The Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s redevelopment, budgeted for $450 million, is “buoyed by some of the largest donations in the city’s history,” the Houston Chronicle reported.
Two new buildings will be constructed, designed by Steven Holl Architects, to complement the existing structures. The new extension will be named the Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, after the Texas billionaire who donated $70 million for the project. Another hefty donation is the $50 million from the museum’s board chairman, Richard Kinder, and his wife, Nancy.
Holl designed the campus’ north side to be a pedestrian-centered cultural hub on a lively landscape with ample underground parking. One new structure planned, which the Chronicle dubbed the redevelopment’s “most prominent,” is the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, a 164,000-sf, three-story structure shaped like a puzzle piece with a luminous canopy.
“It’s all about shaping space,” Holl told the Chronicle. “The collection of buildings there is already outstanding. It’s very delicate, not a site that calls for over-exuberance.”
More on the design at the Houston Chronicle.
Related Stories
| Jan 3, 2012
AIA Course: New Developments in Concrete Construction
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.
| Jan 3, 2012
The Value of Historic Paint Investigations
An expert conservator provides a three-step approach to determining a historic building’s “period of significance”—and how to restore its painted surfaces to the correct patterns and colors.
| Jan 3, 2012
28th Annual Reconstruction Awards: Bringing Hope to Cancer Patients
A gothic-style structure is reconstructed into comfortable, modern patient residence facility for the American Cancer Society.
| Jan 3, 2012
Art Gensler: Still Making a Difference for Clients Every Day
After running what is today the largest architecture firm in the world for more than four decades, M. Arthur Gensler, Jr., FAIA, FIIDA, RIBA, is content to be just another employee at the firm that bears his name.
| Jan 3, 2012
Gensler: 'The One Firm Firm'
The giant architecture firm succeeds by giving each of its more than 3,000 employees the opportunity for career growth and professional leadership.
| Jan 3, 2012
Rental Renaissance, The Rebirth of the Apartment Market
Across much of the U.S., apartment rents are rising, vacancy rates are falling. In just about every major urban area, new multifamily rental projects and major renovations are coming online. It may be too soon to pronounce the rental market fully recovered, but the trend is promising.
| Dec 29, 2011
OSHA enforcing new fall hazard standards
OSHA is enforcing its new fall protection standards, as evidenced by a recent crackdown in New York.
| Dec 29, 2011
Decision not to fireproof the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub criticized
Some criticized the decision, reasoning that the structure could be a terrorist target.
| Dec 29, 2011
Seismic safety in question at thousands of California public schools
California regulators responsible for enforcing earthquake safety laws have failed to certify more than 16,000 construction projects in California public schools, increasing the risk that some projects may be unsafe, according to a state audit report.
| Dec 29, 2011
GreenWizard offers cloud-based LEED credit management, assessment
The company recently began offering companies the ability to run assessments for design credits, in addition to traditional product-specific LEED credits.
