Glassell School of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, completes first phase of campus redevelopment project with inauguration of the Glassell School of Art on May 20. Entire campus will be completed in 2020.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston redevelopment has the unique chance to expand the museum’s campus as an integral experience open to the community. Horizontal activity, transparency and porosity will unify the new MFAH, and provide inspiring and inviting public spaces. The lush Houston vegetation, refreshing sound, and reflections in water are all part of a new campus experience elevating the poetry of art.
The new ‘L’ shaped Glassell school shapes the Brown Foundation Plaza which extends the space of the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden by Isamu Noguchi. The inclined plane of the roof shapes an amphitheater and a public path to a rooftop garden overlooking the whole MFAH campus. The main entry opens to a cascade of levels at the forum shaping an informal learning space directly opening to a 75 seat auditorium. There are 23 studios shared between the Core Program and Junior School and 8 core-fellow studios. All of these have been designed with flexibility, great light, and fine proportions.
The three-story Glassell School of Art provides state-of-the-art studios and active social spaces within the 93,765-square-foot structure. The BBVA Compass Roof Garden and adjacent Brown Foundation, Inc. Plaza also serve the expanding needs of the school and the unique mix of students of all ages. Sited on two acres, adjoining the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden designed by Isamu Noguchi, the building replaces the school’s 1979 facility. The enrollment of about 7,000 students is expected to grow to 8,500 with the expanded course offerings of the enlarged facility.
