BERKELEY, CA.- The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) has moved into the final stage of the concept design for its new building, which will be the first U.S. project by the internationally acclaimed Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects, Tokyo, Japan. The project, a highly innovative, curvilinear structure, will give both the university and the city of Berkeley a signature building that promises to be one of the most exciting museum buildings of its time.

Plans for a new visual-arts facility for BAM/PFA were initiated following a 1997 survey that found that the museum’s existing facility—a 103,000-square-foot concrete structure—did not meet current seismic standards. The new building will be approximately forty percent larger than the existing one, with nearly twenty percent more exhibition space, an additional theater, and considerably expanded and improved public research facilities. The final design for the new BAM/PFA is expected to be complete at the end of 2009, and the museum anticipates that the building will open in 2013.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau states, “Given UC Berkeley’s leadership role in art education, architecture, design, engineering, and research, it was incumbent upon the museum to create a building of the very best quality, both aesthetically and functionally. Toyo Ito’s concept design for BAM/PFA gives us just that. It is superbly designed, creatively engineered, welcoming, and of the highest aesthetic order. It will be an icon for the entire Bay Area.”

BAM/PFA’s Ito-designed complex will be located in an area where the UC Berkeley campus meets the city, at the northwest corner of Oxford and Center Streets. The site is close to the BART rail system and other public transportation, and, importantly, is in the city of Berkeley’s vibrant arts district, which encompasses such organizations as the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Jazzschool, and the Aurora Theater Company.

Incoming BAM/PFA Director Lawrence Rinder adds, “I am thrilled to lead the new building project as one of my first tasks as BAM/PFA director. The opportunities for expanded and more diverse programs, and for serving larger audiences, make this one of the most exciting times in the history of BAM/PFA. I look forward to working with our extraordinary team to refine Toyo Ito’s superb concept for the building—with its graceful galleries and theaters and its dynamic and versatile public spaces—and to bring it to completion.”

Building Design - Mr. Ito’s concept design calls for a three-story building with an unexpectedly fluid steel exterior that curves to meet dramatic, towering windows. The 139,000-square-foot interior will comprise a loose grid of interlocking spaces with gently curved walls that wind and bend throughout the structure. In places, the gallery walls will part, as if pulled aside like curtains, to allow passage between the varied exhibition areas.

The museum’s first floor will house the two theaters; five exhibition galleries, one of which, the MATRIX gallery, will be open to the public without charge; the museum store and caf�, opening onto Center Street; and other visitor amenities. The second floor will include eight galleries, a screening room, the Conceptual Art Study Center, a learning center, and a library. The top floor, with seven galleries, will be dedicated to works on paper and to BAM/PFA’s celebrated Asian art collection, and will include an Asian garden gallery.

Mr. Ito’s design has been created with sensitivity to the scale and fabric of the surrounding neighborhood, while also offering a distinctive architectural addition to it. With a plaza-like extension of Center Street, a largely transparent ground-floor fa�ade that invites exploration of the museum within, and a large, multi-purpose interior forum, the building offers rich opportunities for interactions with the diverse population and institutions of the neighborhood and UC Berkeley community. In addition, three of the museum’s second-floor galleries will have ancillary “vista spaces,” two looking east to Oxford Street and the Berkeley campus, the third overlooking Center Street.

In an example of Mr. Ito’s renowned ability to balance design innovation with state-of-the-art engineering, all galleries and theaters will be equipped with the most up-to-date, flexible technologies, making them capable of accommodating evolving art forms and on-site research. Additionally, the new museum building is targeted to achieve at minimum a LEED silver certification, which will make it one of the most environmentally sustainable museum buildings in the country.

Funding - The new building is projected to cost $100 million to $120 million for construction and $146 million to $165 million overall. Funding will come entirely from private sources, and BAM/PFA trustees and staff are in the early stages of a fundraising campaign.