Tadao Ando revisits the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St Louis

Tadao Ando's original building for the foundation was completed in 2001.

(Image credit: Robert Pettus)

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St Louis is Japanese master Tadao Ando's very first freestanding public commission in the United States, completed in 2001. Since August 2014, the original building has been undergoing a makeover, in consultation with Ando, to accommodate the foundation's growing needs.

Responding to an increasing demand for space, the new project includes a significant expansion of the foundation's gallery area. Arranged within the building's lower level, two major new display spaces, which previously hosted offices and storage, will now be part of the institution's exhibitions and activities program, aimed to engage the wider public and local community. These new spaces increase the foundation's program capacity by a striking near-fifty percent.

At the same time, the organisation (previously known as The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts) relaunches under a new name 'to emphasise [its] institutional vision'.

This is the building's first major alteration since its completion in the early noughties. And Ando's skilful redesign is focusing on more than just increasing floor space; a new, additional staircase will support movement through the building and help with visitor flow, perfecting both circulation and visitor experience within the new and old parts.

Tadao Ando's building outside view — The Pullitzer Art Foundation's building is an exercise in concrete, Ando's usual material of choice. Here, pictured, the western facade.

Tadao Ando's original building Front entrance — A short flight of steps leads up to the disrceet front entrance. *Photography: Robert Pettus*

The original building also included a serene watercourt

The building now features two new gallery areas. Picture here, Gallery

Walking area inside of the building — These two new spaces increase the foundation's program capacity by 50 per cent. Pictured here, Gallery E.

Building hosting offices and storage with living — Previously hosting offices and storage, the redesigned areas are now seamlessly connected with the rest of the building through the watercourt entrance.

a new model staircase stainless steel — Circulation was prefected, through the use of a new staircase.

Entrance staircase stainless steel elegant design — The new areas were connected with the existing spaces in a way that supports movement through the museum, as well as visitor experience.

ADDRESS

3716 Washington Blvd
St Louis
MO 63108
United States

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).