In this age of intense stimulation overload, it’s encouraging to see a museum heading in the opposite direction. Thomas Phifer and Partners’ addition to the Glenstone Museum, set to open late next year in Potomac, MD, just under 15 miles from Washington DC, is as much about meditation and serenity as it is about art and culture.
The project increases the complex’s exhibition space from 9,000 to 59,000 sq ft, and adds about 130 acres of pastoral, tree-filled landscape by Peter Walker and Partners. Glenstone’s initial facility was completed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates in 2006.
After parking their cars, visitors approach the addition, a cluster of structures known as The Pavilions, via a ten-minute walk across a rolling, wildflower-filled meadow, up a slight ridge. Phifer calls this promenade ‘a quieting experience’. He notes, ‘Everything starts to slow down. You feel the topography as you make your way forward.’
You then reach the new complex, a dozen cast concrete rooms of varying configurations, partially embedded in the earth, interconnected by a glass clad passage wrapping around a central water court. Some of these still, timeless-feeling pavilions— lit gently from above via clerestories and skylights— will be dedicated to single artists, others to rotating exhibitions. But all will allow you to quietly commune with the work, secluded from the city, the immediate vicinity, and even, for a moment, the other sections of the museum. The final pavilion contains a viewing area to take in the expanded pasture land, which includes more than 6,000 new trees and over 40 species of plants.
The museum’s collection centres on an elite selection of post-World War II paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations and multimedia works from over 200 artists, including John Baldessari, Jasper Johns, Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, Ellsworth Kelly, Louise Bourgeois, Dan Flavin, Michael Heizer, and many more. Its founders, Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales, visited 50 museums worldwide to learn lessons from each.
‘We wanted to understand what great was,’ says Mitchell Rales, who sought to distance his museum from the crowds, hype and noise that have infiltrated so many contemporary cultural experiences. ‘I think people want more calm in their lives,’ adds Phifer, his soothing voice belying this contemplative approach.
The addition also includes a new arrival hall, offices, two cafes, a centre that highlights Glenstone’s sustainability efforts, and monumental public art from the likes of Jeff Koons and Tony Smith. Admission to the museum will remain free.
The project increases the exhibition space from 9,000 to 59,000 square feet, and adds about 130 acres of pastoral, tree-filled landscape by Peter Walker and Partners.
As visitors approach the museum, they will be welcomed by a complex known as The Pavilions.
The architects wanted to create a space that helps the visitor 'slow down'.
Some of the pavilions will be dedicated to single artists, others to rotating exhibitions.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the Thomas Phifer and Partners website
-
Roland and Karimoku expand their range of handcrafted Kiyola digital pianosThe new Roland KF-20 and KF-25 are the latest exquisitely crafted digital pianos from Roland, fusing traditional furniture-making methods with high-tech sound
-
Fulham FC’s new Riverside Stand by Populous reshapes the match-day experience and beyondPopulous has transformed Fulham FC’s image with a glamorous new stand, part of its mission to create the next generation of entertainment architecture, from London to Rome and Riyadh
-
A contemporary Mexican hotel emerges from a 16th-century ruin in MéridaA renovation project by Zeller & Moye, Mérida’s new Hotel Sevilla wears its architectural interventions lightly, mixing new brutalist elements into listed interiors and a palm-filled courtyard
-
A group of friends built this California coastal home, rooted in nature and modern designNestled in the Sea Ranch community, a new coastal home, The House of Four Ecologies, is designed to be shared between friends, with each room offering expansive, intricate vistas
-
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
