Upon completion, the expansion will feature a new 26,000 square feet contemporary art gallery building, as well as a new 500-seat glassmaking demonstration venue in the renovated facility of the former Steuben Glass factory ventilator building, which is situated adjacent to the Museum.
The contemporary art gallery is designed as a square, minimalist white glass building containing soaring, daylight-filled galleries. The facade will be constructed with large, white glass panels that create a nearly seamless, softly reflective expanse. Inside, the gallery will feature a simple white interior with massive curvilinear concrete walls. The building is said to become the largest space anywhere dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art in glass.
The building will be equipped with a sophisticated light-filtering system, which will use diffusing roof skylights, providing majority of the lighting required to view the art. The daylighting is poised to set a new standard for the showcase of contemporary works in glass. It will feature a 150 feet long window wall along the north side of the building.
The luminous all-glass gallery building will be contrasted against the black metal exterior of the adjacent historic glass factory ventilator building that will contain the new venue for the Museum’s signature live glassmaking presentations.
The space, which can be entered through the new contemporary gallery, will accommodate 500 people through retractable banked seating, and will feature a gallery-level balcony running around the perimeter of the venue that offers 360-degree views of the glassmaking below.
The other features of the expansion include the transformation of a theatre space by New York-based Smith-Miller + Hawkinson architects into an additional live glassmaking venue. Completed in July 2012, the venue was originally designed by the firm in 1999. The expansion project also includes renovation of the Museum’s cafe, which opened in April 2012, designed by HAIGH Architects in association with Hunt Engineers, Architects, Surveyors.
Apart from that the expansion also includes relocation and improved parking for bus groups (July 2012); new education spaces (2014); and new office and storage spaces (2014).
The Corning Museum of Glass is the world’s leading art museum dedicated to the presentation, display, and interpretation of glass and glassmaking. The architecture of the Museum, since the first building in 1951, has illustrated innovative uses of glass in architecture.
The North Wing of the Corning Museum of Glass will open its doors to the public in 2014.
