ARCH 345 Architecture Design and Technology II
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Department of Architecture
Spring 2005
PROJECT 3: An Addition to the Gardner Museum
Exercise
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an unusual institution. Gardner left her Venetian-styled palazzo
and art collection for public enjoyment with the stipulation that the building remains unaltered. As a
consequence, the collection never changes, unlike those at other museums. In an effort to upgrade the
facilities, p rovide increased handicapped accessibility, and reaffirm the museum’s vitality, the design for a
new addition is being requested from you. This addition should include a changing exhibitions gallery and a
room devoted to preserving rare books and illuminated manuscripts. The site for this addition is immediately
adjacent to the existing building, facing towards Evans Way Park.
The client does not wish to replicate the traditional language of the existing structure, but to find a
contemporary language suited to the institution’s future. Your proposal should be developed with the
following programmatic needs:
1. Public entrance
Lobby (800sf), street entrance vestibule, connector to existing building.
Services: bathrooms, tickets, orientation desk, coatroom, storage, mechanical rooms.
2. Exhibit hall for temporary exhibits (2,000sf)
All spaces must be a minimum of 12 feet tall. Half the gallery spaces must be double-height.
Natural light should be controllable. You may combine passive and active strategies.
You must integrate systems for display, mechanical equipment, artificial lighting, and structure.
3. Rare books and illuminated manuscripts room (800sf)
Requires separate ventilation system, vented to the roof. Only active systems are permitted.
Must be isolated from direct natural light.
4. Sculpture garden
Connection to galleries and lobby.
5. Circulation as required
All spaces must be handicapped accessible.
Projects may not change the existing buildings in terms of natural lighting, entryways, or emergency exits
unless a new system is introduced in its place. No new structure may be taller than the two-story volume
bounding one side of the site. You may excavate to a maximum depth of 20 feet. You may remove a portion
or the entirety of the existing garden wall.
Issues to Consider
• Views, light, and air movement
• Promenade, approach, entry sequence
• Thresholds between spaces
• Connections between inside and outside
• Hybrid systems, using both active and passive techniques
• The urban context and the history of the Gardner Museum
• The art collection and the domestic nature of the existing museum
• Permanence and impermanence
• Materials, structure, construction
