In Richardson, Tex., the University of Texas at Dallas has opened a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art—the first of multiple buildings that will be part of a 12-acre cultural district.
When completed, the arts and performance complex, called the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, a grand plaza, and a dedicated parking structure on the Richardson campus.
Designed by Morphosis, the two-story, 57,000-sf Crow Museum of Asian Art more than doubles the gallery space at the Crow Museum’s original location, which will continue to operate in the Dallas Arts District. The Crow Museum, which first opened in 1998, is one of the few U.S. organizations dedicated solely to Asian art.
The design for the new $63.5 million Crow Museum emphasizes transparency and natural light, with large expanses of glass and lightwells in the galleries and lobby. The building features white precast concrete cladding on all sides.
In addition, ground has been broken on the two-story performance hall and music building. The facility will provide a 680-seat performance hall, an outdoor performance space, rehearsal rooms, practice rooms, teaching studios, percussion studio, recording studio, administrative offices, classrooms, multifunctional lobby space, study spaces, and student lounge. Expected to open in fall 2026, the building will be part of the UT Dallas Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
“This complex, like our entire campus, will be a place of learning and growth,” Inga H. Musselman, UT Dallas provost, vice president for academic affairs, and the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership, said in a statement. “I envision students walking through the museums during their class breaks or taking notes about pieces of art that are displayed here. The performance hall and music building will provide even more opportunities for students.”
On the Crow Museum of Asian Art’s building team:
Design architect and architect of record: Morphosis
MEP engineer: Campos Engineering
Structural engineer: Datum Rios
General contractor: The Beck Group
Related Stories
| Nov 25, 2013
Building Teams need to help owners avoid 'operational stray'
"Operational stray" occurs when a building’s MEP systems don’t work the way they should. Even the most well-designed and constructed building can stray from perfection—and that can cost the owner a ton in unnecessary utility costs. But help is on the way.
| Nov 19, 2013
Top 10 green building products for 2014
Assa Abloy's power-over-ethernet access-control locks and Schüco's retrofit façade system are among the products to make BuildingGreen Inc.'s annual Top-10 Green Building Products list.
| Nov 13, 2013
Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study
The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.
| Nov 13, 2013
First look: Renzo Piano's addition to Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum [slideshow]
The $135 million, 101,130-sf colonnaded pavilion by the famed architect opens later this month.
| Oct 30, 2013
15 stellar historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation projects
The winners of the 2013 Reconstruction Awards showcase the best work of distinguished Building Teams, encompassing historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovations and additions.
| Oct 30, 2013
Steven Holl selected for Culture and Art Center in Qingdao, besting Zaha Hadid, OMA
Steven Holl Architects has been selected by near unanimous jury decision as the winner of the new Culture and Art Center of Qingdao City competition, besting OMA and Zaha Hadid Architects. The 2 million-sf project for four museums is the heart of the new extension of Qingdao, China, planned for a population of 700,000.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 29, 2013
BIG opens subterranean Danish National Maritime Museum [slideshow]
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has completed the Danish National Maritime Museum in Helsingør. By marrying the crucial historic elements with an innovative concept of galleries and way-finding, BIG’s renovation scheme reflects Denmark's historical and contemporary role as one of the world's leading maritime nations.
| Oct 28, 2013
Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it
Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
