IDefining Excellence The $125-million extension to Fort Worth’s Kimbell Art Museum takes the form of a separate building that was designed to evoke the original structure both architecturally and structurally while establishing its own unique identity. The two buildings together define a vision of excellence as creative as the artwork that each displays. By Elizabeth Hodges, Guy Nordenson, P.E., S.E., F.ASCE, Brett H. Schneider, and Lucile Walgenwitz The cantilevered glazed roof and shad- ing system is an independent structure sup- ported by the primary timber structure. PHOTOCREDIT GOES HERE [52] Civil Engineering m a y 2014 ce0514p52-59,78.indd 52 4/23/14 1:03 PM HE KIMBELL ART MUSEUM, in Fort Worth, Texas, individuating focus is reflected in the quality of the Kahn is an established private arts institution renowned building itself in that every detail is unique and significant. both for its exceptionally fine collection of Europe- The Kimbell Art Museum was commissioned in 1966, an and Asian art and for its iconic building, which the same year that the acquisition document was issued. was designed by the celebrated American architect Kahn’s design featured an open layout for the galleries, Louis Kahn, who died in 1974. Located in a section which allowed a flexible display of the works. Most impor- of Fort Worth that is home to a number of cultural tant of all, the design incorporated natural light into the IDefining Excellence institutions, the Kimbell has a unique character that gallery spaces, which were located on a single level. The reflects its institutional mission, which was set forth structure opened in 1972 and is widely regarded as one in a document on acquisitions issued by the Kimbell the great buildings of the 20th century. Art Foundation’s board of directors in June 1966. Kahn worked on the Kimbell with the structural en- This document, developed in consultation with gineer August Komendant, a longtime collaborator, who the museum’s first director, Richard F. Brown, died in 1992. The original museum building is divided emphasized the clear goal of quality over quanti- into two levels: the service and administration spaces are ty: “The dominating principle involved in the ac- located on the lower level, which is at the elevation of the quisition process is that the stature of the Museum de- parking area on the eastern side of the museum, where- pends more upon the quality of the definitive objects that as the upper level is at the elevation of the museum park it contains than on the historical completeness of its collec- grounds to the west and hosts the public spaces, including Ttions.... The goal shall be definitive excellence, not size of galleries, a bookstore, and a café. The open floor plan of this collection.” upper level is punctuated by courtyards and modulated by The museum’s resulting collection has slowly developed the profile of the roof, which is a series of cycloid-shaped from the private collection of its founders, Kay and Velma shells, each 102 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 20 ft high at their Fuller Kimbell, to what is now widely regarded as one of crowns. The shells are arranged in rows in three bays in the the best small art collections in the world. This singular and north–south, or longitudinal, direction and include a 5 ft gap between the bays to accommodate vertical service cir- culation. All told, there are 16 rows of shells: 6 in the north bay, 4 in the center bay, and 6 in the south bay. The galleries are distributed in the north and south bays, and the lobby and the bookstore are located in the center © TIM HURSLEY m a y 2014 Civil Engineering [53] ce0514p52-59,78.indd 53 4/23/14 1:04 PM Natural light is an important feature of the new galleries, as in the original galleries in the building designed by Louis Kahn. bay, where the reduced number of shells provides space for an Beautiful as it was, the Kimbell building faced a peren- entry court of yaupon trees adjacent to the park to the west. nial problem. For many years, the museum lacked sufficient The introduction of natural light into the galleries is man- gallery space to permanently display its collection while also aged through continuous slots that are located in the middle hosting traveling exhibitions. Over the years the museum apex of each shell. Curved and perforated aluminum reflec- leadership had studied various options for increasing its exhi- tors—designed by Kahn and the American lighting design- bition space. Success, however, proved elusive. Even a scheme er Richard Kelly, who died in 1977—diffuse the light back from 1989 to add north and south extensions to the original onto the curved, exposed concrete surface. building on the basis of a sketch by Kahn met with vehement The continuous slots indicate that the roof structure is not criticism from both the Kahn family and the architectural in fact a series of simple barrel vaults spanning in the short community and thus was abandoned. direction; rather, the underlying structural design is more But the problem of inadequate space for exhibitions re- BOTH nuanced. The roof is actually composed of a series of long- mained. In 2006, under the leadership of Ben and Kay Fort- span curved concrete beams that form the full cycloid shell son (a niece of the founders), another expansion plan was shape in section and span in the long direction. The cycloid considered. This time, however, the scheme involved the con- shell beams are posttensioned both to balance the loads and struction of a separate building that would leave the original to restrain the warping of the section at the midspan point. Kahn structure untouched. Renzo Piano Building Work- The Kimbell’s posttensioned cycloidal beams are discussed in shop (RPBW), based in Genoa (Genova), Italy, was selected greater depth in Guy Nordenson’s Patterns and Structure: Se- as the architect, and the initial plans focused on a site to the lected Writings (Zürich, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers, east of the original building across Van Cliburn Way and ad- 2010). The floor system is similarly made of posttensioned jacent to another cultural facility, the Modern Art Museum concrete and involves a 14 in. deep two-way hollow slab that of Fort Worth. features posttensioning in the orthogonal rib beams. When the initial studies proved that this eastern site The overall material palette of the building is spare. Trav- would be too distant from the original museum building ertine panels were applied to vertical surfaces, the floors are to be viable for operations, the expansion plans were shifted clad in wood, and exposed concrete was used for the roof and again to a site on the western side of the existing building. many of the primary structural elements. The warmth of the This site is on museum property and faces the Amon Carter travertine and wood complements the exposed concrete cy- Museum of American Art, which is located across Will Rog- cloid vaults, which take on a silvery glow from the reflected ers Road West. natural light. The $125-million expansion of the Kimbell Art Museum POLIDORI, TEXAS/PHOTO BY ROBERT WORTH, MUSEUM, FORT © KIMBELL ART [54] Civil Engineering m a y 2014 0885-7024/14-0005-0052/$30.00 PER ARTICLE ce0514p52-59,78.indd 54 4/23/14 1:04 PM that has since been constructed on that western site is referred original building by mirroring its scale and organization. It to as the Piano Pavilion. It is a freestanding, 89,000 sq ft addi- too features three 102 ft long bays separated by 5 ft gaps that tion to the original museum structure, which is now referred both articulate these bays and provide space for the vertical to as the Kahn Building. Located 65 yd from the Kahn Build- distribution of services from mechanical systems located be- ing across the museum’s publicly accessible park grounds, the low grade. The main entry to the new pavilion is located di- Piano Pavilion is connected to the original building by an rectly across from the western entry of the original building underground walkway. A 45,000 sq ft underground parking and is in the middle of the central bay. The overall height of garage also was constructed beneath the park grounds and is the new pavilion has also been carefully calibrated to align designed to serve both buildings. just below the roof of the Kahn Building. RPBW has described the Piano Pavilion as having been The expansion features three main components: a light- developed “in conversation” with the original Kahn build- filled East Pavilion, which includes north and south galleries ing. With the pavilion and the new parking area placed on flanking a central lobby space located on a single above-grade the west side of the Kahn Building, this architectural con- story, all of the spaces covered by a fully glazed and shaded versation has reemphasized the museum’s western facade. roof; a partially buried West Building, which is covered by a Although the western side of the original building had been publicly accessible green roof that blends into the surround- designed by Kahn as the main entrance to the museum, that ing parkland and includes additional gallery space, an audi- entrance had long been underused. Instead, the eastern en- torium, and education rooms in its single above-grade story; trance, technically the back door, had actually served as the and an underground structure that includes the parking ga- primary entry point for years because of its proximity to the rage located between the new and existing buildings, as well existing surface parking lot.