The new wing, 10 stories high, complements Mario Botta's main building, which opened in 1995: inside their spaces are fused together, although on the outside each retains its individuality. The intricate brick volume of Botta stands out clearly against the light-colored facades of the Snøhetta case. They are covered with fiberglass-reinforced polymer panels, which are supposed to resemble the fog and waves of the San Francisco Bay - quite in the spirit of the Norwegian bureau known for its penchant for symbols and poetic metaphors.
But it cannot be said that the first SFMOMA building remained unchanged: for example, the atrium under the famous "oculus" at the top of the striped tower lost its original staircase during rebuilding so that nothing would interrupt its space. Now it will be replaced by a new, "sculptural" staircase. In addition, Snøhetta, known for its attention to the landscape, has designed the space around both parts of the museum complex, opening them up to the city. The exhibition space on the ground floor, available without buying a ticket, serves the same purpose. There will be Richard Serra's work "Sequence" (2006) and other works on display, and the "Roman Staircase" made of maple wood should become a favorite meeting place for the townspeople.
On the second floor, there will be a new lobby overlooking an open terrace with sculptures (there will be a total of six in the museum) and a green wall of 16,000 plants - the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The new wing with a total area of 21.8 thousand m2 is slightly larger than the Botta building (20.9 thousand m2). This increase in the size of the museum made it possible to arrange new spaces for performances and other performances, the Pritzker Center for Photography for exposition and research of works in this genre, an architecture and design gallery, educational facilities and much more. A new restoration center, artists' workshops and staff offices will occupy the upper floors of the new wing.
Construction of the new building began in 2013, and the opening of the renovated museum is scheduled for May 14, 2016. The budget was $ 305 million. The project claims to be LEED Gold (SFMOMA is planned to use 46% less energy and 60% less tap water than a standard building of the same specification).
