KANSAS CITY, MO.- The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art today revealed the six finalist teams’ concepts in the competition to transform the museum with a dynamic, open, and inviting design. The expansion project’s goal is to attract new audiences by creating vibrant spaces to host more art, and new immersive and interactive creative experiences for the community.
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The concepts – devised by some of the most respected designers working in museum architecture today – are now available to view in an online gallery on the competition website at competitions.malcolmreading.com/nelson-atkins/gallery.
They can also be seen in a free exhibition at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Building Belonging: Designing the future of the Nelson-Atkins, that opens Mar 15 through June 1, 2025. The public is invited to comment at the exhibition or through the portal nelson-atkins.org/architectural-competition-comments.
The museum’s Architect Selection Committee (ASC) will meet in late Spring to interview the finalists and make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. Following ratification and the winning team’s appointment, the chosen design will be refined in close partnership with the museum and its stakeholders, including local communities.
The museum’s Board of Trustees aims to broaden the conventions of the museum – which offers free general admission – so it continues evolving as a place where everyone feels they belong. The project will integrate the campus, the Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park, and the two existing buildings into a cohesive new experience.
The first stage of the competition, which launched in October 2024, attracted 182 teams from 30 countries on six continents.
The teams’ summaries of their concept designs can be found below in Notes to Editors.
“These six concept designs articulate six unique visions of a new and even more dynamic Nelson-Atkins.” said Evelyn Craft Belger, Chair of the museum’s Board of Trustees and the Architect Selection Committee. “This is a thrilling moment for the museum and our community when we start to visualize an identity that will carry us through the coming decades.
“We encourage our community to visit the exhibition and share your thoughts – which proposal best realizes your aspirations?”
“We asked for bold, inspiring moves that also respected the existing museum campus and I’m so happy to say we’ve received them in these initial designs,’ said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins, “Each is a fascinating response to a complex project brief, together they bring myriad perspectives. The teams have shone their beams of thought on our big questions: how do we synthesize our existing icons with a new proposition? How do we modernize and embrace the future but keep the best of our history? And, most of all, how do we create a museum that is transparent for all and instills a sense of belonging and well-being?”
In conjunction with this exhibition is the release of Director’s Highlights: Celebrating 90 Years of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which captures the richness and variety of the museum’s collection told through the eyes of the curators and Zugazagoitia himself. It includes about 200 works of art organized by the decade in which they entered the museum. Engaging stories, images, and colorful anecdotes accompany each work, along with historic photos and plans. The publication is available for purchase online and in the museum store.
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