San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in California by Snøhetta

Article source: Snøhetta 

Project Overview

SFMOMA’s leadership worked closely with Snøhetta to create a transformational expansion that incorporates and renovates the museum’s existing Mario Botta–designed building, which debuted in 1995. The new museum accommodates the significant growth of SFMOMA’s collection, program and visitorship, nearly tripling the museum’s gallery space, including nearly 45,000 square feet of free public-access space and weaving SFMOMA into its urban setting as never before.

Snøhetta expansion of the new SFMOMA, 2016; photo © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA

• Architects: Snøhetta
• Project: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Location: San Francisco, California, USA
• Photography: Henrik Kam, Joe Fletcher, Jon McNeal
• Partner-in-Charge: Craig Dykers
• Project Architects: Aaron Dorf, Lara Kaufman, Jon McNeal
• Senior Architects: Simon Ewings, Alan Gordon, Marianne Lau, Elaine Molinar, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen
• Design Team: Nick Anderson, Behrang Behin, Sam Brissette, Chad Carpenter, Michael Cotton, Aroussiak Gabrielian, Kyle Johnson, Nick Koster, Mario Mohan, Neda Mostafavi, Anne-Rachel Schiffmann, Carrie Tsang, Giancarlo Valle
• Associate Architect: EHDD, San Francisco
• EHDD Team:
  • Duncan Ballash, Principal + President
  • Lotte Kaefer, Project Architect
  • Rebecca Sharkey, Project Manager

Snøhetta expansion of the new SFMOMA, 2016; photo © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA

• Project Managers: Terry Reagan, Don Young, Bob Reuter, TJ Reagan, Inc.
• Project Construction Cost: $305 million
• Square Footage – Total: 460,000 square feet: 225,000 square feet (Botta building) plus 235,000 square feet (Snøhetta expansion)
• Construction begins: June 2013
• New SFMOMA opens: May 14, 2016

The new SFMOMA, view from Yerba Buena Gardens; photo Jon McNeal, © Snøhetta

Snøhetta expansion of the new SFMOMA; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Siting and Circulation

The project was conceived to create a more open and welcoming SFMOMA, with the volume of the expansion rising up behind the Botta building and stretching the full city block from Minna Street to Howard Street. This placement activates existing mid-block streets as pedestrian pathways and opens up new entrances, deeply integrating the museum into the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood, including nearby Yerba Buena Gardens and the Moscone Center.

Alexander Calder’s Untitled (1963) on view in the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Atrium at the new SFMOMA; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Helen and Charles Schwab Hall featuring Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing 895 Loopy Doopy (white and blue) (1999) at SFMOMA; photo © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA

Two entrances on Third and Howard Streets connect visitors to free ground-floor exhibition spaces, inaugurated with a presentation of Richard Serra’s monumental sculpture Sequence (2006) in the Roberts Family Gallery, where the museum will present commissioned works in the future. The Joyce and Larry Stupski Entrance at Minna Street welcomes school groups to the Koret Education Center, as well as visitors attending in the Phyllis Wattis Theater and the Gina and Stuart Peterson White Box.

Roberts Family Gallery featuring Richard Serra’s Sequence (2006) at SFMOMA; photo © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA

California and the West Photography from the Campaign for Art exhibition; photo © Joe Fletcher, courtesy SFMOMA

The pathways from all three public entrances converge at the second-floor Helen and Charles Schwab Hall, a spacious gathering place with views to the Pat and Bill Wilson Sculpture Terrace and the museum’s new vertical garden, the largest public living wall of native plants in the United States. In Helen and Charles Schwab Hall, visitors may pass from the free ground-floor exhibition spaces into the second-floor and upper floors of ticketed galleries for the permanent collection and special exhibitions.

The Campaign for Art Modern and Contemporary exhibition at SFMOMA; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Approaching American Abstraction The Fisher Collection exhibition; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Environmental

The museum is on track to receive LEED Gold certification for the new building, with a 46% reduction in energy use and a 60% decrease in potable water use. SFMOMA is one of the first museums in the country to employ all LED lighting throughout the gallery spaces.

Approaching American Abstraction The Fisher Collection exhibition; photo © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA

Approaching American Abstraction The Fisher Collection exhibition; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Pop, Minimal, and Figurative Art The Fisher Collection exhibition; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Pop, Minimal, and Figurative Art The Fisher Collection exhibition; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

A City Gallery at SFMOMA featuring Untitled by Joel Shapiro (1989); photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

The Campaign for Art Modern and Contemporary exhibition featuring a selection of chairs each of a single material; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

The Campaign for Art Contemporary exhibition; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

The Campaign for Art Contemporary exhibition; photo © Iwan Baan, courtesy SFMOMA

Pat and Bill Wilson Sculpture Terrace featuring Alexander Calder’s sculpture Maquette for Trois Disques (Three Disks), formerly Man (1967); photo © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Image Courtesy © Snøhetta

Tags: California, USA

Categories: Art Center, Building, Museum, public spaces

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