Now Open: The Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago
Photo from: The Art Institute of Chicago
June is a beautiful time of year in the Windy City. With the Art Institute’s Modern Wing now open, it’s a perfect time to pay a visit. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the Modern Wing is the new home for the museum’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century art. It doesn’t just change the look of the Art Institute; the Modern Wing is also a model of design, technology, and green architecture, maximizing natural sources of energy and minimizing waste.
With 264,000 square feet, the Modern Wing adequately accommodates the Art Institute’s collections of modern European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography, making it the second largest art museum in the United States.
Eco-friendly visitors will be pleased to know that an architectural sunshade—or “flying carpet”—saves electricity consumption while filtering daylight into the upper-level gallery spaces. And an interior lighting system automatically adjusts for changing levels of natural light throughout the day. Together, these features provide the perfect atmosphere for observing art in an energy-conscious environment. “It is not enough for the light to be perfect,” says Piano. “You also need calm, serenity, and even a voluptuous quality linked to contemplation of works of art.”
With its double-paned façade of transparent, glazed walls, the Modern Wing meets the appropriate temperature and humidity conditions needed for art and also exceeds the Chicago Energy Conservation Code requirements. Additionally, the Modern Wing utilizes state-of-the-art cooling and monitoring systems.
Outside, gardens and landscaping complement the Modern Wing’s architecture, adding over 20,000 square feet of green space to the museum campus. Several of the public spaces—such as the Nichols Bridgeway, an airy 625-foot pedestrian bridge also designed by Piano—are accessible from Chicago’s Millennium Park and free of charge.
Photo from: The Art Institute of Chicago
Piano is considered the foremost museum architect of our time. Known for his projects around the world, Piano is perhaps most famous for his work with Richard Rogers in the design of the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris. He is also widely regarded for the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. He received the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal Pritzker Prize in 2008.
This summer, check out the Modern Wing. And don’t miss the exhibitions featured in the Abbott Galleries on the first floor of the west pavilion.
Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works 2000–2007
May 16–September 13, 2009
Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the St. Louis Art Museum
June 27–September 27, 2009
A Case for Wine: From King Tut to Today
July 11–September 20, 2009
By Marcia Davis