Museum District unveilings
Glassell and monumental sculpture coming in May
The wisecracks about the shape of Anish Kapoor’s monumental “Cloud Column” began soon after the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston announced it had acquired the 30-foot-high, stainless-steel form — a vertical sister to Chicago’s famous “Bean.” Come late spring, viewers will be able to experience it first-hand.
“Cloud Column” will be a prominent feature of the new Brown Foundation Inc. Plaza that opens to the public May 20, along with the doors to the distinctive new Glassell School of Art Building. The museum is hosting a family day that Sunday to show off its new complex at the corner of Montrose and Bissonnet — marking the first phase of completion for the largest cultural project under development in the U.S.
Director Gary Tinterow called the school and plaza a seamless integration of architecture and public space. He expects the school’s plaza, galleries and coffee shop to become a high-energy focal point of the expanding campus.
Steven Holl Architects’ bold structure of concrete and glass wraps in an L-shape around the new plaza, which embraces the adjacent Cullen Sculpture Garden. That design is key to an overall strategy to shape the public spaces for the entire campus, Holl said. “The alternating concrete and glass panels create a porosity between indoors and out, and the gathering spaces, including the building’s walkable, sloping roof, provide a civic experience for students and the public alike, with a spectacular view of the neighborhood and city skyline.”
The roofline will be landscaped and fully accessible, extending the plaza up and along the full length of the building. Designed by Deborah Nevins & Associates with Nevins & Benito Landscape Architecture, the plaza also connects to the Cullen Sculpture Garden. In addition to Kapoor’s sculpture, it will hold Eduardo Chillida’s stacked-granite sculpture “Song of Strength” along with a reflecting pool and shaded seating.
Connectivity was important, Nevins said. “Visitors will be able to move freely among the distinct spaces we have created.”
Glassell School director Joe Havel said the 85,000-squarefoot building will elevate the 40-year-old teaching wing of the museum to a new level. The school serves more than 8,500 children and adults annually. “The drama and beauty of the design, matched to an exceptionally functional and durable building made specifically for art-making practices, will challenge the imaginations of our faculty and our students,” Havel said.
The three dozen studios inside are all illuminated with natural light. The public gallery spaces will present exhibitions by students, faculty and alumni. A broad-stepped central staircase will serve as the school’s forum. Along with the new coffee bar, the building boasts a 75-seat auditorium. Classes begin June 4, with the school’s popular youth summer sessions.
The transformation of the museum’s entire 14-acre campus, which has been named for lead donors Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim, is slated for completion in early 2020 with the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building for modern and contemporary art. That exhibition space, also designed by Holl, will be more elaborate than the Glassell, with a cloud-inspired roof and inset water gardens.
The new Sarah Campbell Blaffer Center for Conservation designed by Lake | Flato Architects is also under construction, atop the museum’s Fannin garage. Nevins and her group will complete the campus with additional landscaping and walkways, including two pedestrian tunnels, so that all of the buildings will be linked above and below ground. The entire construction project totals about 500,000 square feet.
Tinterow wants the campus to fill a broader role in Houston’s daily life — “not only as a cultural institution but as an urban oasis that is open to all, invigorating the surrounding area,” he said.
He predicts the transformation will have a significant economic impact, through job creation in the near term and generating nearly $334 million in economic activity over 20 years, with more than $2.5 million in direct, indirect and induced city tax revenues.