Blaffer Art Museum is WORKac’s first commission in Texas and will be developed in partnership with Gensler.
The refurbishment plans include the addition of a north side entrance and a café/lounge as well as the redesign of the existing courtyard in consideration of presenting art and entertainment. John Reed, director of UH’s School of Art, stated that the café will be designed as a creative and intellectual social hub. This courtyard will present a more dynamic setting, where music, film screenings and other events take place regularly, he adds. Amale Andraos of WORKac has commented that this museum renovation project will offer a unique opportunity to connect the UH campus and the city of Houston through the medium of the arts.
The renovation is scheduled to take place between July and December 2011. The museum will be closed during the construction period and will reopen its doors in January 2012.
WORKac’s portfolio includes the renovation of arts institutions such as an expansion of the Clark Institute at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, the Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York, and the master plan of the BAM Cultural District in Brooklyn, New York. The firm’s renovation and expansion of the Diane von Furstenberg Studio Headquarters won a MASterwork Award for Best Historic Restoration in New York City and an Interior Design ‘Best of the Year’ award. Major projects underway include the transformation of a one-kilometer section of Hua Qiangb Bei Road in Shenzhen, China, into a shopping and entertainment center and a new public library in Queens as part of New York City’s Design Excellence programme.
Founded in 1973, Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston was named in honor of the late Sarah Campbell Blaffer, a renowned Houston arts patron and collector. Blaffer is located in the Fine Arts Building on the University of Houston’s central campus, entrance 16 south of Cullen Boulevard.
