Louis Kahn’s renovated Yale Center for British Art unveiled
Today, Louis Kahn’s masterful Yale Center for British Art re-opens its doors after the completion of a $33 million, eight-year renovation led by New Haven-based Knight Architecture.
The five-story 1974 building houses the largest collection of British art outside of the United Kingdom, donated in 1966 by Yale Alumnus Paul Mellon. Its intimate, naturally lit galleries are organised around two ethereal interior courtyards, floored in travertine and clad with grids of bared concrete, matte steel and white oak wall panels. Perhaps most famous for its monolithic anchor piece, a drum-like cylindrical grey cement staircase— the centre is an astonishing example of Kahn’s unparalleled gift for eliciting visceral emotion through pure volume, light, and materials.
Much of the renovation, describes Knight Architecture principal George Knight, was 'an effort to defend the architecture in the face of legitimate issues.'
His firm, and a team of conservationists, builders, engineers, and facilities managers, restored original materials, improved the building’s technical systems, and added storage, research space, and guest amenities, all while re-installing and re-organising the more than five centuries of work in the unparalleled collection of paintings, sculptures, and manuscripts by Turner, Constable, Hockney, and so many more.
At the same time they left the building remarkably in tact. Original surfaces, for instance, were kept religiously as they were, even if they showed cracking or other signs of age. 'It’s definitely not pristine, not new,' says Knight. 'The cult of newness is something we wanted to avoid.'
Meanwhile Knight re-implemented details that various updates had 'drifted' from, removing partitions from the exquisite fourth floor Long Gallery (and hanging its walls in quirky, crowded, theme-based salon configuration), opening up the building’s exterior lower court, and implementing Kahn’s original scheme for flexible pogo walls.
The renovation’s three phases took place while the museum was still open, a colossal effort involving sealing rooms and weaving temporary ducts. Knight likens the process to conducting 'life support while the patient is playing tennis.' The result deftly balances incongruous elements like roughness and refinement, compression and expansion, and lets the architecture speak louder than any of its collective insertions.
'You really can’t get away from the architecture here,' explains Scott Wilcox, Deputy Director for Collections at the museum. 'We don’t want to.'
INFORMATION
For more information visit the Knight Architecture website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Molly Goddard on creating a community of contemporary brides
As new Molly Goddard bridal wear is released, the designer talks about creating romantic but real wedding dresses, while three recent brides tell the stories behind their own Goddard gowns
By Jack Moss Published
-
Palazzo Roma embodies the heritage of Roman noblesse
Palazzo Roma, part of the Shedir Collection, boasts eclectic and eccentric interiors by Giampiero Panepinto
By Luke Abrahams Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
At the Hilbert Museum of California Art’s expanded home, art and architecture converge
The Hilbert Museum of California Art expands its home, courtesy of Los Angeles architecture studio Johnston Marklee
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Pearlman Cabin by John Lautner is an organic Californian mountain retreat
John Lautner’s midcentury Pearlman Cabin, tucked away in the Californian mountain resort of Idyllwild, is a striking example of organic architecture
By Mimi Zeiger Published
-
Albert Frey’s Aluminaire House is reborn in Palm Springs
Aluminaire House, designed by legendary modernist Albert Frey, has been reconstructed outside the Palm Springs Art Museum
By Michael Webb Published
-
Beverly Hills’ Carla Ridge is a modern home taking in expansive city views
Carla Ridge in Beverly Hills blends modernist architecture nods, with contemporary lines and varying textures which complement its views of the hillside, valley, and city
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Downtown LA’s Beaudry is a cityscape statement of modern luxury
Beaudry is a new Los Angeles residential skyscraper by Marmol Radziner that offers contemporary living, a sense of place, and earthy design
By Carole Dixon Published
-
‘London Estates’ surveys the architecture and influence of the capital’s council-built homes
‘London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981’, a new book by FUEL, is the perfect place to start for inspiration on how architecture can improve every sector of society
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Afrobeats and modernism: how the concrete ‘ruins’ of Lagos become a stage
We explore the relationship between Afrobeats and modernism in Lagos, as the Nigerian capital’s concrete structures become a stage for the music genre
By Olorunfemi Adewuyi Published