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The Cleveland Museum of Art: Building - Summer
2008
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1916 Building - Gallery and Ground level plans
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Cleveland architects Benjamin
Hubbell and W. Dominick Benes were engaged to design and construct the new
museum. After a study of museum buildings nationally and worldwide, Hubbell
and Benes designed a Beaux Arts style building with two wings flanking a
central rotunda. Construction began in 1913 and was completed for the June
1916 opening. The gallery level housed the main entrance on the south side
of the building facing Wade Park. Fifteen galleries plus the Armor Court
and Interior Garden Court surrounded the Rotunda. The ground level housed
the north entrance, Lecture Hall, Library, Children's Museum, classrooms,
Tea Room, staff offices and art storage.
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| Almost immediately, concepts for museum expansion
were drawn by Hubbell and Benes. Some included elaborate wings extending
into what is now Wade Oval. |
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Hubbell & Benes, Expansion Plan No. 4, 1918 |
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Hubbell & Benes, Expansion Plan No. 4, 1918 |
| These ideas were never acted on, but the need
for additional space came to a head in the 1950s. An addition was built
to the north of the museum and opened in 1958. The addition was designed
by the Cleveland firm of Hayes and Ruth, and was funded by Leonard C. Hanna,
the museum's most significant donor. The 1958 addition housed new gallery
spaces and the library. |
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Hays & Ruth, 1958 Building, North facade |
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Hays & Ruth, 1958 Building, North entrance |
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Marcel Breuer, North facade |
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The need for space continued to
grow and in 1971 the museum opened another addition designed by Marcel Breuer.
The Breuer building housed the new north entrance and lobby, education classrooms
and lecture halls, Gartner Auditorium, and additional gallery space. The
move of these functions out of the 1916 and 1958 buildings and into the
Breuer building spurred a number of phased renovations in the 1970s as these
spaces were converted to galleries. The most notable of these was the renovation
of the old Lecture Hall into the Asian galleries. |
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One final addition was added to the west side of the
complex in 1983. This addition, designed by the Cleveland firm Dalton,
van Dijk, Johnson, & Partners, housed the Ingalls Library and additional
galleries.
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Dalton, van Dijk, Johnson, & Partners, West facade |
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Rafael Vinoly rendering, East facade |
| With the current renovation and expansion project, the museum
will add additional galleries, public spaces, and storage and office space.
It will correct the confusing flow through the galleries created by the
previous additions and renovations. The Breuer building has been renovated
and has been returned to its original education focus housing classrooms,
lecture halls, and the Ingalls Library. The galleries of the 1916 Hubbell
and Benes building have been renovated for the 21st century. New construction
includes an east and west wing designed by Rafael Vinoly for gallery, storage
and office space. The 1958 and 1983 buildings will be torn down to make
room for a Vinoly designed atrium public space. |
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