The four-year renovation and expansion of the Philadelphia Museum of Art has completed and the museum unveiled its results to the public. The expansion plan was executed under the architect Frank Gehry.
The museum was first designed by Horace Trumbauer and Julian Abele in 1928 and has massive columns which resembles Greek Temples. Gehry focused on buildings center, leaving the façade of the landmark Beaux Arts structure largely untouched. The total budget of the renovation was $233 Million which was approved by the museum’s board in 2004.
The renovation created a ninety thousand square feet of gallery space in the museum. An auditorium which was introduced in the building in 1959 was demolished replacing it with Williams Forum which will serve as an open public space boasting forty-foot-high ceilings. Connecting the museum’s ground floor to its upper levels via two new sets of staircases, the multistory forum will host a wide range of activities. The new space also provides an ideal setting for large-scale artworks, with installations by Teresita Fernández, El Anatsui, and Do Ho Suh planned.
Additional changes include the rebuilding of the museum’s West Terrace, which features integrated ramps improving accessibility; the restoration of a tiled walkway spanning the breadth of the museum; and the renovation of Lenfest Hall, which connects with the new forum, allowing for better visitor circulation throughout the building. Areas formerly housing offices, a restaurant, and a shop have been converted into the Robert L. McNeil Jr. Galleries, which will focus on early American art of Philadelphia, and the Daniel W. Dietrich II Galleries, which will host contemporary work by the city’s artists.
The next phase of the museum’s restoration is slated to take place following a future round of fundraising, and will include an eighty-thousand-square-foot expansion beneath the museum’s East Terrace.