Cast among the McMansions of Potomac, Maryland – an affluent suburb of Washington DC – Glenstone is an improbable gem, a sprawling estate of 230 acres owned by art collector Mitchell Rales and his wife Emily. In 2006, the couple opened the grounds to visitors on an appointment-only basis, with the main attraction a modest gallery designed by the late Charles Gwathmey. As the Raleses added to their extensive holdings of contemporary and modern paintings and sculpture, their modest proto-museum was swiftly outgrown, and so they began casting around for ways to expand.
They undertook a worldwide search. ‘We looked at fifty museums', says Emily Rales, a trained art historian and curator. Finding themselves particularly inspired by Denmark’s Louisiana Museum and the Menil Collection in Houston, the Raleses proceeded to commission a new, $200-million facility from New York-based architect Thomas Phifer. The result, opening next month, is an extraordinary experiment in landscape, architecture and art, with almost 14,000 sq m of exhibition space set around a serene central courtyard.
Art, landscape and architecture merge through a series of pavilions.
‘We wanted to create an experience that was completely immersive', says Phifer, ‘so that when you see the art, you just go weak at the knees'. The designer achieved this effect through the use of highway-grade concrete slabs stacked into a series of vertical blockhouses, each containing a separate gallery featuring the work of artists as varied as Jackson Pollock, Lygia Pape and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Opting for a material palette that was ‘not too precious', Phifer was still able to give the surface a little life by allowing natural patinas to form on each individual slab, achieving a visual pattern the architect likens to ‘a mosaic'.
Complemented by lushly-planted hills and pathways from landscape firm Peter Walker and Partners, the new Glenstone is part of an emerging vanguard of privately-held museums for big-name collectors no longer content to gaze at their work in contemplative solitude. What this trend augurs for the future of the artworld is anyone’s guess – though Glenstone’s patron sees his own project as a bellwether that’s already proven its potential, with more to come. ‘This isn’t the beginning, and it’s not the end', says Mitchell Rales. ‘We’re somewhere in the middle'.
The complex is located a short drive from Washington DC in the suburb of Potomac.
Phifer's design is set around a serene central courtyard, green spaces and a water feature.
Art can be seen both inside and outside the building. Pictured here, a piece by Tony Smith.
Large openings keep the visitor visually connected to the surrounding greenery. Pictured here, circulation space and an art piece by Martin Puryear.
The new Glenstone's galleries offer a variety of work from the private collectors' treasure trove, such as this piece by Lygia Pape.
Exhibits include art by American sculptor Charles Ray.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Thomas Phifer and Partners
-
All hail the arrival of true autonomy? On Tesla’s proposed Robotaxi and techno-insecurityTesla’s new marketing push predicts a future of robot cabs, automated buses and autonomous home androids. We already want to get off
-
Discothèque perfumes evoke the scent of Tokyo in the year 2000As Discothèque gets ready to launch its first perfume collection, Mary Cleary catches up with the brand’s founders
-
This unassuming London house is a radical rethinking of the suburban homeStation Lodge by architect Andrei Saltykov in South West London offers a radical subversion to regional residential architecture
-
Gardens & Villas offers the unexpected through ‘deconstructed’ desert living in CaliforniaGardens & Villas, a home in La Quinta, California, brings contemporary luxury to its desert setting through a collaboration between architects Andrew McClure and Christopher McLean
-
First look inside 62 Reade Street, a clock factory turned family home62 Reade Street, a boutique New York residential project by architects ODA, unveils its first apartment interior, styled courtesy of Hovey Design
-
Paul Rudolph at The Met: ‘from Christmas lights to megastructures’‘Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph’ opens at the Met in New York, exploring the modernist master's work through a feast of an exhibition
-
Jewel Box is a Californian project of small scale and big impactJewel Box by Red Dot Studio is the reimagining of a Californian 20th-century gem through a creative addition
-
Germane Barnes exhibition explores notions of classical architecture and identityGermane Barnes exhibition 'Columnar Disorder' opens at the Art Institute of Chicago
-
Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum's newest addition effortlessly complements the institution’s existing complexThe third addition to Joslyn Art Museum is designed by Snøhetta, which opted for voluminous common spaces and illuminating atriums
-
Morning Dove in Twentynine Palms combines earth construction and otherworldly desert viewsMorning Dove by Homestead Modern in Twentynine Palms offers a striking landscape and rammed-earth construction for idyllic desert escapes
-
Larry Booth's 'House of Light' showcases an impeccable slice of postmodernist heritageA 1980s Larry Booth-designed Chicago townhouse on a narrow plot is a striking example of his author's work, set alongside the city’s postmodernist archive
