The long-anticipated addition to Louis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, opens to the public on Nov. 27. Taking the form of a low-slung concrete-and-glass pavilion designed by Renzo Piano, Hon. FAIA, the new building sits just 65 yards across a lawn, from Kahn’s vaulted travertine structure. Piano’s Paris and Genoa, Italy-based firm, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, is no stranger to museum design–this is its twentieth (Piano’s first project in the U.S. was also a Texas museum: the Menil Collection.) Piano himself is also no stranger to Kahn–he was once the midcentury master’s employee. But experiencing how that foreknowledge came to bear on this newest project first-hand is something most of the art-and-architecture-loving public will have to wait until the grand opening in two weeks. For those too eager to wait, however, don’t fret: Architectural photographer Robert Polidori has been documenting the building since its substantial completion: first in September, and again just a few days ago after the initial art installation. His look inside Piano’s new Kimbell can be seen here, in all of its stunning detail.
For more on the Renzo Piano Pavilion at the Kimbell Art Museum, including critiques, videos, and photo galleries, click here.
