Steven Holl Architects’ Nelson Atkins Museum of Art - Kansas City

The architect Steven Holl won a design competition in 1999 with a unique design for the Nelson Atkins Museum that located the addition along side the existing classical style building that was designed in 1933. The addition forms a translucent glass counterpoint to the solid masonry museum. The terraces and the underground spaces in the addition step down with the vast sloping lawn that has shuttlecocks by the sculptor Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. The architect called the elements of the addition “lenses”, for the way that they bring light into the interior. The entrance is shaped to respect the original building with stairs and ramps crossing the space. A parking garage was placed below the reflecting pool with skylights providing light from above. Visitors can enter from the ground level or the basement level parking structure to discover the art and the spaces as they move through the buildings. Take a break and try the museum’s Rozzelle Court restaurant or Thou Mayest Coffee Roa