Art Institute Chicago extension, by Renzo Piano
![Art Institute Chicago extension](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UuPznsm8WvbyvL3L62TAWj-415-80.jpg)
It's been an exciting few months over at Renzo Piano's office. No sooner has the practice finished celebrating the completion of their San Francisco California Academy of Sciences project than they are already getting ready for a second grand opening with the Art Institute of Chicago Modern Wing, scheduled to open in May.
See more images of the soon-to-be-completed Art Institute of Chicago extension
Considering that the Art Institute of Chicago holds the third largest art collection in the USA, it was hardly surprising when the need for more space became imperative. It wasn’t however till 2005 that work on the extension by the Italian Pritzker Prize winning architect finally began.
Light was central to the building’s design, as was sustainability. ‘There is always a bit of tension between providing light, and too much light. You want to see the art, but also protect it. We were in constant dialogue with the curators and the museum to fine-tune the interior lighting into perfection,’ RPBW partner Joost Moolhuijzen explains.
The wing’s green aspects are plenty, including recycling of the construction debris, a silver LEED certification, and a double exterior skin; this insulates the building, protecting people and the art from the harsh Chicago climate, but also making it more ecologically responsible. Additionally, the ‘flying carpet’ roof, as Piano likes to call it, features an innovative light filtration system with automated dimming, to take advantage of as much natural light as possible.
Not limited to the actual new wing - which includes large education spaces, galleries for the permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, as well as temporary shows, and a restaurant - the project also incorporates a detailed renovation of the Gunslaulus Hall. This existing gallery, spanning above the Illinois Central railroad tracks and hosting the Asian collection, links the old and the new parts of the building.
A 620-feet long steel bridge, known as the Nichols Bridgeway, connects directly the museum with the adjacent Millennium Park. The plan was for the two spaces to communicate and this happens through the bridge, but also through it’s light, transparent glass skin: ‘Not only can you see the park from the building, but you can also see the building’s interior from the park,’ adds Moolhuijzen. Furthermore, acknowledging Chicago’s strong architectural heritage, the new Wing was designed taking in consideration the rhythm of the neighbouring buildings’ façades and materials.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
The Modern Wing will be in good company when it opens on May 16th. Piano recently completed a number of big cultural projects in America; the freshly opened California Academy, but also the LACMA in early 2008, and the Morgan Library and Museum
extension in NY, which won the Wallpaper* Best Public Building award in 2007.
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).
-
Feel at home at Auberge, Château La Coste's new inn for culture lovers
Auberge La Coste sits at the heart of the art-filled estate, minutes away from the joyful town of Aix-en-Provence
By Harriet Thorpe Published
-
This Nova Lima apartment is a Brazilian family oasis with striking Minas Gerais views
A Nova Lima apartment designed by Jacobsen Arquitetura celebrates its long, natural Minas Gerais vistas
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
IM Pei's Everson Museum of Art gets a modern makeover
The East Wing of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY has been given a contemporary refresh by emerging Los Angeles studio MILLIØNS
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Black Modernism’s lesser-known, at-risk architecture gems gain a lifeline
Conserving Black Modernism announces vital funding to save and preserve overlooked and endangered buildings by African American architects and designers
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Step into the Blanton Museum of Art's reimagined public realm by Snøhetta in Austin
Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas is completed and reveals its reimagined public realm and plaza designed by Snøhetta
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This New York Townhouse renovation is a lesson in contemporary minimalism
TenBerke’s carefully considered New York townhouse is the reimagining of a century-old Manhattan structure that reframes vertical living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Visit The Frost House, a lesser-known modernist architecture marvel in Michigan City
The Frost House is a lesser-known midcentury architecture gem in Michigan City, Indiana; we took the tour as the property goes on the market
By Audrey Henderson Published
-
Broadway designer Scott Pask’s Arizona retreat is a scene-stealing discovery
Scott Pask invites us inside his Arizona retreat, nestled in the foothills overlooking Tucson – a place to reboot, recharge and commune with nature
By Michael Webb Published
-
Upstate New York retreat Ridge House evokes land art
Ridge House in upstate New York, the work of Brooklyn-based studio Worrell Yeung, is at one with the surrounding countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas’ first ground-up project is a forever home with waterfront views and hidden treasures
Rafael de Cárdenas reveals his latest completed project in the Pacific Northwest, a family home of calming spaces that bleed the outside in, and ten years in the making
By Ellie Stathaki Published