An expanded San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will open its doors next May with triple the space to showcase new works.
Norwegian firm Snøhetta has conceived a 10-storey extension to the museum’s original 1995 Postmodernist building – designed by architect Mario Botta.
‘Our goals were to provide the curators with clean, uncluttered galleries that feel intimate in scale and right for the artworks, to establish new physical connections to the city that will foster social interaction, and to join with the Botta building,’ said Craig Dykers, co-founding partner of Snøhetta.
The 235,000 sq ft expansion building’s eastern facade is made up of 700 fibreglass-reinforced polymer panels, each shaped differently, to create a ripple effect reminiscent of San Francisco Bay’s waters. Snøhetta has also embedded silicate crystals in the surface to catch sunlight.
A Pritzker Center for Photography, a double-height performance space called the ‘White Box’ and a restaurant headed up by Michelin-starred chef Corey Lee are also part of the updated SFMOMA.
New exhibits in the increased gallery space will include post-war and contemporary artworks from the collection of Doris and Donald Fisher – founders of clothing brand Gap – as well as 600 other pieces promised to the museum.
