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium. She succeeds Mickey Jacob, FAIA, in representing nearly 83,000 AIA members.
| Dec 13, 2013
GRW acquires West Virginia design firm Chapman Technical Group
GRW is expanding its capabilities through the recent acquisition of Chapman Technical Group, a 36-person West Virginia-based firm.
| Dec 13, 2013
AIA, MIT issue joint report on impact of design on public health
The research looks at the health of eight U.S. cities and lays out a path for translating the research into meaningful findings for policy makers and urban planners.
| Dec 11, 2013
Wyndham unveils hotel prototype for its Hawthorn Suites chain
The extended-stay hotel prototype reduces development costs by 46% for franchisees and enhances the overall guest experience.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 9, 2013
Tips for designing higher education's newest building type: the learning commons
In this era of scaled-down budgets, maximized efficiencies, new learning methods and social media’s domination of face time, college and university campuses are gravitating toward a new space type: the learning commons.
| Dec 9, 2013
Does technology help or hinder innovation?
Whether digital technology will help or hinder workplace insights remains a topic of ongoing debate. FastCo.Design features insights from business scholars on both sides of the issue.