Museum Design Approved
It’s said that good things come to those who wait. That never seemed so true in the local arts scene as this week with the unveiling of the final design for the Austin Museum of Art‘s downtown facility. The folks at AMOA (and, before its name change, the Laguna Gloria Art Museum) have been waiting for this moment for about 17 years, having had to wait through a previous design by architect Robert Venturi, Austin’s economic bust in the Eighties, financial setbacks and staff changes within the institution, real estate troubles which caused them to lose their original site, cross-cultural art wars, the purchase of a new site (exactly one block south of the original), the decision to scrap the Venturi design, winning back the favor of the city government, opening galleries on Congress, hiring a new executive director, choosing a new architect, raising millions of dollars to cover design and construction, a land swap with the state and city that returned the original site, and two years of discussions and work about what the new facility should be. No doubt hanging on through so much for so long was extremely trying, and one can hardly fault those who gave up the ghost. But for the ones who persevered there has finally come a reward. The design presented to AMOA’s Board of Trustees on Monday, Oct. 16, is indeed a good thing — a very good thing.
The design, by Richard Gluckman of New York’s Gluckman Mayner Architects, is of a structure of sophistication and creativity, at once monumental and scaled to humans, elegant yet informal, a place that is removed from the world, allowing for a contemplative experience of the artwork inside it, and yet delightfully open to the world, using copious amounts of glass to connect the interior visually to the outdoors, a system of skylights to fill the building with natural light, and terraces and an atrium to give the facility spaces that are literally outdoors. The building front, which faces Fourth Street and the greenspace of Republic Square just beyond, has a playful quality, with aluminum fins that break up the glass across the rolling, curved façade, causing its appearance to shift ever so slightly with every step. The broad overhang stretching across the entire front of the building — with metal bars inspired by cattle guards! — sets up a great front porch of sorts, with outdoor seating for the cafe that allows patrons to take advantage of its invitation to relax and take in the view of the park across the road. A number of tiny fountain jets creating a line of delicate water columns across the front add to the natural ambience and light air. Inside, the space features spacious galleries in which room has been left for the art to take focus. Spacious rooms bathed in natural light provide the freedom for the museum staff and curators to present a diverse range of works, including sizable installation works so popular in recent years and electronic art, to which AMOA is wisely seeking to accommodate.
This column can’t contain all there is to say about the final design or Gluckman’s skill as an architect. But it is worth trying to cram as much commentary as I can into this space. After the long wait, we have a good thing. On this, everyone at AMOA seems to agree. The board approved the final design unanimously, and the museum staff was all smiles showing off the scale models and drawings to the press Tuesday morning. AMOA Executive Director Elizabeth Ferrer broke into a grin so bright that you might have thought she was lit from within by one of Gluckman’s skylights. Next week’s Arts section will feature an interview with Gluckman, discussing his work and his thoughts on architecture in general and in a boom town specifically. Check it out.
This article appears in October 20 • 2000.