Buffalo AKG Art Museum opens this month (June 2023), inviting the public into its brand-new, OMA-designed home in New York state. When we first visited the project, a little over six months ago, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery) was still deep in construction. Now, it is reborn with a striking OMA-crafted extension (led by partner in charge Shohei Shigematsu, and working with executive architects Cooper Robertson), site-specific installations, and a new focus on the local community.
Buffalo AKG Art Museum opens to the public
'We often say that there are only two types of museums: a museum in the park, embedded in the tranquility of nature, and a museum in the city, implanted within the energy of urbanism. The Buffalo AKG Art Museum is both. It sits at the northern edge of the historic Delaware Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The city is known for its history of industrial revolution and the current revitalisation of remnants from that past. It has a rich architectural history – from silos and manufacturing facilities to buildings by Eero Saarinen, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright,' the OMA team write in a statement.
This cultural institution is celebrating an inspiring legacy – it is the sixth-oldest museum in the United States. Having undergone various iterations and additions in its long life (its first version was established in 1862), and under the guidance of current director Janne Sirén, it launched a new scheme for a refresh and extension by OMA. Now, it spans decades and styles, from the original 1905 building to a new three-storey, geometric structure. There's a sculpture terrace and a connecting bridge as well as a 1962 building whose courtyard becomes a key public heart for the complex – and where Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann of Studio Other Spaces have designed a site-specific artwork to cover it.
Shigematsu said during our site visit last tyear: ‘Our focus was to present those efforts as a sign of openness, by having a space where people can improvise, and activities visible from outside – not about a closed authoritarian façade.' To that end, its ethereal volumes and glass transparency were very important: 'If you occupied the ground level with the galleries, then it would become another fortress,’ he added.
Buffalo AKG Art Museum opens to the public this weekend (15-18 June 2023).
-
Inside a creative couple's magical, circular Indian home, 'like a fruit'We paid a visit to architect Sandeep Virmani and social activist Sushma Iyengar at their circular home in Bhuj, India; architect, writer and photographer Nipun Prabhakar tells the story
-
Ten of the best track jackets for channelling a 1970s-meets-1990s coolAs a ‘Marty Supreme’ track jacket makes a bid for viral garment of 2025 – thanks to one Timothée Chalamet – the Wallpaper* style team selects ten of the best tracksuit and coach jackets for men and women, each encapsulating an easy, nostalgia-tinged elegance
-
Eight questions for Bianca Censori, as she unveils her debut performanceBianca Censori has presented her first exhibition and performance, BIO POP, in Seoul, South Korea
-
Step inside this resilient, river-facing cabin for a life with ‘less stuff’A tough little cabin designed by architects Wittman Estes, with a big view of the Pacific Northwest's Wenatchee River, is the perfect cosy retreat
-
Remembering Robert A.M. Stern, an architect who discovered possibility in the pastIt's easy to dismiss the late architect as a traditionalist. But Stern was, in fact, a design rebel whose buildings were as distinctly grand and buttoned-up as his chalk-striped suits
-
Own an early John Lautner, perched in LA’s Echo Park hillsThe restored and updated Jules Salkin Residence by John Lautner is a unique piece of Californian design heritage, an early private house by the Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte that points to his future iconic status
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
-
This ethereal Miami residence sprouted out of a wild, jungle-like gardenA Miami couple tapped local firm Brillhart Architecture to design them a house that merged Florida vernacular, Paul Rudolph and 'too many plants to count’
