Museum Expansion Combines Art and Nature

The North Carolina Museum of Art unveiled plans Thursday for an expansion that incorporates stainless steel, glass and natural light in a plan that unites art and nature. The 127,000-square-foot building will be home not only to the museum's existing permanent collection, but also casts of 22 bronze sculptures by Auguste Rodin, including "The Thinker" and "The Kiss."
The building "is not about architectural bravado," museum director Larry Wheeler said. "It's not about soaring flourishes that we associate often with public buildings, in particular cultural expressions in architecture today. "It's a beautiful, quiet, simple place where our people can come together. ... They can let their spirits soar. They can nurture their own creative impulses because this is who we are." The museum is scheduled to break ground on the building in October. The opening date is spring 2009. As part of the $138 million expansion, the museum's existing building will be renovated and used for temporary exhibitions, collections management, education and administration. The museum has raised $78 million, and wants another $50 million for an endowment. When designing the building, architect Thomas Phifer of Thomas Phifer and Partners in New York, said he looked to combine art with North Carolinians' love of land. "When you come to a place like this, you wonder ... what is it about the place that wants a museum here? And you look at the landscape ... from the Outer Banks to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I think the land here has been so important to the people of North Carolina. It defines this state, I think," said Phifer, known for incorporating buildings into the natural environment. That history, combined with the 164 acres that the museum owns, set the tone for the design, a melding of stainless steel, glass, water designs and natural lighting. Just 1 percent of available daylight will filter into the building to protect the paintings, Phifer said. One focus of the new building is a gallery for the Rodins, which the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation promised on the condition that they have a new home. Once the Rodins arrive, the museum will have the largest collection of the artist's works in the Southeast. The collection is valued at $25 million, Wheeler has said.