Extension of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

About

Located in the vicinity of the Emerald Necklace Park at 280 The Fenway in Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opened to the public in 1903. Reflecting the architecture of a 15th-century Venetian palace, the four-story masonry building is organized by cloister space surrounding a full height courtyard. The extensión has been conceived to help preserve, protect and enhance the historic integrity of the museum while providing much needed space for all the services that are required by a contemporary institution. The new building sits fifty feet away from the palace, is low towards Evans Way Park and increases in height towards Palace Road meeting the height of the adjacent residential building and the eave line of the palace. The connection to the Palace is via a singular glass link at grade level through the garden and is hidden under trees. The museum’s main entry is relocated at Evans Way Park. The glazed building on the main front is expressed as a volume with a flat glass roof over the lobby and a 45° sloped roof over the greenhouse and the artist apartments. The rest of the program is organized in four volumes along a circulation spine, which is part of a glazed vertical and horizontal circulation system.

Sources

• Arquitectura Viva