SFMOMA's expansion plans quite simply knocked our socks off here at Curbed SF. To paraphrase the museum's director Neal Benezra, if you're interested in the art of the 20th century, you're going to have to visit San Francisco in 2016. Kudos to the late Donald Fisher and his family for putting their collection in such capable hands in an urban, transit-friendly neighborhood- and not in the Presidio- and to Snøhetta for coming up with this glorious, hovering concrete container for it all.
Inside, while some have bemoaned the planned demolition of Mario Botta's "iconic" staircase (someone's got to bemoan something) we don't agree- while we love a monumental staircase as much as the next fella, the glitzy execution of Botta's lobby never seemed appropriate for a museum, and the new plan's multiple entrances, streetscapes and terraces will create a different experience, moving away from the "museum as temple" concept that dates back in this country to New York's c.1902 Metropolitan Museum. Click on the gallery above, check out the video. And not to worry: while all this brilliance is expected to cost somewhere upwards of half a billion dollars, fundraising is very close to the goal.
· SFMOMA Expansion: Take a Little Fly-Around [Curbed SF]
· SFMOMA: The Shape of Things to Come, Part 2 [Curbed SF]
Today's the day that Snøhetta unveils the initial conceptual design for the $250 million SFMOMA expansion. Craig Dykers of Snøhetta will be on site to discuss the design process and the next stage of the expansion. The reception will be held in the museum's rooftop garden. Curbed SF will be on site to get all the juicy details, so look forward to a heavy post tomorrow about the expansion. The SFMOMA expansion will be Snøhetta's first project on the West Coast. [Curbed Inbox/photo via