Tag Archives: Kimbell Art Museum

Kimbell Art Museum- Drawing Collection

A+ULast week, Katie Pierce Meyer received an advanced copy of Architecture and Urbanism’s  (A+U) special feature issue on the Kimbell Art Museum in Dallas Texas, which was designed by Louis I. Kahn (1972).  Much like the theme of this issue- highlighting the collaborative design process between Louis I. Kahn, Dr. Richard Fargo Brown, and the office of Preston M. Geren & Associates- this special feature was a collaborative effort between the School of Architecture, the Architecture & Planning Library, and the Alexander Architectural Archive.

The seed for the issue began with the archive’s exhibition series, To Better Know a Building. The first exhibit featured the construction drawings of the Kimbell Art Museum from the Preston M. Geren Drawings. Through the coordination of Professor Wilfried Wang, O’Neil Ford Centennial Chair in Architecture at the University of Texas School of Architecture, and Nancy Sparrow, the archive’s Curatorial Assistant for Public Servicesthis special feature issue came to fruition. Professor Larry Speck, The W. L. Moody, Jr. Centennial Professor in Architecture at the University of Texas School of Architecture, contributed an essay. Katie Pierce Meyer, the interim APL Librarian,  interviewed Frank H. Sherwood and Dewayne Manning, who both worked on the Kimbell project through the office of Preston M. Geren & Associates. The Alexander Architectural Archive contributed numerous drawings from the collection. In addition to the drawings included in the issue, the archive also holds structural, mechanical, and electrical drawings as well as photographs. Finally the Kimbell Art Museum and Carlos Jimenez from Rice University made contributions to the publication, photographs and an essay, respectively.

The library has not yet received a copy of this issue; however, it should hopefully be available on the new book table by late summer or early fall!

To Better Know a Building Exhibit Opening: This Monday!

The Architecture & Planning Library and the Alexander Architectural Archive are pleased to announce a new series of exhibits in the Battle Hall Reading room starting this October! Join us this upcoming Monday, October 13th at 6:00pm for our opening reception.

The “To Better Know a Building” series seeks to explore buildings through the drawings and other visual items found in the archive and library with focus on working drawings. Plans, elevations, and sections usually communicate the realization of design intent and can be used as a vehicle in teaching through example.

The first in the series will feature the Kimbell Art Museum by Louis Kahn. The Alexander Architectural Archive has the original construction drawings in the Preston Geren collection. Preston Geren was the associate architect for the Kimbell Museum. These pencil on paper drawings are a fine example of the art of construction drawings.

The next building featured will be chosen by a vote by students, faculty, and staff in the UT Austin School of Architecture from a list provided by the Alexander Architectural Archive.

Exhibit Opening & Remarks by Larry Speck – Monday, October 13, 6:00 p.m.
October 13 – January 30
To Better Know a Building: Kimbell Art Museum
Architecture & Planning Library
Battle Hall Reading Room

Austin’s Pizza will be provided while it lasts.

See below for the official exhibition flier. We can’t wait to see you there!

To Better Know a Building

Piano’s Kimbell Museum Addition: Architectural Record’s Glimpse

As an architecture enthusiast, I have more than just a calendar to remind myself that it’s the beginning of a new month: my subscriptions to design magazines! Some of my favorites that I receive monthly are Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, and Interior Design. The beautiful photography that adorns the covers are a welcome sight amongst my cable and gas bills, that’s for sure.

This month’s Architectural Record cover caught my eye immediately upon reading “Piano’s Kimbell Museum Addition” as one of the main articles. Though I haven’t been to the famed Ft. Worth museum myself, I’ve heard a lot about the new addition, especially being exposed to both Renzo Piano and Louis Kahn’s work in my classes this semester.

The author of the article, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, is the architecture critic for The New Republic and authored Louis Kahn’s Situated Modernism, so her perspective on the contested addition is both informed and compelling. Her words bring the addition to life, almost personifying it, and gives the reader a palpable visual with regards to how it works with Kahn’s original building (like the two structures are having a conversation, as she so elegantly puts it). Her words are framed with site plans, floor plans, sections, and large, vivid images of both the Kahn original and the Piano addition. For those of you that are native Texans and are heading home for winter break, this article is a great precursor to a potential visit to the Kimbell! As someone who will be jetting up north to Wisconsin next week and will be unable to check out the museum until I find myself in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area sometime in the future, I highly suggest paying a visit if you can (and then finding me and telling me about it, because I want to live vicariously through you).

In addition to the Kimbell article, this month’s Building Types Study is museums, so the designs of a few more galleries from across the world are explored in depth (and even more are featured on their website). Because of the upcoming break, I think the focus on museums is especially appropriate, because it’s definitely given me inspiration to visit some of those in the cities I live near!

The December issue of Architectural Record will hit our Reading Room shelf soon, if you’re up for some reading that’s NOT assigned or required. We will be open until December 20th, but we’ll be spreading Christmas cheer with our ample holiday decorations until then.

Happy studying, Longhorns!