A brutalist museum in upstate New York gets a contemporary refurb

The first project in America by IM Pei – and the first museum designed by a Chinese architect – has had an overhaul by LA practice Milliøns. Architects Zeina Koreitem and John May reworked the east wing of the brutalist Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY, with soaring displays, increased access to natural light and a new café with museum-worthy crockery. The 4,000 ceramic pieces were donated by Dallas collector Louise Rosenfield to put art into the hands of the public. The Emerson has one of America’s most comprehensive collections of ceramic art.

Working with lighting designer Derek Porter, the architects built a fantastical, triple-height open storage space for the collection of vessels, creating an interactive exhibition of sorts with a rooflight above. Visitors are welcome to pluck pieces from the display for their own use at the café. The installation, they say, ‘allows typically separate activities of display, storage, archiving and maintenance to coexist and be experienced by the public’.

The team designed custom seating and planters for the wing that pick up shades from the original concrete. Placed inside and out, they make the monolithic building more approachable and enliven the space.