The Clark Art Institute, a prominent art institution located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, United States, has unveiled images of the design for the extension of its current facilities. The institution, opened in 1955, is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. The new wing, commissioned to Selldorf Architects in October 2024, will expand the current gallery and art storage space and connect the Museum Building and the Manton Research Center, previously renovated by the same firm. The new building will be complemented by a landscape design by Reed Hilderbrand, reinforcing the experience of the architecture, art, and surrounding Berkshire landscape.
The Clark Art Institute houses an extensive collection of European and American paintings and sculpture, master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. It organizes conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of importance to the visual arts for an international community, and hosts The Clark Library, one of the United States' premier art history libraries, holding nearly 300,000 volumes. Selldorf Architects' new Aso O. Tavitian Wing will provide a permanent home for the Aso O. Tavitian Collection of European art, assembled in the 21st century. The new project adds twelve galleries on a single level, with spaces designed for close viewing of the collection.
The new wing spans 1,394 m² (15,000 gross square feet) gross, including 650 m² (7,000 gross square feet) of gallery space and 279 m² (3,000 gross square feet) of art storage. The façade of the new building will be made of stone, with a pattern of multicolored veined marble in tones that match the adjacent buildings (the Manton Research Center and the museum building). The interior floor will be covered with white oak. To bring light into the galleries, a large window has been designed to punctuate the building's east façade, while two openings on the west façade offer visitors framed views of Stone Hill and the museum grounds. The landscape design by Reed Hilderbrand features native plantings and strengthened connections to the campus, contributing to improved overall accessibility and visitor circulation throughout the grounds.
We conceived the new wing as a companion to the Manton Research Center and the 1955 museum building. It is sympathetic to each of the volumes it connects, yet its architectural identity and layout are distinct. The scale, materials, use of natural light, and views of the landscape will enable visitors to view the extraordinary works of art in new galleries that are at once intimate yet present memorable proportions. They are focused on the experience of the eminent collection and orient visitors to the surrounding Berkshires and the Clark campus. — Annabelle Selldorf from Selldorf Architects.
Groundbreaking for the new building is expected in January 2027, with completion anticipated in 2028. Other cultural projects currently underway around the world include Herzog & de Meuron's Lusail Museum on Qatar's Al Maha Island, a 230,000 m² human-made island off the coast of Lusail; Frank Gehry's Dar al Funoon Abu Dhabi, a new performing arts institution that recently broke ground, designed as a global hub for the performing arts and expected to open in 2030; and Dorte Mandrup's The Whale, a cultural and scientific facility focused on marine ecosystems, under construction approximately 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.
