The museum has been sharing the 1970s modernist concrete building with the University's art school for over 30 years, and is currently only accessible from the courtyard. The architects decided to make the exposition more open to the city and moved the entrance to the north side, combining it with a new cantilever staircase: it is attached to a concrete "box" as a kind of canopy over the glass doors of the foyer. Its volume is covered with frosted glass, so it glows effectively in the dark. The new entrance will improve the circulation of visitors inside the galleries and will connect the university grounds with the city.
The renovation will also affect the courtyard in front of the museum: there will be a space for various performances, film screenings and other events, as well as a cafe.
In general, the project will add a very insignificant area to the existing museum (only about 50 m2 to the existing thousand) and is aimed rather at a qualitative improvement of the exhibition spaces: all halls will receive new lighting, furniture and decoration. However, the architects, they said, intend to keep everything simple enough.
The project, which WORKac is working on together with another well-known American bureau - Gensler, is planned to be implemented in the second half of 2011; the museum promises to reopen in January 2012.
N. K.
