25th ANNIVERSARY OF NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART EAST BUILDING CELEBRATED WITH EXHIBITION AND PROGRAMS;
Special installation reveals architect I.M. Pei's
design process
|
Washington, DC - A special installation at the National Gallery of Art marks the 25th anniversary of its acclaimed East Building, designed by renowned architect I. M. Pei and voted one of the top ten buildings in the United States by the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. |
Photo: I. M. Pei, Design sketch for the East Building, fall 1968.
The East Building: Celebrating 25 Years-on view through June 1, 2004, in the East Building reception room--explores the building's history from concept and initial programming in the late 1960s through its opening on June 1, 1978. Highlights include a three-dimensional model demonstrating Pei's acclaimed triangular solution to the challenges of the site, as well as photographs, copies of drawings, oral history transcripts, and other archival materials, many on display for the first time. Architectural walking tours, films, concerts, and related programs continue through May. "This brilliant building has had a profound impact not only on the museum and its visitors, but also on the design of museums around the world," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "The East Building works. It makes art accessible in a setting that is one of the most versatile and flexible exhibition spaces in the world, a high point of modernist museum design. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this building that continues to delight visitors every day, we salute I.M. Pei for his vision, foresight, and creativity."
Background
Designed
for the Gallery's 20th-century art collection and its Center for Advanced
Study in the Visual Arts, the East Building is known for its triangular
shapes and dramatic skylit atrium, a sculptural space framing a
16,000-square-foot open interior court. Linked to John Russell Pope's 1941
neoclassical West Building in part by use of the same Tennessee marble, the
modernist East Building has been recognized not only for its path-breaking
design, but for its technical innovations and--with 23 craft
awards--exquisite craftsmanship. With remarkable foresight, National Gallery
of Art founder Andrew W. Mellon requested that Congress set aside a plot of
land adjacent to the original 1941 John Russell Pope neoclassical building
for the museum's eventual expansion. In 1967, Mellon's children, Paul Mellon
and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, along with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, offered
to fund an extension of the museum, in keeping with their father's vision.
Under the leadership of Paul Mellon and former Gallery directors John Walker
and J. Carter Brown planning moved forward, and in July 1968 architect I. M.
Pei was selected. He devised a radical design solution for the trapezoidal
site by drawing a diagonal line through it, creating two triangles--one to
house the museum's public functions, the other for the Gallery's study
center and library. Construction began in 1971. On June 1, 1978, President
Jimmy Carter and Paul Mellon dedicated the new building to the people of the
United States. Pei's innovative use of geometric shapes as a space for the
public display of art attracted wide public attention and critical acclaim,
with attendance at the East Building reaching 1,000,000 less than two months
after the building opened. Deemed "the elder statesman of American
architecture" by New York Times critic Herbert Muschamp, Pei, now
86, is the recipient of the Smithsonian Institution 2003 National Design
Award for lifetime achievement.