Art Museum to Unveil Frank Gehry-Led Expansion

“The architect Frank Gehry’s design for a renovation and expansion of the Philadelphia Museum of Art will be unveiled on July 1 in an exhibition at the museum on Benjamin Franklin Parkway,” the New York Times reports. “The show, ‘Making a Classic Modern: Frank Gehry’s Master Plan for the Philadelphia Museum of Art,’ will offer a first look at the architect’s large-scale models, site plans, sections and renderings of the project.”

The Inquirer reports this morning:

Should all go as envisioned, virtually no changes will be visible from outside the building, aside from staircase enclosures mandated by the city’s fire code, and a redesigned landscape leading to the west entrance looking out over Fairmount Park.

Yet the project will eventually add 78,000 square feet of new gallery space, including 55,000 square feet carved from the schist under the terrace facing the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Officials say initial renovations and demolition will cost up to $160 million.