News: Steven Holl Architects Selected To Develop New Facilities For Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

February 2, 2012 ― The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston announced today that Steven Holl Architects has been selected to partner with the museum to develop an expansion that enlarges the museum’s presentation of its collections, exhibitions, and myriad educational programs. The project will entail the construction of a new museum building intended primarily for art after 1900 to complement the Audrey Jones Beck and Caroline Wiess Law Buildings. Further, the project will address the integration of the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden and the expansion of the Glassell School of Art. A new parking facility willbe added, as well.
“This is a proud moment not only for the MFAH, but for the city of Houston,” said Cornelia Long, chair of the board of trustees.
“I am tremendously excited by the prospect of working with Steven Holl and Chris McVoy of Steven Holl Architects,” said MFAH director Gary Tinterow. “Everyone on the committee was deeply impressed by the intelligence and beauty of their museum projects, and we feel certain that they will conceive a design that will match the clarity and elegance of our existing architectural landmarks.”
The new museum building will occupy a two-acre, museum-owned site currently being used as a parking lot. The property is adjacent to the Isamu Noguchi-designed Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden and to the Glassell School of Art. It is across Bissonnet Street from the Audrey Jones Beck Building, designed by Rafael Moneo, and the Caroline Wiess Law Building, designed by Mies van der Rohe. In addition to being a home for art after 1900 from the MFAH permanent collection, the new building would
include galleries for traveling exhibitions, educational facilities, a library and study/resource center, lecture halls, a theater and a restaurant. The decision follows a comprehensive international search that resulted in three firms — Steven Holl Architects, Snøhetta, and Morphosis—developing site-specific concepts for
the planned expansion. Following the presentation by each firm, the long-range planning committee of the board of trustees selected Steven Holl Architects.
Steven Holl and Chris McVoy said, “We are very excited to collaborate with the MFAH to realize this exceptional museum expansion for Houston. The amazing potential of this project is an inspiring challenge. We are honored to give this work our full attention and enthusiasm. With the optimism of the new director and trustees, the MFAH is poised to realize an expanded integral campus with excellent new spaces for art.”
 Steven Holl Architects – New York and Beijing Founded in New York in 1976, Steven Holl Architects is an innovative 45-person architecture and urban design firm working globally as one office from two locations: New York City and Beijing. Steven Holl leads the office with senior partner Chris McVoy and junior partner Noah Yaffe. Steven Holl Architects has realized architectural works nationally and overseas, with extensive experience in the arts (including museum, gallery and exhibition design), campus and educational facilities, and residential work. The firm has been internationally recognized with architecture’s most prestigious awards for quality and excellence in design, and the work has been widely published and exhibited. Steven Holl Architects has completed several museums including the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki, Finland); the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art (Herning, Denmark); the Cité de l’Océan et du Surf (Biarritz, France) and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Bloch Building, named by Time Magazine “#1 Architectural Marvel of 2007” and called “one of the best buildings of the last generation” by The New Yorker. 
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Established in 1900, the MFAH is the largest cultural institution in the region. The majority of the museum’s presentations take place on its main campus, which is located in the heart of Houston’s Museum District and comprises the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building, the Glassell School of Art and the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden. The Beck and Law buildings are connected underground by the Wilson Tunnel, which features James Turrell’s iconic installation The Light Inside (1999). Additional resources include a repertory cinema, two significant libraries, public archives and a state-of-the-art conservation and storage facility. Nearby, two remarkable house museums—Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens and Rienzi—present collections of American and European decorative arts. The encyclopedic collections of the MFAH are especially strong in pre-Columbian and African gold; Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture; 19thand 20th-century art; photography; and Latin American art. The MFAH is also home to the International Cente