In April, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) six pre-selected architecture firms for a $150-175 million expansion and land upgrade. Concept designs for finalists are now visible at once on line and at the museum (until August 30), where admission is always free. The public is encouraged to provide feedback and the winner will be announced in August.
When the DMA first announced its competition in February, its objectives were to expand and reorganize its gallery spaces, improve circulation and modernize the existing building – designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1984 – by putting emphasis on accessibility and transparency.
“Today we are no longer able to cope with the exponential growth of our collections and are forced to keep masterpieces hidden from the public due to space constraints,” the museum director said. , Agustín Arteaga, said at the time, noting a desire to better integrate the DMA into the “urban fabric of Dallas, while serving as a leader in addressing environmental challenges.”
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, branch of Klyde Warren Park © Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Malcolm Reading Consultants
The shortlist of architects was selected from 154 proposals submitted by firms from 27 countries. (Note that no Texas-based architect was selected.) The finalists are mostly big names: David Chipperfield Architects (London), whose namesake recently won the Pritzker Prize; Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York), renowned architects of The Broad in Los Angeles and the shed At New York; Johnston Marklee (Los Angeles), who designed Houston’s Menil Drawing Institute; Michael Maltzan Architecture (Los Angeles), who previously reimagined another Barnes cultural institution, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles; Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (Madrid), who extended and rehabilitated San Telmo Museoa in the Basque Country; and Weiss/Manfredi (New York), designer of a major reconstruction project in Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Each shortlisted company will receive an honorarium of $50,000 and $10,000 to offset expenses.
The six designs strive to better integrate the museum into its surroundings and make it more inviting for visitors. They give pride of place to public gardens and have many bay windows and transparent walls to connect the interior and exterior spaces. The Diller Scofidio + Renfro design video even begins with a note that “the 21st century museum must… be anti-institutional.”
