Snøhetta, in partnership with local architects Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, is developing an extension for the Joslyn Art Museum, opening an inviting front that marks a new chapter in the cultural center’s vision and creating new spaces with light galleries that blend into its surroundings, a key public garden for the city of Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

Drawing on the site’s rich history, the extension establishes the museum as Omaha’s premier cultural center for the visual arts, creating new community spaces that support the galleries and interplays between monolithic geometries and a new building that floats on two granite walls in the garden, reimagining the visitor journey and inviting them to visit.

The project by Snøhetta features a transparent first floor enclosing a new atrium lobby, shop and multi-purpose community space, which gradually rise to the level of the existing buildings via a gently sloping walkway that creates a weightless effect reminiscent of the cloud formations that cover the great regional plains.

Starting with a façade made from light-coloured prefabricated panels with vibrant pink aggregate accents, the building reflects the rich pink marble of the existing buildings while projecting an open, dynamic and inclusive image.

Museo de Arte Joslyn por Snøhetta. Fotografía por Nic Lehoux, cortesía de Museo de Arte Joslyn

Joslyn Art Museum by Snøhetta. Photograph by Nic Lehoux, courtesy Joslyn Art Museum.

Project description by Snøhetta

Snøhetta, in partnership with local architects Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture (APMA), designed a new expansion and site redesign for the Joslyn Art Museum. The 42,000-square-foot addition adds light-filled galleries designed to meet the demands and explore the possibilities of a growing permanent collection, including works from the nationally renowned Phillip G. Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art.

In addition to the new gallery spaces, the architectural team designed more than three acres of rejuvenated public gardens and outdoor spaces on the Museum site as well as restored and modernized existing office spaces in the Joslyn Memorial building. The expansion renews Joslyn's status as Omaha's premier cultural hub for the visual arts by reorienting the Museum grounds around a reimagined public arrival anchored by new community spaces that support the galleries.

While the existing monolithic buildings are anchored more heavily to the ground, the new building floats atop two granite garden walls, with a transparent first floor enclosing a new atrium lobby, Museum store, and a multi-function community space. These ground floor spaces gradually rise to the level of the existing buildings via a gently sloping, accessible walkway. The weightless effect of the hovering expansion recalls the striking cloud formations that blanket the Great Plains as well as the deep overhangs and horizontal expression of regional Prairie Style architecture.

Museo de Arte Joslyn por Snøhetta. Fotografía por Nic Lehoux, cortesía de Museo de Arte Joslyn
Joslyn Art Museum by Snøhetta. Photograph by Nic Lehoux, courtesy Joslyn Art Museum.

The horizontal texture of the façade takes its cue from the stacked stone steps of the Memorial Building’s monumental Grand Staircase that emerge from the East side of the existing buildings in parallel with the expansion. The façade’s light-colored precast panels are embedded with vibrant pops of pink aggregate that reflect the rich, rose-colored marble of the existing buildings.

With the new expansion, returning visitors to Joslyn Art Museum will immediately notice important changes to the grounds that clarify their arrival and increase the connectivity between existing spaces. The primary access to Joslyn has been relocated to the northern edge of the site, off Davenport Street, leading to a redesigned entry drive that sits on axis with a new, raised sculpture garden and Museum entrance, creating a clear sense of front and a new beginning for the Museum experience. New sculpture gardens have been reimagined as a sweeping collection of landscape spaces and outdoor “rooms” that wrap the site, weaving the buildings and outdoor spaces together around a spine formed by the existing installation The Omaha Riverscape by sculptor Jesús Moroles.

Honoring Joslyn’s identity while opening a more porous, inviting front, the expansion marks a new chapter in the Museum’s vision for public access to the arts through a comprehensive redesign. The expansion builds upon Joslyn’s rich history as an iconic landmark and cultural hub as it creates a dynamic, inclusive design that is open to all.

The pavilion is named after Rhonda and Howard Hawks of The Hawks Foundation. The Hawks Foundation provides grants for higher education, social services, and the arts.

More information

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Architects
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Snøhetta. Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Design.

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Area
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3,900 sqm.

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Dates
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2018–2024.

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Location
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2200 Dodge St, Omaha, NE 68102, USA.

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Photography
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Nic Lehoux, courtesy Joslyn Art Museum.

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Snøhetta is an integrated architecture, landscape, and interior design company based in Oslo, Norway, and New York City, formed in 1989 and led by principals Craig Dykers and Kjetil Thorsen. The firm, which is named after one of Norway's highest mountain peaks, has approximately 100 staff members working on projects around the world. The practice pursues a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach, with people from multiple professions working together to explore diverse perspectives on each project.

Snøhetta has completed a number of critically acclaimed cultural projects, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt; the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, Norway; and the Lillehammer Art Museum in Norway. Current projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center site in New York.

In 2004 Snøhetta received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and in 2009 the firm was honored with the Mies van der Rohe Award. Snøhetta is the only company to have twice won the World Architecture Award for best cultural building, in 2002 for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and in 2008 for the National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.

Snøhetta

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