In Houston, plans are being finalized for the first freestanding American building built to house and conserve modern and contemporary drawings.
The Menil Drawing Institute, named for Dominique de Menil, legendary arts patron and collector, is being designed by Johnston Marklee and Menil officials.
The $40 million, 30,150-sf building will be located between the Cy Twombly gallery and Richmond Hall, both distinctive art buildings in their own right.
The MDI will be built around three open courtyards, and two of these will be entry points into the single-story building. The third courtyard will be at the center of a restricted area meant for research.
On one side of the Institute, there will be exhibition galleries, while administrative offices and the conservation laboratory will be on the other end. In the center of the building, there will be a "living room" space where visitors, administrators, and scholars can mingle, according to CultureMap Houston.
Indoor and outdoor spaces will be unified by a thin, flat roof that will seem to be floating in the air when viewed from one side, and the roof will seem to be pierced by the trees in some places, according to the architects at Johnston Marklee.
The MDI will only be 16 feet tall because the architects did not want to block views of surrounding 1920s bungalows or the main art buildings.
Johnston Marklee is also designing a new Energy House for utilities that will be just south of the Cy Twombly gallery. There will be a park between the MDI and Energy House.
The 30-acre enclave will also include a new restaurant, Bistro Menil, designed by Stern and Bucek Architects, and landscaping by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.
Construction is supposed to begin in 2015. A $110 million capital and endowment campaign is in progress. 
Related Stories
| Dec 8, 2014
Steven Holl's expansion to JFK performing arts building breaks ground
Designed by Holl and BNIM, the 65,000-sf facility will function as an interactive space, where artists and the community can come together.
| Dec 5, 2014
Must see: Dumpster becomes a public space in art installation
Dumpsters tend to be seen as necessary evils of city life, but John H. Locke and Joaquin Reyes wanted New York City's residents to think about them in a different way.
| Dec 4, 2014
£175 million 'Garden Bridge' gets the green light to cross the Thames
Westminster Council has approved a £175 million 'Garden Bridge' that will allow pedestrian traffic only. There has been some controversy about this bridge, which is expected to attract seven million visitors annually.
| Nov 25, 2014
Behnisch Architekten unveils design for energy-positive building in Boston
The multi-use building for Artists For Humanity that is slated to be the largest energy positive commercial building in New England.
| Nov 18, 2014
Fan of the High Line? Check out NYC's next public park plan (hint: it floats)
Backed by billionaire Barry Diller, the $170 million "floating park" is planned for the Hudson River, and will contain wooded areas and three performance venues.
| Nov 17, 2014
'Folded facade' proposal wins cultural arts center competition in South Korea
The winning scheme by Seoul-based Designcamp Moonpark features a dramatic folded facade that takes visual cues from the landscape.
| Nov 14, 2014
Bjarke Ingels unveils master plan for Smithsonian's south mall campus
The centerpiece of the proposed plan is the revitalization of the iconic Smithsonian castle.
| Nov 12, 2014
Chesapeake Bay Foundation completes uber-green Brock Environmental Center, targets Living Building certification
More than a decade after opening its groundbreaking Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the group is back at it with a structure designed to be net-zero water, net-zero energy, and net-zero waste.
| Nov 12, 2014
Designs by three finalists for new Beethoven concert hall unveiled
David Chipperfield and Valentiny are among the finalists for a new concert hall being built to commemorate Beethoven’s 250th birthday in his hometown of Bonn, Germany.
