A key feature of the Pavilion is a rooftop Art Terrace, a 7,200-square-foot outdoor venue for contemporary sculpture and commissioned installations where visitors will be able to enjoy live performances and other special events. Widely supported by city leaders and neighborhood representatives, the Pavilion and Art Terrace will also be tangible contributions to an ever-changing Civic Center neighborhood, enhancing the pedestrian experience along busy Hyde Street. The new pavilion will contribute to making the area a vibrant part of San Francisco’s diverse cultural landscape.
“The city of SF is looking forward to the Asian Art Museum’s building transformation, which will both enhance the experience of all who visit our magnificent museum and revitalize the Civic Center neighborhood,” says San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee.
Masterpieces Center Stage: Meaningful, multilayered entry points into the collection
In addition to the new Pavilion and Art Terrace, the museum will refresh its collection gallery experience through the Masterpieces project. Curators have singled out 15 works of various media representing different cultures and time periods for enhanced interpretation. Tablets, projections, photo murals and other didactic materials will enable visitors to learn more about each object and explore in real time the artworks’ interconnecting cultural, historical, and geographic contexts. This augmented approach will ensure that each visitor has a personally meaningful, multilayered opportunity to engage with some of the most significant works in the collection.
New Koret Education Center
Improving the experience of the museum’s education and public programs is another significant aspect of the transformation project. Invitingly illuminated and equipped with a state-of-the-art audio-visual system, the new Koret Education Center, a multifunctional room accommodating up to 75 people, will become the hub for an integrated suite of offerings for learners of all ages. This enlarged venue, located on the museum’s ground floor, will help cultivate a new generation of Asian art enthusiasts through sophisticated and diverse art activities, eye opening storytelling and docent presentations, while longtime museum supporters will be able to enjoy hearing from distinguished speakers from across the globe in a setting equally comfortable for viewing films as for experiencing scholarly presentations.
Digital Technology for a Personalized Experience
Immersive digital enhancements throughout the museum will equip visitors with an array of on-demand tools to curate their own visit. Within galleries and public gathering spaces, interactive touchscreen displays and tablets will offer multilingual support and information about current exhibitions, daily programs and special events, and sophisticated digital wayfinding. Immersive interpretive content — delivered via location-aware technology — will let visitors uncover more about artworks on view, allowing them to appreciate them in a variety of contexts. This dynamic digital footprint will extend beyond the walls of the museum, engaging audiences from around the world via a mobile-friendly website, lively social media platforms and multilingual apps.
“This transformation lets us share our world-famous collection in energetic new ways and with more people than ever before,” says Jay Xu. “Expanded interpretive tools will allow visitors — from around the corner and across the globe — to meaningfully explore both historic artistic practices and cutting-edge contemporary ideas, experiencing the full richness of Asian art and culture, past, present and future.”
About wHY
wHY is an internationally recognized design practice structured as an ecology of disciplines with offices in Los Angeles and New York City. Founded by Kulapat Yantrasast in 2004, the firm has received numerous design award for its diverse projects including museums, exhibitions, houses and schools. Most recently, wHY won the Ross Pavilion & Gardens international design competition, representing the firm’s first park project and first project in Europe. Current projects include the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, 2nd & Vignes Mixed-Use in the LA Arts District, America Place Headquarters in Indiana, and Paristown Pointe in Louisville, among others. www.why-site.com
About the Asian Art Museum
The Asian Art Museum–Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture is one of San Francisco's foremost arts institutions and home to a world-renowned collection of more than 18,000 Asian art treasures from throughout Asia spanning 6,000 years of history. Through rich art experiences, centered on historical and contemporary artworks, the Asian Art Museum unlocks the past for visitors, bringing it to life while serving as a catalyst for new art, new creativity and new thinking.
www.asianart.org Don’t miss a moment: @AsianArtMuseum
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Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d3b3b111-b8e4-4f25-ac9a-a9fb53dfe792
Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0aa89090-a93a-48ca-a98a-7856caee22d2
Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e806e6bc-2654-43c5-b7b4-9b7488e1a207
Tim Hallman Asian Art Museum (415) 581-3711 thallman@asianart.org
