The Art Institute's new Modern Wing takes flight

Modern Wing looking Southeast

On May 16 the Art Institute of Chicago opened its doors to its new Modern Wing to the public. An opening ceremony started things off for the building’s dedication. Hundreds of people came out to see this new gem across Millennium Park. The fine weather along with free admission influenced the outcome. The 625-foot Nichols Bridgeway which appears to float above Monroe Street links the Modern Wing to Millennium Park. The hull shaped bridge is sure to be a hit with tourists and the museum goers for the breathtaking views of the skyline, park, and lake as it ascends to the Wing’s third floor entrance. At the end of the bridge, visitors will have access to another great outdoor public space, the Bluhm Family Terrace, which also serves as the outdoor dining area for the Italian-Mediterranean restaurant, Terzo Piano. The outdoor terrace offers spectacular views of Millennium Park and the skyline. The 264,000-square-foot expansion makes the Art Institute the second largest art museum in the U.S.
 

Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, the new museum enhances the Art Institute’s world class reputation. The museum’s roof, the “flying carpet,” supported by tall spindly steel columns is the building’s most distinctive feature. Its steel structure with curved metal blades hovers over skylights that illuminate the third floor galleries with diffused natural light. The parallel limestone clad walls telegraphs the building’s parti from the outside. The double glass curtain wall maintains energy efficiency by lowering the heating and cooling demands of the building’s HVAC systems. As you enter the building from Monroe Street you arrive in Griffin Court, the building’s pedestrian street. This 300-foot-long two story skylit arcade serves as a gateway to the rest of the museum. The third floor consists of the Art Institute’s impressive Modern European Art
Collection. The Institute’s Contemporary Collection on the second floor “can only be matched in depth and quality by the collections of New York’s MOMA and Paris’s Pompidou Center.” Selections from the Architecture and Design Collection are now showcased in an expanded venue on the same floor level. On the gound floor off Griffin Court, is the Contemporary Photography Collection, along with the Film, Video, and New Media gallery. The state-of-the-art Ryan education Center is prominently located on the ground floor near the museum’s entrance. The museum’s gift shop is across from it on the other side of Griffin Court. Situated between the existing Rubloff Auditorium and the Modern Wing, is Pritzker Garden where the building’s signature roof hovers high above providing filtered sunlight and shade down below.
 

The museum like most of the buildings designed by Renzo Piano is an exquisitely crafted, and fully integrated building. The light fixtures in Griffin Court are integrated into the steel trusses that support the skylit roof. Similarly, the track light fixtures on the second floor are integrated into concrete beams above. The track lights in the galleries of the third and ground floors become an integral part of the finish ceiling forming a grid pattern. The HVAC systems were handled with a magician’s hand, for I did not notice any air supply grilles in plain sight. The only complaint I have about the experience was the obscured views out towards Millennium Park and the skyline due to the translucent shades used to diffuse the sunlight to protect the art work.

The Modern Wing completes the Millennium park ensemble. The new museum is a welcome contrast to the audacious Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry across the park. The gravity defying Modern Wing is as the late Eero Saarinen defined architecture as “something between earth and sky.”