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First photos and a virtual tour of Steven Holl's new Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

2020-11-19T17:28:00-05:00

Nearly eight years after selecting Steven Holl's ambitious expansion concept, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is preparing to officially open the completed structure to the public on Saturday, November 21.

Dedicated to the collection of modern and contemporary art, the new 237,000-sf Nancy and Rich Kinder Building houses galleries, seven garden courtyards, a 215-seat theater, two pedestrian tunnels, a parking arrival hall, conference rooms, a restaurant overlooking the Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden, a cafe, and a triple-story forum.

North facade. © Richard Barnes.

"The Texas sky opens 180°overhead above a luminous canopy covering the new building," explains the architects' project description. "Concave curves, imagined from cloud circles, push down on the roof geometry, allowing natural light to slip in with precise measure and quality, perfect for top-lit galleries. Organized horizontally on two levels, all galleries have natural light and are flexible with open flow."

East facad...

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to inaugurate Glassell School of Art on May 20, completes first phase of redevelopment

2018-05-15T18:48:00-04:00

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will celebrate the inauguration of the Glassell School of Art this Sunday, May 20, marking the completion of the first phase of the museum's 14-acre redevelopment. The first phase also includes the BBVA Compass Roof Garden designed by Steven Holl Architects and The Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza by Deborah Nevins & Associates.

Glassell School of Art, west elevation. Photo © Richard Barnes.

According to recent details from the MFAH, the Steven Holl Architects-designed, L-shaped Glassell School of Art features a 93,000 square-foot interior containing: three dozen studios illuminated with natural light; public gallery spaces for student and alumni exhibitions; a broad-stepped central staircase serving as the school's forum; a 75-seat auditorium; and a public coffee bar. With summer classes scheduled to begin on June 4, the school is the only museum-affiliated art school in the U.S. serving pr...

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gets its own giant bean sculpture by Anish Kapoor

2018-03-27T20:04:00-04:00

Looks like Houston has a giant, shiny bean-shaped sculpture of its own now. Completing its two-day installation today, “Cloud Column” by Anish Kapoor — the same artist who created Chicago's infamous “Cloud Gate” — is the first of two sculptures on the Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's upcoming Glassell School of Art. The school and plaza, making up phase one of the museum's expansion, are scheduled to open May 20.

View south of the Glassell School and Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza. Courtesy Deborah Nevins & Associates / Nevins & Benito Landscape Architecture.

Conceived by Kapoor in the late 1990s and realized in 2006, Cloud Column is made of hand-worked stainless steel. Working for at least five hours early Monday morning, crews used a 650-ton crane to hoist up the 21,000-pound oblong sculpture (attached to a 6,000-pound crate) into its exact positioning on the plaza. After the sculpture was set in place, a member from Kapoor's London installation tea...

Post-Harvey Houston reopens its museums

2017-09-06T14:22:00-04:00

As aid workers and Texans begin to take stock of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Harvey, museums across Houston, the fourth biggest city in the country and one of the areas hardest hit by the storm, are starting to reopen. Gary Tinterow, the director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), announced Friday that the institution would partially reopen on Tuesday 5 September with free admission through Thursday, 7 September. He offered the museum “as a place for reflection and renewal.”

While a leisurely visit to the museum may not be on the minds right now of Houston residents hit the hardest by Hurricane Harvey, reopening its cultural institutions is an important first step for the city to start the long process of recovery and breathe new life into the civic spirit.

More details on the Museum of Fine Arts Houston campus expansion

2015-01-16T10:11:00-05:00

Earlier this week, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston revealed the design of its upcoming $450 million Fayez S. Sarofim Campus. As a milestone in the institution's 90-year history, the 14-acre redevelopment will transform the MFAH and its surrounding neighborhood the city's effort to improve the pedestrian experience. The redevelopment will be integrated among historical buildings created by William Ward Watkin, Mies van der Rohe, and Rafael Moneo, and an Isamu Noguchi-designed sculpture garden.

The 14-acre expansion will consist of three new buildings. Steven Holl Architects will design the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building for 20th and 21st-century art as well as the new Glassell School of Art. Lake|Flato Architects will design the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Center for Conservation. A landscape architect is yet to be appointed.

Check out some details on each building below:

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building: A 3-story building to house the Museum's vast collection of 20th and 21st-...

Museum of Fine Arts Houston unveils its Steven Holl-designed $450M expansion plan

2015-01-13T15:18:00-05:00

Buoyed by some of the largest donations in the city's history, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will unveil a $450 million project today that envisions its campus as the cultural heart of the city. [...] The project, by Steven Holl Architects, is the most exciting in the institution's 90-year history, board chairman Richard Kinder said. The plan, named the Fayez S. Sarofim Campus, is so transformational that in five years Houstonians might not recognize the 1000 block of Bissonnet.

Previously: MFAH hires Steven Holl Architects to design expansion

MFAH hires Steven Holl Architects to design expansion

2012-02-02T16:36:00-05:00

The board's long-range planning committee chose Holl, based in New York City and Beijing, after reviewing site-specific concepts from three internationally known architecture firms, including Snøhetta and Morphosis, according to a statement from board chair Cornelia Long.

Three Firms Selected for Museum of Fine Arts Houston Expansion

2011-05-31T19:34:00-04:00

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston has selected three architecture firms—Morphosis, Snøhetta and Steven Holl Architects—to submit conceptual design proposals for an expanded MFAH. The project entails the construction of a building intended primarily for post-1900 art, a parking garage and the integration of surrounding MFAH buildings and public spaces.