Nelson-Atkins plans $170M new expansion, with an international contest to design ‘a museum for all’

Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is launching an ambitious expansion project that will transform its Midtown campus with a dynamic, open and inviting design. Museum leaders announced this week a global competition to find an architect-led design team to execute their vision.

Julián Zugazagoitia, director and CEO of the museum, said the goal of the expansion is to attract new audiences and design a center that speaks to the community.

“So we have goals to be the museum for all, and in that we have a lot of different ways to articulate it,” Zugazagoitia said. “For instance, how can each one (visitor) see yourself inside the museum?”

Zugazagoitia said, since the museum serves a broad region, the new structure needs to translate into architecture the evolving and increasing needs of the community.

In that way, he said, “the museum becomes a place where you belong.”

The project would be the museum’s third major evolution. Zugazugoitia said it is partially a response to growing and increasingly diverse attendance, and the need to serve future generations.

“This expansion solidifies the Nelson-Atkins’ foundational desire to reach all audiences, particularly those for whom art is not familiar,” Zugazagoitia said in the statement. “It will enable the museum to better serve our community, and I envision a vibrant space for visitors to become energized by art and immersed in new and creative experiences.”

The original neocassical revival building, left, next to the Bloch Building addition, which was designed by New York architect Steven Holl. Both structures are surrounded by the 22-acre Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park; photo courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum Of Art

The new addition would create about 61,000 square feet of extra gallery, programming, and visitor spaces, and would affect indoor and outdoor spaces.

Another aim of the project is to integrate the museum’s campus — the two existing buildings and the 22-acre Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park — into a cohesive new experience.

Museum officials estimate a construction budget of $160 million to $170 million, to be funded entirely by private donations.

The expansion’s design will be decided upon through a global competition that was announced on Tuesday. Zugazagoitia said it will be an open process, and every submission will be reviewed by a selection committee of museum leaders and trustees. There will also be opportunities for the public to participate in the process, he said.

Architect search specialists Malcolm Reading Consultants will organize the competition, which is open to local, regional, national and international firms.

The deadline for the first stage of the design competition is Oct. 29, 2024. Up to five finalist teams will receive a $75,000 competition fee for concept designs. A public exhibition of finalist design concepts will be held in spring 2025. The winner will be announced that same spring.

Museum leaders gave no indication of when they hope construction will be complete.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, June 1, 2023; photo by Mark McDonald

The original building’s design is a traditional neoclassical revival architectural style. Built in 1933, the original construction costs were $2.5 million, according to a United Press report at the time — equivalent to about $58.5 million in 2024.

The museum’s 2007 expansion, the Bloch Building, was designed by New York architect Steven Holl, who won a design competition that began in 1999. That expansion cost $95 million, according to the Architectuul website. The same year, Time magazine called the structure on the east side of the museum’s campus “haunting and luminous.”

But here in Kansas City, it took some time for the community to warm to the Bloch Building.

“You will have some people who are questioning because you’re doing something fresh, you’re doing something new, you’re doing something that’s aspiring to the beyond,” Holl told KCUR on the structure’s 10th anniversary. “That’s happened through the history of architecture, and will continue to happen.”

The Nelson-Atkins is home to a collection of more than 42,000 art objects. It is best known for its extensive Asian art collection, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and Native American, African and Egyptian galleries.

Evelyn Craft Belger, who chairs of the museum’s Board of Trustees and Architect Selection Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that trustees are intent on widening the conventions of the museum with this new expansion plan, so it becomes a more dynamic, open and inviting place.

“We look forward to seeing submissions from a diverse pool of architects from all backgrounds and across the world,” Craft Belger said. “Through this process we know we’ll identify a team that connects deeply with the museum’s vision and will be dedicated to fully realizing our mission.”

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