Akron Art Museum v Ohio by Coop Himmelb(l)au

In the city of Akron, Ohio, with a population of two hundred thousand, a new wing of the local art museum will be ceremonially opened on July 17, 2007. The new museum was designed by the Vienna office of Coop Himmelb(l)au, which won its first public building project in the United States here in a competition in the fall of 2001. The museum's opening was originally scheduled for 2005. During the planning phase, the exhibition space expanded from the original 4500m² to nearly 6000m², the budget increased from 23 million to over forty million dollars, and construction did not begin until the spring of 2004, when the museum was completely closed to visitors for two years.
The architects divided the new building into three parts: "crystal, gallery box, and rooftop cloud," where permanent and thematic exhibitions and social events will take place. The new wing significantly increased the museum's capacity (from 1800m² to 7700m²), which has been housed in a historic post office building since 1981. The museum itself was founded in 1922 and focuses on regional, national, and international art dating from 1850. Private donors contributed $4.4 million to the museum's construction last year alone. The new wing is expected to become a new symbol of the city and a tourist magnet, significantly increasing the number of museum visitors. Link>