Better start getting ready- the opening of the new Renzo Piano addition to Louis Kahn’s already perfect, but not quite large enough Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth has a DATE! The new respectful echo/unthinkable desecration (depending) begins either echoing or desecrating in earnest on November 27, 2013, complete with Piano’s signature light filtering scrims and louvers, 450-foot-deep geothermal wells to help with the air conditioning, and specially designed lightweight soil that covers the Museum’s underground parking structure while still growing large trees.
Most importantly, the new building will encourage visitors to the Kimbell to use the front door, designed by a less-than-practical Kahn to face the green lawn, not the parking lot, which has effectively made the underground back entrance the museum’s main access point for years.
The Kimbell’s press release goes on for hundreds of words describing the addition, but here’s a picture:
