Harvard Art Museums renovation and expansion
The Harvard Art Museums showcase internationally renowned collections and in 2006 commissioned RPBW to design an innovative facility that would consolidate locations and provide expanded facilities. Blending preservation and modernization, the renovation retained the historic 1927 Fogg Museum’s facades and iconic Calderwood Courtyard while adding a new Prescott Street wing with a glass roof that enhances natural light. The project fosters a dialogue with its surroundings and redefines the museums as a 21st-century hub for teaching, research, and community engagement, positioning them as a vibrant cultural center for Cambridge and beyond.
Harvard University’s three art museums—the Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and the Sackler—have been consolidated into a single, reorganized facility, the Harvard Art Museums, on the historic Fogg Museum site along Quincy Street. At the center of this 200,000-square-foot space is the restored Fogg Museum’s iconic Georgian Revival courtyard, seamlessly integrated with a new east-side addition on Prescott Street. The addition includes a glazed rooftop structure that bridges the historic and modern elements, allowing controlled natural light into galleries, study centers, and conservation labs while maintaining harmony with the surrounding historic architecture.
The renovated facility provides versatile platforms for engaging with Harvard’s vast collections. It includes three distinct art study centers, special exhibition spaces, and galleries programmed in consultation with faculty to support academic coursework and interdisciplinary collaboration. The expanded galleries, now 40% larger at 43,000 square feet, are designed to foster close interaction with artworks, inviting diverse perspectives and dialogues. Flexible spaces encourage innovative uses of the collections, enabling curators, students, and faculty to juxtapose objects from different cultures, periods, and media. This transformation underscores the museums’ mission to serve as a dynamic cultural hub for the Harvard community and the public, emphasizing education, research, and dialogue across disciplines.
The original 1920s building, designed by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbot Architects, was groundbreaking in its integration of museum space, teaching, and conservation to advance scholarship. Honoring this legacy, the new center is designed to enhance access to the 200,000-object collection for teaching and learning. To accommodate the Prescott Street extension, all post-1925 additions and alterations have been removed, while every aspect of the historic building—structural, mechanical, and technical—were meticulously restored and upgraded.
A facility reimagined to meet the museum’s mission
The Harvard Art Museums have significantly expanded their galleries and study centers, reflecting their central role in the museum’s mission. Located on level four, the study centers occupy a prominent position, while the conservation lab remains at the top of the building under the new sloping glazed roof. Public amenities and event spaces have been modernized and enlarged, including a new 294-seat auditorium at basement level, enhancing the museum’s functionality for special events and community engagement.
The new entrance on Prescott Street symbolically opens the museum to the local community, complementing the original entrance facing the university campus. Interior views through the courtyard connect the entrances, aiding visitor orientation, while secondary vistas through the café and shop offer glimpses of Broadway and the adjacent Carpenter Center. At the north end of the extension, a winter garden projects beyond the main gallery, and other glazed façade sections on the first floor allow controlled daylight to illuminate the museum’s interior while inviting passersby to peer inside.
Details on Foundation website
Project Details
Status
Client
Harvard Art Museums
Design
Renzo Piano Building Workshopin collaboration with Payette (Boston), architects
Design Team
M.Carroll and E.Trezzani (partners in charge) with J.Lee, E.Baglietto (partner), S.Ishida (partner), R.Aeck, F.Becchi, B.Cook, M.Orlandi, J.Pejkovic, A.Stern and J.Cook, M.Fleming, J.M.Palacio, S. Joubert; M. Ottonello (CAD operator); F.Cappellini, F.Terranova, I.Corsaro (models)
Consultants
Robert Silman Associates (structure); Arup (MEP engineering, lighting design, facade engineering, code consulting, LEED consulting); Nitsch Engineering (civil engineering); Anthony Associates (wood scientist); Davis Langdon (cost consultant); Sandy Brown Associates (acoustics); Carl Cathcart (arborist); Building Conservation Associates (restoration consultant)
Environmental Certifications
LEED Gold certification (2015)
