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Art of the Americas Wing, Museum of Fine Art, Boston

Foster + Partners, Childs Bertman Tseckares, Massachusetts, 2010

 

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Propotions of the new west wing draw upon those of Guy Lowell's original museum building 

Nigel Young     Download Original

  • Propotions of the new west wing draw upon those of Guy Lowell    
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  • The 1909 north facade facing Fenway    
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  • The Shapiro Family courtyard at the herat of the new wing    
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  • The main staircase serving the Art of America wing    
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  • One of the 53 galleries in the new wing    
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  • Site plan    
  • Basement level plan    
  • Ground floor plan    
  • First floor plan    
  • Second floor plan    
  • Third floor plan    
  • Roof level plan    
  • Long section    
  • Section    
  • Colonnade    
  • East elevation    
  • North elevation    
  • South elevation    

Enlargement and restructuring of a museum with the addition of a new wing, containing 53 galleries, which restores the logic of the original Beaux-Arts plan

The building’s central axis has been reasserted with the reintroduction of the principal entrance to the south and the reopening of that to the north. At the heart of this axis is a new information centre, from where visitors begin their tour.

A freestanding glazed structure has been inserted between the building’s two main volumes to create the Art of the Americas Wing. Arranged over four floors, with 53 galleries the new wing significantly increases the museum’s exhibition space, enabling some 5,000 works from the collection to be displayed.

Where this wing meets the central axis, it partly encloses an existing courtyard in a glass box. This creates spaces for visitor orientation and a café, with a new gallery for special exhibitions beneath.

Data

  • Begun: Nov 2005
  • Completed: Nov 2010
  • Floor area: 103,000m2
  • Sector: Arts and culture
  • Total cost: £180M
  • Address: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, United Kingdom

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