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Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Ithaca, New York
Completed 1973

Museum and academic building
 

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This museum, the third executed by the firm, was designed to fulfill a complex mixed-use program for an expandable teaching facility and quasi-public museum. The building responds to its location at the crest of a 1,000-foot long slope where, overlooking Lake Cayuga, Ezra Cornell announced his intention to found a university in 1865. A strong building form was necessary for visual termination. Equally important was the need for spatial closure of the adjacent historic Arts Quadrangle — without, however, blocking the view.

In solution, the required programmatic spaces were stacked in a nine-level tower designed to maximize both setting and views through a sculptural balance of transparency and bold architectural form. Visitors enter the broadly glazed entry court and either descend to temporary exhibitions/museum support on three (expandable) levels below, or ascend through the permanent collection up to an outdoor terrace where sculpture is viewed against the sprawling mountain panorama. Similar views are enjoyed from the lounges and other university facilities housed in the long-span penthouse above. The galleries themselves are all carefully light-controlled but include strategically located windows to add interest and aid orientation.

Inseparable from its site, the building was constructed in buff-colored poured-in-place concrete to complement its masonry neighbors while resolving the technical requirements of its long span and cantilevered volumes.

Major Components

11,600 s/f galleries; 10,500 s/f work rooms/storage; 2,600 s/f sculpture terrace; 2,500 s/f administration; 2,000 s/f main lobby; 1,900 s/f main exhibition area; 1,400 s/f meeting room; 1,400 s/f lecture room/gallery; 1,100 s/f library

Awards

I. M. Pei & Partners services

Complete Architectural Services; Interior Design of public spaces

Structural

Nicolet, Dressel & Associates, Montreal

Mechanical / Electrical

Segner and Dalton, Valhalla, NY

Landscape

Office of Dan Kiley, Charlotte, VT

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