Museum Unveils Design for 200,000 Square Foot Expansion & Renovation
wHY Architecture , Principal Kulapat Yantrasast, Designing New Facility
Louisville, KY, April 11, 2011 – The Speed Art Museum has unveiled the design for a major expansion and renovation of its facilities, encompassing 200,000 square feet of new and renovated interior and exterior space. Growing out of the Museum’s long-range master planning process, the Speed commissioned wHY Architecture—led by Kulapat Yantrasast, working with his partners Richard Stoner and Yo Hakomori —for the project. The design includes the construction of two new buildings, both of which will link directly to the Museum’s existing structure and unify the Speed’s facility, which has grown sporadically over time. The Speed is uniquely positioned to serve as a cultural hub for the city as it is sited adjacent to the University of Louisville campus and the city’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfare—more than 5,000 people walk by the Museum site each day.
The new structure to the north of the Speed’s historic original building is designed to be largely transparent—literally opening the Speed to the community. The project will also feature a new Art Park and public piazza on the Speed’s 6 acre site. Boston-based landscape architects Reed-Hilderbrand are designing the plan for the site in a modern-day realization of an idea first conceived by the Olmsted Brothers. Olmsted and his sons, who created an extensive park system in Louisville, envisioned the Museum site as greenspace linking the University of Louisville campus and the rest of the city’s park system, but their plan was never fully realized.
“The new Speed will welcome visitors to a space that seamlessly integrates art and nature,” said Speed Director Charles L. Venable. “The design literally opens the Museum to its surroundings -- passersby will be able to see art and activity inside the Speed, and visitors inside the Museum will look out into the green spaces, including the Art Park, Piazza, and groves of trees on the surrounding University campus. Hattie Bishop Speed founded the Museum in 1925 because she believed in the power of art to change people’s lives. We are committed to taking that vision into the 21st century by presenting exceptional works of art in a dynamic setting to strengthen our role as a cultural focal point for our city.”
The total master plan consists of three phases and is estimated eventually to cost approximately $79 million for construction and growth to the Museum’s endowment. The budget for the first phase is $57 million, which includes construction of the new North Building and the adjacent Art Park and Piazza, as well as an increase to the Speed’s endowment. This campaign is the largest ever undertaken by a cultural organization in Louisville. The Speed is already more than halfway to its goal for Phase I with $31 million raised to date. This phase includes construction on the new North Building and is scheduled to begin in 2011 and to be completed in 2015.
The Speed’s first building was designed by Louisville-based architect Arthur Loomis and opened in 1927; new structures were added in 1957, 1972, 1983 and 1996. While these additions provided much-needed gallery and work spaces, they gradually obscured the clarity of the original plan and created an assortment of buildings that can be difficult to navigate. When completed, the new master plan will create a natural flow through the Museum and provide 45,000 square feet of exhibition space for the permanent collection, while increasing the Museum’s space for special exhibitions by 67%. Other features will include a new family education welcome center, multipurpose auditorium pavilion, outdoor performance spaces, new spaces for public programs and events, art storage and workrooms, as well as a restaurant, outdoor café, and museum store.
“The Speed’s historic building was designed to be a noble temple for art, which was common in late 19th- and early 20th- century museum planning in this country,” said architect Kulapat Yantrasast. “Our approach is to honor this historic structure and to rejuvenate its spirit for the future while creating a new facility that reflects and enhances the vibrant cultures of Louisville today. By opening the Museum up in all directions, I want to make everyone surprised and curious – allow all to see what’s happening inside and to draw them into the dynamic experience inside. People feel a sense of excitement and involvement with things they can discover themselves and we must encourage this – the new Speed will be an open invitation to everyone to come, enjoy and explore.”
The complete expansion and renovation will take place in three phases, allowing the collection and staff to remain on site and the Museum to remain open to the public throughout the project. As noted, Phase I is scheduled to begin in 2011 and be completed in 2015. This phase includes the construction of a new 53,000 square-foot building on the north side of the existing facility as well as the outdoor Art Park and public piazza. To provide better access for those visiting the Museum and using the University of Louisville campus, the entry drive will be re-routed and the exterior of the existing parking garage will be planted with flowering vines to “green” its facade. Phase II includes the renovation of the Speed’s currently facility and its adjacent grounds. Phase III focuses on the construction of a new 5,000 square-foot building on the south side of the Speed’s current campus. The project will be environmentally friendly, and the Speed is seeking a LEED certification.
As the Museum moves forward with its expansion project, it is also in the midst of a comprehensive and systematic review of its 14,000-piece collection. This process is identifying key areas for collection growth and refinement, with the goal of strengthening the Museum’s holdings and making the collection more relevant and meaningful for its community and visitors. The expansion will provide flexible exhibition spaces to present the Speed’s collection and new acquisitions for the public, along with new facilities for collection care and research.
The expansion and renovation plans can be seen in detail, along with a computer-animated “fly through” of the new design, in the special exhibition Unveiling the New Speed: A Model of the Future, currently on view at the Speed Art Museum. To view the 'fly through" virtual tour, .
About the Speed Art Museum
The Speed Art Museum is Kentucky’s largest art museum with a collection that spans 6,000 years of human creativity. An independent museum located on the campus of the University of Louisville, the Speed plays an important role in the cultural and educational life of the region. The Museum is situated at a crossroads between the city and the University of Louisville, adjacent to the busiest pedestrian thoroughfare on the University’s campus. The Speed hosts monthly sidewalk greeting programs for students and new student orientations. The Speed is currently presenting Impressionist Landscapes: Monet to Sargent, on view through May 22, 2011, and Unveiling the New Speed: A Model of the Future. More information on the Speed Art Museum is available at speedmuseum.org.
About wHY Architecture and Kulapat Yantrasast
Kulapat Yantrasast was born in Thailand in 1968. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, in 1990. In 1991, he moved to Japan where he spent the next 14 years. He received his Master of Architecture degree and Ph.D. from University of Tokyo. After receiving his degree, he worked as a close associate and project architect for the Pritzker Prize laureate architect Tadao Ando in Ando’s Osaka office. Yantrasast worked on several major museums and large institutional projects, including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; the ARMANI/TEATRO for Giorgio Armani in Milan, Italy; the Foundation Francois Pinault for Contemporary Art in Paris, France; the Calder Museum project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Yantrasast maintains close connections with Ando and collaborates with him on selected projects. Yantrasast’s present firm, wHY Architecture, was founded in 2003 with fellow partner, Yo-ichiro Hakomori. As graduate students at the University of Tokyo, Yantrasast and Hakomori realized they shared the same principles and goals of architecture, which led to their collaboration on several design competitions and research projects. Some of wHY Architecture’s current projects include the new Art Center in Cairo, Egypt for the Bibliotheca Alexandria; the Tyler Museum of Art in Texas; the Pomona College Studio Art Hall in California; and the re-design and renovation of galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago. Kulapat has also served on the Artist Committee for American for the Arts, the nation's oldest organization for the support of art in society. He continues to lecture and teach at universities around the country and worldwide. wHY Architecture’s offices are based in Culver City, California.
About Reed Hilderbrand
Reed Hilderbrand has a wide range of cultural and institutional projects including the central court for the Phoenix Art Museum; the gardens of the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati; and recent commissions for the Speed Art Museum in Louisville; Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, Texas; and the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition they have completed the Leventritt Shrub and Vine Collection at The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University; and an enhancement of the historic Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Reed Hilderbrand has received over forty national and regional awards, including the prestigious American Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence on two occasions. Douglas Reed, who founded the firm in 1993, took his degrees from Louisiana State University and the Harvard Design School. He has taught at the Radcliffe Seminars in Landscape Design, the University of Virginia, and Louisiana State University. He has lectured widely throughout the United States and Europe. Gary Hilderbrand, who leads the firm's work at the Clark Art Institute, has been a principal at Reed Hilderbrand since 1997. He received his degrees from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the Harvard Design School, and he is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. He is a widely published author and critic and is currently Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at Harvard, where he has taught since 1990. Reed Hilderbrand is based in Watertown, Massachusetts.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, supports The Speed Art Museum with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
For more information, please contact Kirsten Popp, 502.634.2700/ kpopp@speedmuseum.org
