Unlike most of the other cultural projects from the office - which are brand new standalone structures, the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) project is an addition to the existing beaux-arts building. The main challenge is to re-organize and
re-present the museum’s encyclopedic collection to better take advantage of the existing galleries (to be more accessible to the public); and to create some 40,000 SF of new exhibition space for contemporary art and changing exhibitions.
In addition, the design is required to propose ways to better connect visitors to the main entrance of the museum – currently located on an elevated plaza facing Franklin D. Roosevelt Parkway and accessible only from the monumental stairs immortalized by the film ‘Rocky’.
We began the design process by analyzing the different programmatic elements, from exhibition spaces and the public realm to administrative areas and back-of-house spaces.
We also studied PMA’s current collection in detail. We worked closely with PMA’s curatorial team to imagine how they would reinstall the collection if the existing structure were empty.
We translated different organizations into floor-plate models (at 1:1/16 in scale) to study different scenarios for the museum’s expansion - arriving at a scheme to create a new contemporary art space and changing exhibition gallery below the elevated plaza.
Larger scale models (at 1:1/8 in scale) helped the team explore the option of refurbishing an exiting tunnel on the ground level as a new “circulation spine” to better connect the galleries with the museum’s main entry hall on the second level as well as the museum's back of house spaces below grade.
During the design process, the PMA team made frequent visits to our studio to participate in the work sessions.
A large-scale model (at 1:1/4 in scale) that can be taken apart was constructed in our studio to study the various organizational schemes and interior spaces.
Using the large-scale sectional model, we developed in detail the proposed visitor sequence from PMA’s existing great arrival hall, down through the refurbished tunnel, to the new gallery for contemporary and changing exhibitions below the plaza.
We also installed the museum’s collection in the model to help PMA’s curatorial team better visualize the proposed new underground gallery. The large-scale model is also used to explore day-lighting strategies with the lighting consultant.
We worked with the curatorial team to study the new gallery's flexibility with different partition arrangements.
The translucent skylights of new underground gallery will transform the elevated plaza at night with dramatic illumination.
The projects in this section were designed and executed during my time at Gehry Partners LLP (the office). I am grateful to Mr. Gehry and the team at the office for their generosity and support over the years. All intellectual property rights of these projects continue to be owned by the office unless otherwise mentioned. The narrative texts on the projects are entirely personal, they do not represent the views or opinions of the office, its clients or any other third party or organization.