Buffalo AKG Art Museum 

Text description provided by the architects. We often say that there are only two kinds of museums: a museum in the garden, embedded in the tranquility of nature, and a museum in the city, implanted in the energy of urbanism. The Buffalo AKG Museum of Art is located in both. It is located on the northern edge of Delaware Historic Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The city is known for its history from the Industrial Revolution and the current revitalization of remnants of that past. It has a rich architectural history, from silos and manufacturing facilities to buildings designed by Eero Saarinen, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.

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The museum itself contains two connected historic buildings: a sturdy 1905 neoclassical building designed by Edward B. Green, originally planned for the 1901 Pan American Exposition and a 1962 modernist extension designed by Gordon Bunshaft which included a new auditorium and outdoor courtyard. Although they are located in the garden, the two buildings side by side cut off the view and access from the city, and even from inside the museum itself.

Our ambition for expansion was not only to expand the complex to accommodate the museum's growing art collection and diverse programmes, but also to reconnect it to the park and city and to create a new openness to public activities. The buildings of 1905 and 1962 have a clear and closed separation from their surroundings. In contrast, the approach to the new pavilion is to unleash the full potential of being in the garden.

On the ground floor of the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building, we started with exhibits in the shape of a cross, or plus sign (because it's an addition). Galleries are at the heart of the building while four transparent corners - containing the lobby, media gallery, office and loading dock - bring in the garden and surround the museum in nature. While the size of the cross galleries is similar to that of the intimate rooms in the 1905 structure, two larger, more efficient gallery boxes have been stacked that resonate with the bunshaft box on top. A double height gallery at the front of the building connects the cross and flex boxes.

We have been observing how museums are evolving to provide diverse avenues for public participation through expanded exhibition activities and non-incidental programmes. We felt that museums now need to strike the right balance between programmable space and programmable space, and must find new relationships between them. Our response was to wrap the second level gallery in a park, an unprogrammed space for various activities - from sculpture exhibitions and festivals to educational programs and wellness classes.​

A park and a collection of art galleries surround a transparent façade that achieves an open and ephemeral quality. This 'veil' covers the park to form a double-height buffer between nature and art. The resulting conservatory immerses visitors in the garden at the same time and showcases the museum's activities for the campus and the city. It is the opposite of Bunshaft: while he depicts nature at the center of art, we place art at the heart surrounded by nature.