LOCAL Houston | The City Guide July 2017 | Page 32

ART
MASTERPIECE
MUSEUM DISTRICT MASTERPIECE
MFAH CAMPUS TAKES SHAPE
The excitement is truly building at the convergence of Main St., Montrose Blvd. and Bissonnet St. in the Museum
District. At the end of May, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston broke ground on the Nancy and Rich Kinder building
for modern and contemporary art, designed by Steven Holl Architects.
It’s a transformative moment for the campus: The 165,000sf structure will house 54,000sf of gallery space for
exhibitions and for the Museum’s collections of modern and contemporary art. The building will be clad in a translucent
glass exterior, which will glow when lit from within at night, and its perimeter will be inset with six pools of water at
ground level.
But, it’s more than just a pretty face. Additional features include a 200-seat theater, a cafe, a restaurant overlooking
the sculpture garden and an underground parking garage. One pedestrian tunnel will connect the Kinder Building to the
new Glassell School of Art, and a second will connect it to the existing Caroline Wiess Law Building, across Bissonnet St.
The 14-acre redesign of the Museum’s Susan and Fayez S. Sarofim Campus – which, in addition to the new Kinder
Building, features the reimagined Glassell School of Art (also by Steven Holl Architects), a landscape plan with multiple
public plazas by Deborah Nevins & Associates and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Center for Conservation by Lake | Flato
Architects – will expand the role the Museum plays in the daily life of Houston, not only as a cultural institution but as
an urban oasis open to all, invigorating the surrounding area.
The entire project is slated for completion in late 2019. Already, the combined capital and endowment campaign
has reached nearly $390 million, more than 85 percent of its $450 million goal – because Houston is philanthropic
by design.
www.collections.mfah.org/blogs/futuremfah/shovels-out-the-nancy-and-rich-kinder-building-breaks-ground
By Tim Moloney
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L O C AL
| july 17
View of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building from
the rooftop of the Glassell School of Art
july 17 |
L O C A L
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