In Omaha, Neb., the Joslyn Art Museum, which displays art from ancient times to the present, has announced it will reopen on September 10, following the completion of its new 42,000-sf Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion. Designed in collaboration with Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, the Hawks Pavilion is part of a museum overhaul that will expand the gallery space by more than 40%.
The Hawks Pavilion extends from the Museum’s existing buildings as a curving, low-slung structure that emerges from a new glass entry atrium joining the original 1931 building with the 1994 addition. The transparent first floor also will enclose a new museum shop and community space. As it twists upward, the structure forms the walls of the Hawks Pavilion’s second-floor, day-lit exhibition galleries.
Snøhetta’s plan for the Joslyn Art Museum
Snøhetta’s design of the expansion aims to evoke the cloud formations above the Great Plains, as well as the deep overhangs and horizontal expression of Prairie School architecture.
In addition, visitors will encounter new and refurbished gathering spaces, renovated and additional studios, enhanced amenities for public programs and art education, and new sculpture gardens. The project also updates the 1931 building’s administrative area and renovates the existing cafe.
The Hawks Pavilion will offer the first public presentation of new acquisitions from the Phillip G. Schrager Collection, which the Joslyn says is perhaps the most significant gift of art it has received. The Pavilion’s works on paper gallery will present selections from a gift by Omaha native Ed Ruscha.
After the reopening, the Joslyn will feature the first complete reinstallation of the Museum’s collections since the original building opened. The reinstallation will emphasize the relevance of art and historical objects to contemporary issues and diversify the identities and experiences represented in the galleries.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Joslyn Art Museum
Design architect and landscape architect: Snøhetta
Architect of record: Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture
MEP engineer: Morrissey Engineering
Structural engineer: MKA
Structural engineer of record: Thompson Dreessen & Dorner
General contractor: Kiewit Building Group
Related Stories
| May 30, 2014
Riding high: L.A., Chicago working on their version of the High Line elevated park
Cities around the U.S. are taking notice of New York's highly popular High Line elevated park system. Both Chicago and Los Angeles are currently working on High Line-like projects.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
| May 23, 2014
Big design, small package: AIA Chicago names 2014 Small Project Awards winners
Winning projects include an events center for Mies van der Rohe's landmark Farnsworth House and a new boathouse along the Chicago river.
| May 23, 2014
Top interior design trends: Gensler, HOK, FXFOWLE, Mancini Duffy weigh in
Tech-friendly furniture, “live walls,” sit-stand desks, and circadian lighting are among the emerging trends identified by leading interior designers.
| May 22, 2014
No time for a trip to Dubai? Team BlackSheep's drone flyover gives a bird's eye view [video]
Team BlackSheep—devotees of filmmaking with drones—has posted a fun video that takes viewers high over the city for spectacular vistas of a modern architectural showcase.
| May 22, 2014
IKEA to convert original store into company museum
Due to open next year, the museum is expected to attract 200,000 people annually to rural Älmhult, Sweden, home of the first ever IKEA store.
| May 21, 2014
Gehry unveils plan for renovation, expansion of Philadelphia Museum of Art [slideshow]
Gehry's final design reorganizes and expands the building, adding more than 169,000 sf of space, much of it below the iconic structure.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 19, 2014
Calatrava wins court case concerning 'Calatrava bleeds you dry' website
A judge has ordered the left-wing political party Esquerra Unida to pay €30,000 to Santiago Calatrava because of "insulting and degrading" website.