Cover image

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kansas City, MO, United States.

This competition winning addition is composed of five interconnected structures as opposed to a single massive expansion. Traversing from the existing building across its sculpture park, the five built “lenses” form new spaces and angles of vision. From the movement through the landscape and threaded between the light openings, exhilarating new experiences of the existing Museum are formed. Circulation and exhibition merge as one can look from one level to another, from inside to outside. The “meandering” path in the sculpture garden above has its sinuous complement in open flow through the continuous level of new galleries. Glass lenses bring different qualities of light to the galleries while the sculpture garden’s pathways wind through them.

Client
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Location
Kansas City, MO, United States.
Years
1999–2007
Size
165,000 sq ft
Status
Complete
architect
Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl (design architect)
Chris McVoy (design architect, partner in charge)
Martin Cox, Richard Tobias (project architect)
Masao Akiyoshi, Gabriela Barman-Kraemer, Matthias Blass, Molly Blieden, Elissavet Chryssochoides, Robert Edmonds, Simone Giostra, Annette Goderbauer, Mimi Hoang, Makram El-Kadi, Edward Lalonde, Li Hu, Justin Korhammer, Linda Lee, Fabian Llonch, Stephen O'Dell, Irene Vogt, Urs Vogt, Christian Wassmann (project team)
local architect
BNIM Architects
structural engineer
Guy Nordenson and Associates
associate structural engineer
Structural Engineering Associates
mechanical engineer
Ove Arup & Partners
W.L. Cassell & Associates
glass consultant
R.A. Heintges & Associates
lighting consultant
Renfro Design Group
landscape architect
Gould Evans Goodman Associates
artist
Walter De Maria

Timeline