TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 5 33 Jones Beck Building," said Tinterow, referring to the 164,000-square-foot Nancy and Rich Kinder Building. "We'll finally have a space for the largest, and fastest-growing part of our collection: 20th- and 21st-century art. That's going to be an enormous change, allowing us to show the great strength of our collection in photography and 20th century design and our growing strength in Latin-American art, as well as modern and contemporary painting and sculpture." "As you come in and move through the building, everything will be day-lit in the open lobby," explained Willard Holmes, chief operating officer of the MFAH. "But as you move up to the higher galleries, the light will transition into a more modulated light for items that are light-sensitive, like photo- graphs and paintings in watercolors. Rising to the top galleries, you'll have natural light, but in this case it will be coming in from the top. "One of the most dramatic features of the building is that it's going to be clad in translucent glass tubes that will provide a kind of soft, glazed surface," he added. "In the evening there will be lighting behind those so that it will actually glow." The first building to be fully real- ized, the Glassell School of Art, will extend the landscape of the campus while animating newly created public spaces—such as the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza, which includes a stepped amphitheater leading up to a walkable roof garden. A three-story facility complete with a street-level café, it will replace the school's existing 35-year-old building. "We're trying to have a school that is open, flexible and forward compatible," noted Holmes. "As technology evolves and as artists start looking at emerging techniques and strategies, we want the school to be able to respond to that." The third major component of the new campus—the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation—will bring the museum's conservation teams together in close proximity to the museum for the first time. Set atop the museum's existing parking garage, the project will consol- idate operations previously dispersed between the MFAH and a facility sev- eral miles away. "Right now, we've got a great con- servation department but it's working in cramped quarters about five to six miles from campus, so that when cura- torial research is being done, it requires a real effort," admitted Holmes. "By moving conservation to the center of the museum, it means that their kind of work is less like a paramedic coming to the scene of an accident and more like a family physician. It makes them central to the entire continuum, integrating that conservation into the day-to-day culture of the museum." More a series of interconnected nodes than a collection of fragmented structures separated by unruly free- ways, the new campus won't discrim- inate against visitors on foot. A key element of Steven Holl Architects' master plan was the idea of submerg- ing all parking below ground—totaling 200,000 square feet in two under- ground garages—freeing up space on the campus for both the new buildings and outdoor gathering places. A new, dedicated tunnel will guide visitors between the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building and the Mies building. With the existing Wilson Tunnel—housing artist James Turrell's installation, "The Light Inside"—between the Mies and Moneo buildings, the campus will be fully connected below ground. "Houston has experienced incred- ible growth over the last 20 years, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, has grown rapidly with the city," said Annise Parker, mayor of Houston. "The Museum has embraced other parts of the world, in its collections and in its programs, and so it has become more and more a reflection of the breadth of this city. The redevelopment of the cam- pus and the resulting increase in public access to art and programming will further enhance the Museum's service to the city." "I feel truly privileged to be a participant in and collaborator on what will be one of the most memorable projects in Houston's history," con- cluded Tinterow. "I am absolutely certain that our museum will be recog- nized as one of the most beautiful in America. For our visitors, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will become a place of wonder and inspiration; for our staff and students, it will be a place of creativity and innovation; and for our community, it will be Houston's hub for all things cultural." TOP: The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, a three-story building to house the Museum's largely unseen collection of 20th and 21st century works of art, will create 54,000 square feet of gallery space. MIDDLE: The Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation will bring the museum's conservation teams together for the first time. BOTTOM: The rooftop gardens perched atop the reimagined Glassell School of Art provide a bird's-eye view of the campus. (Credit: Steven Holl Architects)

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