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SFMOMA Selects Snøhetta to Spearhead Expansion

by Nicholas Tamarin | Friday, July 23, 2010 | 1 Comment

Craig Dykers and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen of Snøhetta

The Bay Area is looking to Scandinavia to bolster its finest museum—on July 22, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art finalized its selection of Norwegian A&D firm Snøhetta as its partner on a $250 million expansion “that enhances the museum’s services to the community and its educational, social, and economic role in the city,” according to representatives from the museum.

The selection of Snøhetta followed an international search—the three other finalists were the powerhouse firms Adjaye Associates, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Foster + Partners—and a two-year planning process initiated to address the rapid growth of the museum’s collections and audience, which has tripled to 700,000 visitors annually since it moved to its current building in 1995.

“The distinction and preeminence of all four candidates made this an exceptionally tough decision,” says SFMOMA director Neal Benezra. “Yet Snøhetta’s dynamic and imaginative body of work demonstrates an outstanding commitment to innovation combined with a solid track record of unique, timely, and fiscally responsible approaches to complex civic and cultural projects. The selection committee was particularly thrilled by the stunning spaces, sophisticated use of materials, and quality of light in Snøhetta’s Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, which we feel is one of the great buildings worldwide to be designed and built in the last decade.”

Snøhetta, also known for its Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, the Lillehammer Art Museum built for the 1994 Olympics in Norway, and it’s current work on the September 11 Memorial Museum pavilion at the World Trade Center site in New York, will reveal its initial design concepts for the project next spring.

Snøhetta Norwegian National Opera

“Snøhetta’s ability to create original cultural buildings that deliver great art experiences makes them a perfect partner for SFMOMA as we work toward our goals for the new space,” adds Charles Schwab, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees. “This project will be an economic stimulus for the city and region, bringing new jobs, fueling the creative economy, and boosting tourism. I am confident that Snøhetta’s fresh approach and global mindset will help SFMOMA realize a facility that represents the museum’s enduring commitment to the future, to bringing the creative ethos of the Bay Area to the world, and to attracting the most exciting art from around the world to the Bay Area.”

SFMOMA’s current building is 225,000 square feet with nearly 65,000 square feet of galleries, including a 14,400-square-foot rooftop garden. The expansion will provide approximately 100,000 square feet of additional gallery and public space and 60,000 square feet of support space, including larger and more advanced conservation facilities and an expanded library. The museum last completed a major expansion in 1995, when it moved to its current location from a small rented space in city’s War Memorial Building across from its City Hall.

Snøhetta September 11th Memorial

Snøhetta (the firm is named after one of Norway’s tallest mountains) will also work as part of a collaborative team to create additional gallery space and interior enhancements in the museum’s Third Street building and an extension on Howard Street to its south, which will connect to the back of the existing museum along the southern facade. SFMOMA owns the site at 670 Howard Street and as part of a partnership with the city of San Francisco, the museum’s development will also include a neighboring site currently occupied by a fire station. SFMOMA will finance the construction of a new, replacement fire station on nearby Folsom Street, representing a gift to the city of more than $10 million.

“SFMOMA’s extension is the natural next step in its evolution, from the museum’s origins in a shared building in San Francisco’s Civic Center, to its distinctive Mario Botta–designed structure on Third Street,” says Snøhetta principal Craig Dykers, who formed the practice with partner Kjetil Thorsen in 1989. “Today, after 15 years of institutional and programmatic growth, SFMOMA is poised to grow organically and in an entirely different environment and context than when the current building opened in 1995. The new extension will unite the Botta design with its dynamic urban surroundings, becoming the tissue that merges building and community, supports the museum’s role as an educational and civic catalyst, and opens up the museum to the diverse audiences it serves.”

Images courtesy of Snøhetta and SFMOMA.