Snøhetta to Design New Grounds Initiative at the Blanton Museum of Art

January 13, 2021
Alums Craig Dykers, Elaine Molinar, and John Newman of Snohetta to design the Blanton Museum of Art's new grounds project.
View from Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard looking north toward the Faulkner Gateway and Austin by Ellsworth Kelly, with the Edgar A. Smith Building on left and the Mari and James A. Michener Gallery Building on right.

The Blanton Museum of Art has announced a new grounds initiative designed to unify and revitalize the Blanton campus through architectural and landscape improvements and art. The project will be led by School of Architecture alumni Craig Dykers, Elaine Molinar, and John Newman of the acclaimed international design firm Snøhetta and will feature the first major public mural commission by noted Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera.

“The Blanton holds a prominent place at the intersection of the new Texas Capitol Complex, and it also serves as the gateway to the university campus. Our inventive landscape and reimagined building entrances fulfill that promise,” Craig Dykers said in the Blanton’s press release announcing the project. “Snøhetta’s design expands the museum’s world-class art collection beyond the museum’s galleries and creates a highly visible public place of–and for–the arts in Austin.”

The centerpiece of the project is the Moody Patio, a gathering space between the museum’s two main buildings that is framed by 15 elegant, petal-shaped structures, creating a shade canopy at the southern edge of the Blanton’s campus. Their curving outlines, inspired by the arched vaults of the loggia that outline the museum, help highlight views of Ellsworth Kelly’s Austin and the Texas State Capitol. The structures will generate a dappled light effect during the day and will be illuminated at night.

The distinctive shade canopy, along with the Moody Patio and other new features, will transform how visitors encounter the Blanton grounds and begin their museum experience. Unique architectural elements will emphasize building entrances and aid navigation, while a network of landscaped pathways and gathering areas will invite exploration and relaxation. As part of the project, more than 25,000 new plants will be added to the grounds – 95% of which are native to Texas.

Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2021 and conclude by late 2022. The Blanton is hosting a virtual groundbreaking event on Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. CST to celebrate this milestone in the project, showcasing the new design and featuring Blanton director Simone J. Wicha, the Snøhetta architects, and various community and university leaders, as well as other entertainment.

After graduating from the School of Architecture in the 1980s, Dykers and Molinar, together with their colleagues, established Snøhetta in 1989 after winning the competition to revive the Alexandra Library in Egypt. This was later followed by commissions for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion and Times Square in New York City, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Calgary’s Central Library in Canada, among others. Recently, Molinar and Dykers received the Texas Medal of Arts Award for Architecture, and Dykers received a 2020 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Texas Exes.

 For more information about the new grounds initiative at the Blanton Museum of Art, visit www.blantonmuseum.org.

Photos courtesy: Blanton Museum of Art and the University of Texas at Austin