Nelson-Atkins Museum Selects Architect for Major Expansion
136April 26, 2025
TheNelson-Atkins Museum of Artin Kansas City, Missouri, hasnamedNew York–based firmWeiss/ManfrediArchitecture Landscape Urbanism as the lead architect of its forthcoming campus expansion, beating out 182 other candidates from thirty countries, including Kengo Kuma & Associates, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Selldorf Architects, Studio Gang, and Why Architecture, all of which were shortlisted. Estimated to cost between $160 million and $170 million, the privately funded project will supply the museum with a new 61,000-square-foot wing.
The museum currently comprises its original home, a 1933 Beaux-Arts building, as well as a series of translucent structures completed in 2007 and designed by Steven Holl. In issuing a call for submissions, the institution did not specify where the new wing was to be placed. Weiss/Manfredi was the only firm to position the wing directly across from the Holl-designed volumes, which are perpendicular to the Beaux-Arts building and extend from its southeast end. The Weiss/Manfredi addition will further frame the museum’s twenty two-acre Dan Kiley-designed sculpture park. The new wing, projecting from the southwest side of the main building, will comprise three elliptical green-roofed structures and will house a library, a restaurant, a black-box theater, education and event spaces, flexible exhibition space, and a photography center.
The institution consulted the public in choosing the wing’s architect. Among the projects for which the winning firm is known are the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle and Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens. It is currently engaged in a revamp of a portion of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “Weiss/Manfredi’s concept absolutely blew us away as it captured the spirit of the museum while offering a bold vision for our future,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, the museum’s director and CEO, in a statement. “Central to our competition was the need to respect the Nelson-Atkins’ original, neoclassical building, as well as our beautiful Bloch building, while also bringing something new to our campus. This concept delivers all of that, and we look forward to working with Marion [Weiss], Michael [Manfredi], and their team to collaborate on an expansion design that keeps our commitment to great experiences with art and forges a deep sense of belonging and connection within our community.”