After a thorough and inspiring search, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) today announced it has hired David Chipperfield Architects, the internationally renowned architectural firm, to create a master plan for the museum. The firm’s recent museum projects include St. Louis Art Museum; The Menil Collection, Houston; Neues Museum, Museum Island, Berlin; The Royal Academy of Arts, London; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; and Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.
This is the first step in Mia’s long-term strategy to enhance the visitor experience and to expand the community’s access to the museum as a community resource.
“We are thrilled to work with David Chipperfield,” said Kaywin Feldman, Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director and President of the museum. “Mia has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with repeated record-setting visitor numbers. Our growing collections, innovative exhibitions, and accessible public programs have fueled this growth, and we want to ensure we have the facilities needed to provide inspiring visitor experiences as we embrace an ever-broadening, diverse audience. We are confident that David Chipperfield Architects’ impressive track record and clear understanding of our museum’s needs will help us achieve this goal.”
The master plan will function as a long-range plan for Mia’s future growth and development. In addition, it will provide a framework to address several pressing needs, including improved parking facilities, additional art storage, and public gathering spaces. The plan also will consider potential opportunities, such as enhancing visitor circulation through the galleries and updating the museum’s restaurant and auditorium.
About David Chipperfield Architects
Since its founding in 1985, David Chipperfield Architects has developed a diverse international body of work, including cultural, residential, and commercial projects, as well as master-planning exercises. Its impressive portfolio comprises museums and gallery projects ranging from the Museo Jumex in Mexico City, designed for a private collection, to public institutions such as the revitalized Neues Museum in Berlin. Offices in London, Berlin, Milan, and Shanghai contribute to the practice’s wide range of projects and typologies. Ongoing current projects include the Nobel Center in Stockholm; a new building for the Kunsthaus Zurich in Switzerland; the restoration of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin; a mixed-use tower overlooking Bryant Park in New York; the James Simon Galerie, a new entrance building to Berlin’s Museum Island; the Palace of Justice in Salerno, Italy; and a headquarters for Korean cosmetics company Amorepacific in Seoul.
The firm has won more than 100 awards and citations for design excellence, including awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Royal Fine Art Commission (RFAC), and American Institute of Architects (AIA), as well as the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2007, and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture–Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011. David Chipperfield received the 2011 RIBA Royal Gold Medal and the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale in 2013, in recognition of a lifetime’s work.
The reputation of the office is established by both a commitment to the collaborative aspect of creating architecture and a strong focus on refining design ideas to arrive at a solution that is architecturally, socially, and intellectually coherent.