Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Article source: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The Harvard Art Museums’ Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies is the premier training ground for fine arts conservation and research. It plays a leading role both in the preservation of art and in the advancement of conservation science. The Straus Center supports the Harvard Art Museums by providing analysis of and treatments to the approximately 250,000 objects in all media in the museums’ collections, dating from ancient times to the present.

Exterior view Quincy Street elevation December 2013, Image Courtesy © Michel Denancé

• Architects: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
• Project: Harvard Art Museums
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
• Photography: Lesvants, Michel Denancé, Nic Lehoux
• Software used: Autocad
• Client: Harvard Art Museums
• Design team: M.Carroll and E.Trezzani (partners in charge) with J.Lee, E.Baglietto (partner), S.Ishida (partner), R.Aeck, F.Becchi, B.Cook, M.Orlandi, J.Pejkovic,A.Sternand J.Cook, M.Fleming, J.M.Palacio, S. Joubert; M. Ottonello (CAD operator); F.Cappellini, F.Terranova, I.Corsaro (models)
• Consultants: Robert Silman Associates (structure); Arup (MEP engineering, lighting design, facade engineering, code consulting, LEED consulting); Nitsch Engineering (civil engineering); Anthony Associates (wood scientist);Davis Langdon (cost consultant);  Sandy Brown Associates (acoustics); Carl Cathcart (arborist); Building Conservation Associates (restoration consultant)

Exterior view by night November 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Founded in 1928 as the Department for Technical Studies in the Fogg Art Museum, the Straus Center was the first institution in the United States to use scientific methods to study artists’ materials and techniques. It has also been a pioneer in the application of scientific techniques to conservation.

Exterior view – Detail South façade September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

The Straus Center will be located inside the glass roof on the uppermost level of the Harvard Art Museums’ new facility, in order to take advantage of the natural light needed for the center’s work. The glass walls of the center will offer visitors to the museums a glimpse of the conservation and research activity taking place. The Straus Center’s fully equipped, state-of-the-art space supports a wide range of analytical instrumentation for quantitative and qualitative analysis of art media, including pigments, stone, ceramic, metals, paint binding media, and varnishes.

Exterior view – South façade September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

The Straus Center also serves as a leading institution for training the next generation of conservators. Since 1972, an advanced-level training program has offered three ten-month fellowships each year. The program provides training in the conservation of works on paper, paintings, and objects. Additionally, the three-year Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship is designed to train conservation scientists. Alumni of the training program have gone on to work at museums both in the United States and abroad, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Kimbell Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Getty Museum in Los Angeles; the Frick Collection in New York City; the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore; the National Gallery in London; and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Interior view Calderwood courtyard December 2013, Image Courtesy © Michel Denancé

Exterior view September 2014 ,Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view – Lobby gallery September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view – Winter garden South September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Exterior view – Detail September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view gallery 2nd level September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view – Courtyard lantern September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view -Strauss conservation laboratory September 2014,Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view -Strauss conservation laboratory September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior view – 3rd floor Gallery September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Interior View Calderwood courtyard November 2014, Image Courtesy © Michel Denancé

Interior view of the lantern September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Exterior view by night from Carpenter Center September 2014, Image Courtesy © Ph. Nic Lehoux

Aerial view – construction site November 2013, Image Courtesy © Aerial by Lesvants.com

Site wood model, Image Courtesy © RPBW – ph. Stefano Goldberg – Publifoto

East West section, Image Courtesy © RPBW

Tags: Massachusetts, USA

Categories: Autocad, Museum

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