cultural buildings project report
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The new extension by Snøhetta contrasts with architect Mario Botta’s 1995 redbrick SFMOMA building;
Photo Jon McNeal, © Snøhetta
represents a radical departure from the original museum to which it is attached. When it was opened in 1995, the museum was the first
R
US building by renowned Swiss architect Mario Botta. Its robust, angular postmodern geometry and squat profile were initially greeted frostily by critics, but the building went on to become an iconic and familiar presence in the South of Market neighbourhood. Snøhetta’s addition looms up behind the original and
almost triples the amount of gallery space. Its elongated profile and striated white cladding contrast markedly with Botta’s flat red brick facade and oculus of zebra-striped granite, manifesting a unique and unmistakable presence in the city.
Dancing partners
But Snøhetta’s intention was never to copy Botta’s design, instead the firm wanted to create what it has described as a ‘dancing partner’ that complements the older building, while trying not to step on its toes. Jon McNeal, project architect at Snøhetta told ADF: “On
the exterior, the buildings represent two different attitudes from two different times, they maintain their own distinct identities and don't look like they are trying to merge into a single statement. On the interior, we wanted to create a
ising like a giant cliff face over the streets of San Francisco, the $305m extension to the San .Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
relatively seamless experience so the spaces linking the buildings flow together enabling free movement and easy experience of the art.” The 21,832 m2
extension runs contiguously along the back
of the existing building, it includes seven floors of gallery space capped by three levels for administration departments. Entering the new Howard Street entrance, visitors ascend
an amphitheatre staircase overlooking San Francisco-native sculptor Richard Serra's epic 13-foot-high work, Sequence. A wide lobby stretching across the second floor creates an open connection between that space and the original building’s entrance, along Third Street. Here, Botta’s huge sculptural staircase under the oculus
has been removed, replaced by a much smaller staircase, also clad in maple. Aside from the galleries, there is a multipurpose performance space, two restaurants and a spacious third floor dedicated almost entirely to photography, plus terraces for viewing sculpture.
Ripples and fog
On the exterior, Snøhetta wanted to evoke a sense of both the local landscape and the collection of art housed inside. The longest (east) facade is covered by over 700 fibre- reinforced polymer panels which create an extended pattern of ripples mirroring the choppy waters of San Francisco Bay. The facade undulates and bulges at its centre, reflecting the hilly topography of San Francisco and the clouds of white fog
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