This is Part 3 of a four-part series on the 100th anniversary of the San Diego Museum of Art. Part 1 explores the museum’s deep history and Part 2 looks at SDMA’s expansion proposal.
As part of its centennial, San Diego Museum of Art is touting project design plans for a west wing that won’t just house art, but, if everything goes to plan, be art itself.
That is thanks to world-renowned architect Sir Norman Foster.
Chief curator Anita Feldman believes Foster’s west wing will make SDMA a destination.
“People are going to come from all over, not just Balboa Park, not even all over San Diego, but all over the state,” Feldman said.
Foster a fit
When SDMA launched a global search for an architecture firm to redo the wing, they had a laundry list of goals.
“We’re looking at really creating a museum that’s really sustainable, really open to the community, really open to nature and the environment, just really making the collections more accessible, and creating something really beautiful and elegant without being elitist,” Feldman said.
Of 60 applicants, Foster’s firm, Foster + Partners, won by far.
Now the international architecture firm is tasked with adding a contemporary, sustainable west wing to the museum that is more community-oriented (and structurally sound) than its current iteration.
A model of the Foster + Partners design plan for a new west wing, center, of the San Diego Museum of Art, right, shows how the changes fit in the part of Balboa Park adjacent to the California Tower. (Photo by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran)The project has yet to break ground, but Foster + Partner’s West Wing design already has garnered attention. It won acclaim during San Diego Design Week with a signature project award from Design Forward Alliance, but criticism from the San Diego Architectural Foundation, which presented it with the less coveted “onion” award during its Orchids & Onions ceremony.
Who is Norman Foster?
Norman Foster was an early pioneer in sustainable design with a career that spans his native U.K. to Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and more. In London, Foster’s office tower, known as the Gherkin, circulates air in a way that cuts down on heating and cooling costs. His dome addition on the Reichstag building, Germany’s parliament, produces more energy than the building needs and now goes out to the city.
The closest Foster + Partners build in California is the Cupertino headquarters of Apple, the sustainable campus that blends the outdoors with corporate office space in a massive donut-shaped building.
That was a build from scratch, but the firm has plenty of experience with contemporary additions to historic buildings like the Hearst Tower in New York City, built atop an Art Deco base, an extension to the Prado Museum in Madrid and the Great Court outside the British Museum.
Despite the difference in philosophy between the grand plans of a museum founded a century ago and today’s focus on a more accessible venue, Feldman believes Foster’s design will bridge the gap between the two buildings — literally and figuratively. A rooftop terrace full of sculptures will connect the buildings, while features from the museum’s history will be incorporated in the design, recast in a modern way.
The possible restoration of a long-lost Balboa Park feature, a reflecting pond, placed in front of the San Diego Museum of Art, as part of the proposed new west wing design. (Photo by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran)“They’re different, but I’m hoping it’ll feel really harmonious,” Feldman said.
Foster’s comprehensive design pays homage to features lost to time, like a reflecting pond in the Plaza de Panama, removed sometime after the 1930s, and an entrance loggia. The latter is inspired by the wooden loggia on the site during the 1915 exposition. Its height matches that of the other museums built for the exposition.
Building excitement
Permitting is still underway so the design may change before breaking ground, perhaps this year.
Since Foster + Partners does not have relationships at San Diego City Hall, the museum brought on local firm Safdie Rabines Architects to partner with them. The husband-and-wife team designed the Epstein Family Amphitheater at UC San Diego, the pedestrian bridge connecting the San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park, and other high-profile buildings.
For now, the museum is looking to build excitement with the public. Last summer, an upstairs gallery featured models made by Foster + Partners of some of its most iconic builds. It explained Foster’s focus on natural light, energy savings and sustainability. At the back, visitors could see a model of the museum, Plaza de Panama and the new west wing design. Another model with a cross section of the wing let them see the basement, new galleries and underground parking lot.
Those SDMA models are now in a smaller downstairs gallery for an exhibit called “A New Vision for the Next Century.” It also includes a large hanging rendering and a movie screen playing a walk through of the design.
Once done, Feldman said the west wing “is going to change everything. It’s a game changer. It really is because it’s not just a building. It’s going to be a cultural center. It’s going to be a community center. It’s going to be the heart of where things are happening.”
A couple strolls in Balboa Park on the Plaza de Panama with the San Diego Museum of Art in the background and the west wing visible to the left. (Photo by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran)Hence then, the article about in centennial year sd museum of art looks to future with design by renowned architect was published today ( ) and is available on Times of San Diego ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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