Nelson-Atkins Expansion (YES..white glass is the end result)

[woodrow]

Quick off topic about Blunt -  WTF!!!!  Maybe he just didn't understand what this opening means, culturally and CIVICALLY.  If he went to the June 2, $500 per ticket event and not the ribbon cutting, open to Joe Public I would be seriously irritated.  Anyone know?

On topic, esp. to scooterj - I understand what you mean by no one main entrance but still, on the north plaza side, the old N-A and the new Bloch entrance have prominence.  I also LOVE the idea that there are so many entrances.  It is a great physical statement of how the museum is free to the public.  This is a big deal and the Nelson is one of the ever increasing number of museums pushing this.  I am not sure of any, however, that have such a tangible expression of the policy.  Enter the N-A from the south.  Doesn't get much grander than that.  I have the feeling that I am in agreement about parking garage entrance.  Have to wait until I see it.

In any case, I am driving my friends in Chicago crazy with my talk of the addition.  I hope to get to KC in July

[KCTigerFan]

The Denver Post weighs in.  The art critic bemoans the fact that Holl and Denver parted ways before the Courthouse project got going.

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_6087518

K.C.'s artful new museum
By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Fine Arts Critic
Article Last Updated: 06/09/2007 12:58:37 AM MDT


Kansas City, Mo.

Consider the lyrical lines, muted light, soft forms and almost zen-like sense of oneness, and perhaps the most apt word to describe the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art's new addition is "poetic." The 840-foot-long, grass-roofed structure, which hugs the mildly sloping terrain, calls little

attention to itself on the outside. But its spellbinding interior gently cradles the displayed art and transports visitors away from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

The 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building by internationally acclaimed architect Steven Holl has already received a bevy of glowing reviews, and such accolades are hardly surprising. It succeeds on virtually every level.

This breathtaking structure suggests what might have been if Denver and Holl had found a way to work together on the courthouse portion of the city and county's $378 million justice center.

Instead, Holl, who was chosen as the design architect for the project from a slate of five dazzling finalists, pulled out of the project in October, leaving Mayor John Hickenlooper and Denver with egg on their faces.

Anyone who is familiar with the Denver Art Museum's $110 million Hamilton Building and makes the trip to see Holl's creation will find it all but impossible to avoid comparisons between the two structures.

And there are some striking resonances. Both were designed by high-profile international architects and have attracted attention from all the top architectural writers. Don't be surprised to see the Bloch Building on the cover of Architectural Record just as the Hamilton Building was.

Both are bold, daring and exciting in their ways, with the two architects rejecting symmetrical, white-cube galleries and carefully programmed trajectories from one room to the next. But there the similarities end.

To call the structures beauty and the beast is to exaggerate, of course, but such a dichotomy does begin to point toward the major differences between them.

While Denver's jutting, angular addition, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is hard- edged, assertive and even disorienting at times, the Nelson-Atkins' wing is airy, graceful and calming.

The Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Court would simply be impossible in the Hamilton Building, yet the meditative gallery fits naturally and comfortably into the Kansas City building.

Indeed, the room is one of the most imaginative and dramatic facets of the structure. Realizing one of Holl's earliest ideas, a rock garden runs from the inside to the outside, with an expansive wall of glass bringing the indoors and outdoors together in a way I have never experienced in any other museum.

But perhaps the biggest difference between the two buildings is how they handle the art they were designed to house. Libeskind sought to challenge viewers and radically recontextualize the works shown in the Hamilton Building.

This tough-love approach is what Denver wanted, and for the most part it works. But it has drawn considerable criticism, and it seems clear that such a tack will probably never be desirable or suitable for most museums...

[KCMax]

So Funk is a good guy for not wanting to be part of ribbon cuttings, but Blunt sucks because he's too busy to come to ribbon cuttings?

[woodrow]

Wait -  WHAT???    The mayor wasn't at the ribbon cutting?  Wouldn't they need him??  Didn't they cut, like eight ribbons, with VIP's at each?

I appreciate Funk's regular guy thing, but I mean, really.  I find that shabby.

[KCTigerFan]

I appreciate Funk for setting priorities.  He doesn't need to be at every Used Tire City opening.  However, one of the largest most high-profile projects in KC in the last 50 years.  I have a problem with him not attending the Bloch celebration.  You can carry the "average guy" thing too far. 

[chingon]

Maybe Blunt is going to give us to Kansas. I think that would be awesome.

[DaveKCMO]

Maybe Blunt is going to give us to Kansas. I think that would be awesome.

we might actually get better treatment. that would suck for wichita, though...  &&&

[NDgravy]

The mayor wasn't at the opening?  I would find that more of a slap in the face than the governor.  It's very close in how angry that would make me, of course, but the mayor?  That is ridiculous...

[moderne]

Love the Denver Posts' "Beauty and the Beast."  I think most of us can agree with the slight criticisms of the  daytime appearance of the lenses and the appearance of the Rockhill side.  If only there had been 75 more feet of ground on the Rockhill side, it could have been embraced by grassy knolls like the west side, instead of the monolithic retaining walls.

[trailerkid]

we might actually get better treatment. that would suck for wichita, though...   &&&

West WyCo and JoCo have already made it suck for Wichita.

[Theiler]

Maybe Blunt is going to give us to Kansas. I think that would be awesome.

we might actually get better treatment. that would suck for wichita, though...  &&&

Ha, I was thinking the same thing.

And I can't believe Funk wasn't there... I guess I just assumed he was.  That's ridiculous... maybe he thought it was Kay's thing... even though... you know... it was... privately financed.

[tjokskalle]

  This new building does nothing for me and in fact its damn ugly but it does provide a good example
of the degradation of architecture over the years.

[KCTigerFan]

Yep architecture has just gone down the shitter.  Better just go back to slapping ionic columns on everything.  &&&

[Theiler]

  This new building does nothing for me and in fact its damn ugly but it does provide a good example
of the degradation of architecture over the years.

I have to ask if you've been there.  Because most critics have changed their mind or at least become slightly less critical / willing to come back and give it a second chance once they've been there in person... so far.

[KCPowercat]

I like it alot more now that I got close to the lenses....I'm still not the biggest fan of the lenses during the day from afar but hey, the inside is freaking amazing.....although I don't see how that expansion gave as much new room as I heard reported...I didn't see than many additional museum space.

[moderne]

There is a whole level beneath the public one.

[MidtownCat]

This new building does nothing for me and in fact its damn ugly but it does provide a good example
of the degradation of architecture over the years.

Just as this run-on sentence does nothing for me aside from provide a good example of the degradation of grammar and the English language.

Ironic.

[artistboy]

I like it alot more now that I got close to the lenses....I'm still not the biggest fan of the lenses during the day from afar but hey, the inside is freaking amazing.....although I don't see how that expansion gave as much new room as I heard reported...I didn't see than many additional museum space.

Did you not go inside and see the entire space. There exist a vast amount of gallery space beneath the "lenses" and grass.

True, the place is about the art within, but this is a celebration of the space that holds it all. I think it's a great contrast with the Neo building above ground.
The shapes and material of this building are impressive and it seems to lead you on and on as you explore inside gallery after gallery while slowly descending to follow the shape of the hill this building is built into.
I would completely recommend looking up in each room, noticing the arching shapes and different textures (i.e. polished plaster, rough stucco, clear/frosted glass).
It's a great space and the art inside inside is worth checking it out too! But if none of this interest you, then don't go and don't worry about it because it's a privately funded museum paid for by people who have an interest in it. If you do like it, then go back, relax, and notice something new each time.

[Steve52]

Don't forget to look down.

Every single piece-square of the unusual wood flooring was laid by hand.

[knucklehead]

I think the basic disconnect between the critics of the Bloch addition and the people who  like it is perspective.

If you actually get out of your car and spend 45 minutes walking the grounds around the building - I think most people would fall in love with it.

A lot of people who just spend the five minutes it takes to circle the Nelson in their car in the daytime won't like it.

To appreciate the addition, you have to get out of your car. I guess some people think "drive by" appearence is the key.